Islanders add Ray Bennett and Bob Boughner to coaching staff
The New York Islanders are continuing their evolution under new general manager Mathieu Darche, announcing on Monday that they had hired Bob Boughner and Ray Bennett as assistant coaches ahead of the 2025-26 season.
The experienced pair will join head coach Patrick Roy’s staff, and are among the first hires under Darche, who was appointed GM on May 25. The two also join returning assistant coach Benoit Desrosiers and goaltending coach Piero Greco.
Boughner, 54, returns to an NHL bench after being fired from his associate coach position with the Detroit Red Wings in December, a role he had held for parts of three seasons, from 2022-23 to the first few months of the 2024-25.
Previously, he served as the head coach of the San Jose Sharks for three seasons, from 2019-20 to 2021-22, accumulating a record of 67-85-23 and also held top duties for two seasons with Florida Panthers, leading them to a 80-62-22 over two seasons from 2017-18 to 2018-19.
Outside of his NHL head coaching experience, he also served as an assistant coach with Team Canada at the 2018 IIHF World Championships and held roles with the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL, serving as a partial owner of the team from 2006 to 2019.
Meanwhile, the 63-year-old Bennett has been an assistant coach for the last 24 years and joins the Islanders after eight seasons with the Colorado Avalanche, where he helped them win the 2022 Stanley Cup. Before that, he spent time as an assistant with the St. Louis Blues and the LA Kings.
Bennett also brings a wealth of international experience from his time as an assistant coach with Canada’s men’s World Junior team, national men’s team and national women’s teams, at World Championships and Olympic tournaments in the 1990s.
After missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a sixth-place finish in the Metropolitan Division in 2024-25, the Islanders have spent the offseason making significant changes, aiming for improvement over the next several seasons, not just in 2025-26.