Piero Greco is out as goaltending coach for the New York Islanders. Sergei Naumovs is in.

The Islanders announced on Wednesday that Naumovs is replacing Greco, who was with the club for the last seven-plus seasons.

Firing a goalie coach during the season is an unusual move and the Islanders are doing so after a 3-3-0 start that includes a 4-3 home win over the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night. The move to Naumovs can be attached to getting star goalie Ilya Sorokin untracked. Despite stopping 33 of 36 shots Tuesday, Sorokin has struggled overall. The 30-year-old netminder is 2-3-0 with a 3.90 goals-against average and .873 save percentage.

Greco joined the organization in 2018 for his first stint at the NHL level after previously working with the American Hockey League’s Toronto Marlies. He also worked in the Ontario Hockey League with the Kitchener Rangers, Barrie Colts and Owen Sound Attack.

“Piero has done a great job for the organization for the last seven years,” Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche told reporters Wednesday. “We just felt at this time it was the right timing to have a reset with our goalies. There’s obviously a history with Sergei and Ilya, and we just made that decision going forward.”

Sorokin had four top-10 Vezina finishes with Greco as his coach, including a runner-up nod to Boston’s Linus Ullmark in 2022-23.

Naumovs, 56, joined the Islanders last year as the goalie coach for their AHL affiliate in Bridgeport, Conn. He has a lengthy history with Sorokin as the two worked together in the goalie’s final two seasons with CSKA Moscow in the KHL before coming to North America.

Darche said the change to Naumovs was “100 percent” his call. While he didn’t directly address whether he and Sorokin discussed the potential move, Darche added, “It’s my decision. The players will never tell you, ‘Hey, I want this coach or that coach. I know he’s had success with Sergei and that’s where we went.”

Darche also announced that forward Pierre Engvall is expected to be sidelined for the remainder of the season after undergoing ankle surgery Tuesday. Engvall, 29, is already rehabilitating from hip surgery performed this offseason. He had eight goals and 15 points in 62 games last season.

In other news, Semyon Varlamov is skating on his own and Darche said he is progressing in his recovery from knee surgery. Varlamov, 37, played in only 10 games last season. The Islanders signed David Rittich in July for this season to serve as Sorokin’s backup.

Why Islanders made this move now

It’s an interesting move to switch goalie coaches this early in a season, although Sorokin isn’t off to the best start. He is currently sporting a .873 save percentage, and allowed four goals in each of his first four starts, and three in his most recent win over San Jose.

The move does reunite Naumovs and Sorokin. Naumovs coached at CSKA Moskva in the KHL for six seasons, two of which were with Sorokin. The two worked together from 2018 to 2020 in Russia, and Sorokin posted a record of 54-16-7 with a .937 save percentage in those seasons. — Jesse Granger, NHL staff writer