The Islanders reshuffled their coaching staff this offseason, and the ripple effects reach all the way down to their new AHL affiliate. For a handful of prospects, the new man in charge is a familiar face — and that head start could matter.
When Bridgeport head coach Rocky Thompson was promoted to Peter DeBoer’s NHL staff, it opened the top job with the organization’s new AHL affiliate, the Hamilton Hammers. The Islanders filled it with Jay McKee, and the hire lands with built-in continuity: three prospects in the system — Vladimir Dravecky, Gabriel Frasca and Layne Gallacher — already played for McKee during the 2025-26 season with the OHL’s Hamilton/Brantford Bulldogs.
Familiar System, Easier Transition
New coaches usually spend the early going installing their system and earning buy-in. McKee gets to skip some of that, because several players already know exactly what he wants.
Frasca, who’s moving from the OHL to the NCAA to play at Quinnipiac, credits McKee for pushing his game forward. He described McKee as more of a teacher than a typical coach and said he learned a great deal about his own development under him. Frasca also made clear he’s glad to see McKee climb the ladder, calling it well-earned and noting the system in Hamilton echoes a lot of what he ran in Brantford. He heads to college on a strong note after 15 points in 31 regular-season games and five points in five playoff games last season.
A First Coach Who Set the Foundation
For Gallacher, an 18-year-old center, McKee was his first junior coach — the one who guided his jump from youth hockey into the OHL, which is rarely a smooth leap. He said McKee handed him real opportunity at 16 and taught him the value of playing responsibly at both ends of the ice while adjusting to a pro environment. Gallacher put up 30 points (10 goals, 20 assists) with a plus-4 rating across 53 OHL games last season.
The through-line from all three is the same: McKee develops players and gets the most out of them. For an Islanders organization leaning on its pipeline, having a proven developer running the AHL bench — with prospects who already trust him — is a quietly valuable piece of the offseason.
