The New York Islanders have dismissed Piero Greco from his role as goaltending coach after just six games into his seventh season with the team, despite the team’s recent three-game winning streak. General manager Mathieu Darche made the unexpected announcement on Wednesday, revealing that Sergei Naumovs from Bridgeport of the American Hockey League will take over the position.
Naumovs, a Latvian coach, has been with Bridgeport since May 2024 and has a significant coaching history with Islanders’ goalie Ilya Sorokin dating back to their time together at CSKA Moscow in the KHL from 2018 to 2020. Sorokin currently holds the second-worst 3.90 goals-against average and the fourth-worst .873 save percentage among NHL goaltenders who have played in at least four games.
Darche acknowledged Greco’s contributions over the past seven years but stated that the organization decided it was the right moment to reset their goaltending strategies. He emphasized that the decision to replace Greco was solely his and not influenced by Sorokin, who is under a contract until 2032. Darche also mentioned that backup goaltender Semyon Varlamov is making progress in his recovery from knee surgery.