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New York Post
5 days ago
- Sport
- New York Post
Winners, losers from the very early days of Islanders' Mathieu Darche era
Barely a week into the Mathieu Darche era on Long Island, the new general manager's vision is already taking shape. The Post picks the (very) early winners and losers from the Darche Era. Winners Advertisement Patrick Roy Not only is Roy back behind the bench as head coach, but he gets a larger say in shaping his assistant coaching staff after John MacLean and Tommy Albelin were let go and has a general manager who sounded very much aligned with him on how the team should play.
Associated Press
7 days ago
- Business
- Associated Press
Mathieu Darche introduced as Islanders' head of hockey operations
NEW YORK (AP) — Mathieu Darche was all smiles Thursday as he was formally introduced as the New York Islanders' executive vice president and general manager. The 48-year-old former NHL forward, who spent the previous six seasons — including two Stanley Cups — with the Tampa Bay Lightning, takes control of the team's hockey operations department from Lou Lamoriello. Darche officially announced that Patrick Roy would return as coach next season and be able to hire his own assistants with John MacLean and Tommy Albelin not returning. Darche also said there would be a new coaching staff in Bridgeport, the team's AHL affiliate. The Islanders missed the playoffs this season after bowing out to the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round the previous two springs. Darche, who played 268 NHL games from 2001-12 for five teams, is ready to get started. 'We want to create our own success going forward, build our own legacy,' said Darche, a Montreal native who mentioned watching the Islanders and his idol Mike Bossy win four straight Stanley Cups from 1980-83. 'I believe in best practices and seeing what I can bring.' Roy, a Hall of Fame goaltender, became coach of the Islanders in January 2024. He guided the Islanders into the postseason with a late surge in 2024 but the team fell short this time, missing the playoffs for the second time in four seasons since starting play at UBS Arena. Both Darche and Roy were born in the province of Quebec. 'Patrick is a winner,'' said Darche, who met the 59-year-old Roy for the first time in recent days. 'I am extremely comfortable and excited to be working with him. I know he's passionate and he works hard.' Islanders co-owner John Collins echoed the sentiments of his incoming head of hockey operations, who also has a business background away from hockey and a degree from McGill University in Montreal. 'There's a championship legacy here that needs to move forward. We believe strongly that Mathieu Darche understands how to make that happen,'' Collins said. 'He has been an important part of Stanley Cup success in Tampa Bay and we see him as a team builder with a bright future for us.' Darche does have plenty of work to do. He said he's spoken to just about every player on the Islanders roster and will be focused on the upcoming draft — in which the Islanders have the No. 1 pick — plus pending free agents in the weeks ahead. 'You've entrusted me with hockey operations of this franchise and it's not something I take lightly,'' Darche said. 'I want this team to be a perennial playoff team … It's not always a straight line but every single day every decision I make will be not for Mathieu Darche — not for anybody else — but the best thing for the New York Islanders.' Islanders captain Anders Lee, who turns 35 in July and will be starting his 14th season with the Islanders, said his early impressions of the new boss have been all positive. 'Mathieu will come in with a lot of ideas. He's seen how things have worked in Tampa. He has a vision for this group and this organization,'' said Lee, with a backdrop of the arena's ice-free surface. 'We all have the same goal here. We want to be playing games in May, knocking on the door of the Stanley Cup.' Lee also credited the 82-year-old Lamoriello with having a key impact during his seven years at the Islanders helm. 'Lou meant a lot. He was a mentor and someone you could lean on, someone you could go to for things outside of hockey,'' Lee said. 'Lou has seen it all and he's done it with high character and great values. He's a man of his word. He made a lot of guys in that room not just better hockey players, but better men.' ___ AP NHL:
USA Today
7 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Islanders' Patrick Roy will remain coach, new GM Mathieu Darche says
Islanders' Patrick Roy will remain coach, new GM Mathieu Darche says Show Caption Hide Caption Will the New York Islanders use their first pick on a defender or scorer? The New York Islanders own the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft after winning the 2025 Draft Lottery. Sports Pulse New York Islanders coach Patrick Roy will be back for the 2025-26 season, the team's new general manager announced. "Patrick's a winner," said Mathieu Darche, who was hired out of the Tampa Bay Lightning organization. "He had success when he came here the first year, he did have success. ... I went to meet with him last weekend just to get to know him more and I'm extremely comfortable and excited to be working with him. I know he's passionate. He works hard." But Darche said assistant coaches John MacLean and Tommy Albelin won't be back, along with the coaching staff of the Islanders' American Hockey League affiliate in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Roy returned to the NHL in 2023-24, replacing Lane Lambert that January and leading the Islanders to a playoff berth, where they were eliminated by the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round. But the Islanders finished at .500 this season and missed the playoffs. The team was hurt by long-term injuries to Mathew Barzal, Anthony Duclair, Noah Dobson and Adam Pelech. Darche, who replaces Lou Lamoriello, said he wants to build a fast-paced team that defends well. The Islanders won the draft lottery and hold the No. 1 overall pick in June. Darche said he'll do his due diligence and listen if other teams call but plans to keep the pick. "Someone would really have to knock my socks off to trade that pick because we're going to get a special player," he said. NHL coaching hires NHL coach openings Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins and Seattle Kraken.
Reuters
7 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Islanders new GM: Patrick Roy to remain head coach
May 29 - Patrick Roy will remain as the head coach of the New York Islanders, new general manager and executive vice president Mathieu Darche said at his introductory press conference on Thursday. Roy, 59, owns a 55-47-17 record since replacing Lane Lambert as the Islanders' coach on Jan. 20, 2024. The Hall of Famer posted a 35-35-12 mark this past season but failed to guide the club to the playoffs. Assistant coaches John MacLean and Tommy Albelin will not return to the bench, Darche said. Darche wasn't done there, however. When asked about whether he was interested in entertaining offers for the top overall pick of the 2025 NHL Draft, Darche was quick with a response. "Someone would have to really knock my socks off to trade that pick," he said. New York landed the top overall pick of the upcoming 2025 NHL Draft earlier this month, despite having the 10th-best chance of winning the lottery at 3.5 percent. Darche, 48, has served as the director of hockey operations for the Tampa Bay Lightning over the past six seasons. The Lightning qualified for the playoffs in each year of that stretch, including capturing consecutive Stanley Cup titles in 2020 and 2021 and appearing in the Finals in 2022. Tabbed general manager and executive vice president, Darche will replace Lou Lamoriello, who left the Islanders last month after seven seasons. --Field Level Media
New York Times
27-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
New Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche faces extensive to-do list
New York Islanders majority owner Scott Malkin, operating partner John Collins and co-owner Jon Ledecky found their new executive on Friday. Mathieu Darche had the least experience of the candidates the Islanders owners considered — far less than Ken Holland, Marc Bergevin, Jarmo Kekäläinen or Jeff Gorton, who have been NHL general managers for over 10 years. Advertisement But there can be no training wheels on this hire. The Islanders had a long list of things to address even before ownership informed Lou Lamoriello on April 22 that his contract would not be renewed; if anything, the list has gotten longer in the month since that move. The search for a new GM has pushed those action items to the side for a few weeks, but now time is accordingly shorter this offseason. So here's a quick look at all the things Darche has ahead of him as he takes over a team for the first time. Malkin and Collins made it clear from the outset of their search that whoever was hired has final say over all hockey decisions. That includes the fate of Patrick Roy, who has coached just 119 games for the Islanders but has a three-year contract still ahead of him. Roy did not have any input in this search, but according to a team source, Roy did express some thoughts to ownership as the search played out. That could indicate a desire on Malkin's part to keep Roy around for at least another year despite giving Darche full control of hockey operations. The three years (at a salary believed to be north of $3 million per year) probably doesn't hurt Roy's case to stick around either. The source said Roy and Lamoriello were at odds last season over the style the coach wanted the Islanders to play and whether the 2024-25 roster was capable of playing that way, so Darche may want to see if Roy can coach his preferred, up-tempo style with any changes the new GM could provide before training camp. If Darche makes the decision to move on from Roy in the coming weeks, then he likely has a coach in mind. He could look to the Lightning staff, which has former NHLer and promising assistant coach Jeff Halpern and veteran junior and AHL coach Joël Bouchard in Syracuse. That said, a first-time NHL coach for these Islanders might indicate this team is not angling to contend right away, which may not be the message Darche wants to send. Among the veteran NHL coaches available, the pickings are slim — there's the last three Rangers coaches in David Quinn, Gerard Gallant and Peter Laviolette, but not many others with serious NHL experience. Darche and the Islanders owners may know what Lamoriello, who turns 83 in October, plans to do once his contract expires June 30. The rest of us do not, so it's hard to say at the moment whether Lamoriello will have some role as a consultant to Malkin or Darche, go elsewhere or retire. Darche's last NHL training camp as a player was with the New Jersey Devils in 2013, after the half-season lockout. According to reports, Darche and Lamoriello talked often before Darche ended up retiring rather than signing a contract, so there's a relationship between the two. Advertisement Beyond Lamoriello, Darche will have to decide what to do with current Islanders assistant GMs Chris Lamoriello and Steve Pellegrini, as well as how to proceed with scouting and development staffs that have largely remained untouched since Garth Snow was GM. As with Roy, time is short. Most NHL teams are currently deep into their pro scouting meetings, identifying players to pursue in free agency or trades, and the amateur meetings will begin soon with the NHL combine less than a week away. Unless Darche has an org chart to end all org charts ready to go — and unless he can pry prospective AGMs and directors from their current gigs at this late date — he may ride through the first part of this offseason with Lamoriello's crew and then sort things out later. Hey, a good problem to have! The Islanders won the draft lottery during the GM search, giving Darche a top prospect right off the bat. Darche will attend next week's combine in Buffalo getting right to work on grilling the top prospects and seeing who his new amateur scouting staff is zeroing in on. Erie defenseman Matthew Schaefer is the across-the-board, consensus No. 1 prospect. There's also prolific Saginaw center Michael Misa and the sentimental pick in Boston College center and Hauppauge native James Hagens, who grew up a huge Islanders fan. Perhaps Darche will entertain trade offers too, though that might be a little too bold right out of the gate for a new GM. It will be a fascinating process for Darche to take the reins and make the first pick in a month — and also a good way to evaluate his own scouts. Darche has to do all the above while also figuring out what to do with the Islanders roster, which has produced mediocre results over the last four years. In addition to the top pick, the Islanders have Calum Ritchie (acquired in the Brock Nelson trade at the deadline), plus a couple of other promising young players in Isaiah George and Cole Eiserman who may be ready to make the leap. Aside from those prospects, there isn't anyone knocking down the door for a roster spot, so Darche will have to decide whether the current group needs a major overhaul or just a few tweaks. Advertisement In the overhaul department: J-G Pageau is entering his contract year and one (or two) of Ryan Pulock, Adam Pelech and Scott Mayfield would need to be moved, somehow, to change out the defense corps. Darche must also decide whether to keep Semyon Varlamov as Ilya Sorokin's backup or buy out the 37-year-old goalie. Buyouts could be on the table for Pierre Engvall and Mayfield, neither of whom got much love from Roy and both of whom have virtually untradeable contracts with five years left. Kyle Palmieri's camp was closing in on a contract extension with Lamoriello when the Islanders made their move with the GM. Darche may have a different view of the 34-year-old Palmieri, which would be a tough look — not in letting Palmieri walk, but seeing him walk for nothing when the Islanders could have moved him for a second-round pick and a prospect at the deadline. RFA defenseman Adam Boqvist also had a deal with Lamoriello that wasn't signed, according to reports. And Darche will jump right into negotiations with RFA defensemen Alex Romanov and Noah Dobson, the latter of whom could command a big contract. There's also RFA Simon Holmstrom, coming off his entry-level deal, and UFA defenseman Tony DeAngelo. Darche is under zero obligations to honor whatever deals Lamoriello had or was close to having. He has to have alternate plans, though, especially if he decides to let Palmieri and his 24 goals walk — a surprisingly decent part of the Isles' offense last season. Perhaps nowhere is this franchise in bigger need of major changes than with the Bridgeport Islanders, who set an unwanted AHL record with just four home wins this past season. Coach Rick Kowalsky has long been a Chris Lamoriello guy, having coached in the Devils system prior; under Lamoriello the Islanders have traded away their first-round pick four times, leaving the Baby Isles bereft of real talent. George, who played 33 games with the Islanders last season, was by far the most promising prospect in Bridgeport. Outside of forward Alex Jefferies and a couple of other defensemen in Calle Odelius and Jesse Pulkkinen, there isn't much there at all. Simply keeping picks (and maybe acquiring a few extras in trades for veterans) will eventually help the AHL club, but the Islanders have to make Bridgeport — performance, attendance, roster, marketing, you name it — a priority under Darche. Advertisement The Islanders focused on hockey under Lamoriello to mixed results. But Lamoriello's way — no marketing of players, no viral social media moments, no distractions — coupled with a poor team in the UBS Arena era has left this franchise adrift. This is an opportunity; it doesn't have to fall on Darche's head to make sure the Islanders get some clicks and some new fans, but it does fall during Darche's tenure. Even if the Islanders don't win right away on the ice, they have to become the kind of team that embraces this chance. The new GM has plenty on his plate already, but he has to help the Islanders build their brand and get noticed for the right reasons. Holland turned down this job for several reasons, but one of them, according to a league source, was the enormity of the task. Darche isn't shying away from that, which is good. But there's a lot to do and the time to start was yesterday. (Top photo of Noah Dobson and Ilya Sorokin: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
