New York Islanders goaltender coach Piero Greco has been relieved of his duties. Piero had been with the Islanders since 2018, when he came over with former general manager Lou Lamoriello from Toronto. He was the last remaining coach from the Lamoriello era.
Piero can take some credit for being part of the Robin Lehner and Thomas Greiss William M. Jennings Trophy win in 2018-19. Lehner and Ilya Sorokin both were named Vezina Trophy finalists during Piero’s tenure.
Sergei Naumovs, Bridgeport’s current goalie coach, has been promoted to New York. Naumovs came to Bridgeport last season and has familiarity with Sorokin, having worked with him in the KHL. General Manager Mathieu Darche explains why the change was made. “Piero has done a great job for the organization for the last seven years,” Darche said. “We just felt at this time it was the right timing to have a reset with our goalies. There’s a history with Sergei and Ilya. It’s my decision. It’s not on the player.”
Schaefer Decision Looming (Not Really)
Matthew Schaefer has been nothing short of spectacular since arriving on the Island. The 18-year-old sets another record each time he steps on the ice. Schaefer became the youngest NHL defenseman (18 years, 46 days) to score a game-winning goal in Tuesday’s 4-3 win against the San Jose Sharks. It was his first multi-point game of his young career, and he has now tied Marek Židlický for the longest point streak to begin a career by an NHL Defenseman at 6 games.
As Schaefer approaches the nine-game mark where the first year of his entry-level contract officially kicks in, Darche has to make a decision whether to return the young decision to juniors.
“We’ve got three more to go. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to read the tea leaves, right? (laughs) I haven’t talked to the Erie GM yet, but I’m sure he’s watching and not expecting him in his lineup anytime soon.”
Roster and Injury Update
The Islanders waived forward Marc Gatcomb on Wednesday. The move will give the team a total of $1.6 million in cap space. Gatcomb played in one game this season. If he goes unclaimed, he’ll report to Bridgeport. The 26-year-old signed a one-year, $900K deal over the summer. The roster move will allow the team to recall a defenseman. Alexander Romanov has missed the last two games and will likely miss the next two games. Isaiah George, Marshall Warren, and Cole McWard are potential candidates for a call-up.
Darche also announced that forward Pierre Engvall, who had offseason hip surgery, underwent successful ankle surgery that will likely keep him out for the season. Engvall, who is in the third year of a seven-year $21 million contract, had 8 goals, 7 assists in 62 games last season.
Olympic Send-Off Cancelled
The NHL has cancelled the Olympic Send-off scheduled for February 2026 at UBS Arena. The league plans to hold the 2027 NHL All-Star Weekend February 5-7 in Elmont. UBS Arena was announced to host the Olympic Send-Off when the league figured it would experiment with the event as a layover for players, coaches and staff to gather there and fly out of New York to Milan.
NHL officials had said the Islanders would likely get the All-Star Game in the odd-numbered year between the Olympics and the 2028 World Cup of Hockey.
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