Mar 1, 2025; Elmont, New York, USA; New York Islanders head coach Patrick Roy addresses the media during a pregame press conference before the game against the Nashville Predators at UBS Arena. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Salus-Imagn Images Thomas Salus-Imagn Images

Islanders Coach Makes Amends With Forward After Scathing Comments

Originally posted on Breakaway on SI | By Jon Alfano | Last updated Sep 17, 2025 3:00 PM ET

The New York Islanders had themselves an April to forget, and not just due to their play on the ice.

Sure, going 3-4-2 in the final month of the season - or more accurately, the final two weeks - is bad, but the re was also some drama to make things just that much worse.

Following a 4-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on April 1, head coach Patrick Roy called out forward Anthony Duclair in some of the most scathing comments a coach has made about a player in recent memory. Duclair had zero points and a minus-1 rating in that game, and would not suit up again for the rest of the season after taking a leave of absence.

“He was god-awful," Roy said. "He was god-awful. He had a bad game. That’s why I didn’t play him a lot. And he’s lucky to be in the lineup. Sorry if I lose it on him right now, but that’s how I feel,” Roy said.

“He’s not skating, he’s not competing, he’s not moving his feet. He’s not playing up to what we expect from him.”

It was a bad look for a team that was already well outside the playoff picture at the time, but the good news is that the incident seems to be in the past now. Roy told reporters Monday at the Islanders' charity golf tournament that he reached out to Duclair to apologize for his comments, and that they are on good terms now.

“It’s an emotional game, and sometimes you’re saying things, but the outcome didn’t do anything good for us,” Roy said, per TSN. “I feel like it almost was negative more than anything else, and I think Anthony had a lot of trust in me, and I felt like I let him down a little bit there.”

“We’re in a performance sport, and we have expectations and I’m sure Anthony has his, but it’s behind me now and I want to move forward to this year and really hope that Anthony will start like he did because he had a really good start,” he added. “When he came back from his injury, it was a little tougher for him for some reasons. But I want him to be who he was before he got hurt.”

Duclair said that he appreciated Roy's efforts to make amends while also sharing more of his side of the story.

“I told him I didn’t need an apology — I just needed him to know I was playing hurt, and he told me he didn’t really know the extent of the injury,” Duclair said. “I think it was just a miscommunication by everybody, myself included. He just obviously thought I was playing (at) 100%, which I wasn’t.”

Duclair, 30, signed a four-year, $14 million deal ($3.5 million cap hit) with the Islanders last offseason. He unfortunately battled injuries throughout his first season on Long Island and finished with just seven goals and 11 points in 44 games.

This article first appeared on Breakaway on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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