The Summer of Darche
Mathieu Darche is off to an impressive and active start for the New York Islanders.
Let’s start from the beginning.
We saw Adam Boqvist sign a one year extension at $850k and Kyle Palmieri sign a 2 year extension for $4.75M. Adam Boqvist I expect to be a 6 or 7 defenseman who can contribute offensively and also QB the powerplay. Kyle Palmieri I expect to be a top 6 winger who can contribute 25+ goals.
Photo by Jonathan Kozub/NHLI via Getty Images
At the NHL Draft the Islanders selected 3 times in the first 3 rounds. Matthew Schaefer is the future cornerstone, superstar defenseman while the Islanders also added Victor Eklund and Kashawn Aitcheson who would both projected to go earlier in the draft. The Islanders drafted Daniil Prokhorov in the second round which I personally believe could be a very solid player in the future. The Islanders in my opinion would receive an A+ as a grade for their performance at the draft.
June 29th, we saw two Bridgeport signings with Liam Foudy and Julien Gauthier signing one year deals.
June 30th, the Islanders signed Alexander Romanov to an 8 year contract extension at $6.25M per year. It was a touch higher than I wanted but I understand and agree with the deal. Romanov is 25 years old and you are getting the next best 8 years based off the prime age for defensemen.
For the first time in many years, the Islander have decided to host a development camp for their prospects. In my opinion, this is something extremely important, and I believe will play a tremendous role for many prospects. One example is Matthew Schaefer. Someone who hasn’t played in game speed, in months, gets to get his feet wet and get his game feeling good, heading into the real big camp. Being in person and talking to staff, will allow coaches to better communicate on what he can do, to be even more prepared for the main camp. A second example is Cole Eiserman. A highly touted prospect who many believed can join the Islanders at the end of his upcoming BU season. This development camp allows Cole to get a closer look at pro hockey and many Islander fans saw for the first time, that his shot is an absolute weapon. Despite being drafted last year, this is the first time Eiserman and many others have been to the Islander facility. But these are examples of for all the prospects as well, as an introduction into what it takes, and what is expected for pro level hockey.
July 1st, free agency opens and everyone wonders what the Islanders could do. Will they go after a big name or not? The morning starts off with Tony DeAngelo signing a one year deal. Great deal in my opinion. Offensive defenseman, who quarterbacks the powerplay on a very cheap deal. No reason not to make this deal. This gets followed up with the Islanders signing goaltender David Rittich to a one year contract which made many wonder about Semyon Varlamov’s future and health.
Next comes a Jonathan Drouin, 2 year deal at $4M. A player who is coming in with 85 points in his last 100 games. At $4M. Phenomenal deal in my opinion. A high end skater who is more of a playmaker but has a shot when he uses it. Drouin has been a bit inconsistent, but has found his game in Colorado and looks to continue the trend on the Island. If you had to guess you probably would guess a player would want a higher AAV or more term. Drouin can play anywhere in the top 6 and is expected to play next to Bo Horvat.
The Islanders next go onto sign forward Matthew Highmore, along with defensemen Ethan Bear and Cole McWard, to one-year, two-way (NHL/AHL) contracts.
July 1, 2025 - The Islanders sign forward Simon Holmstrom to a two-year contract at $3.63M. Another deal where I believe Holmstrom can score 25 goals and push 50+ points.
July 2, 2025 - The Islanders sign forward Emil Heineman to a two-year contract at $1.1M.
July 2, 2025 - Islanders shock the hockey world and sign forward Maxim Shabanov to a one-year, entry-level contract. Many believed Shabanov was heading to Philadelphia but I believe that was just early reporting based off many things. Shabanov is a low risk, high reward type player. Many wonder if his play will translate to the NHL. Im sure it will, it’s just a matter of how much. Based off of some interviews it sounded like Shabanov was presented the opportunity to play with some highly regarded players here, as well as getting a power-play role. If Shabanov pays off, NYI could be looking at another 20+ goal scorer on a very fair deal.
When you look at the big picture here, the Islanders probably were not going to spend all of their money on Mitch Marner or Nikolaj Ehlers. It doesn’t make sense for them right now. This certainly is not a rebuild but it’s something thats going to be built the right way, and from the foundation up. Free agency is usually a place where teams overpay to lure them in, and Darche avoided this and signed key pieces that can fill holes. This is something we discussed on a previous space on X. Joe and I were very straight forward on what was expected. The biggest word that can relate to Mathieu Darche and the Islanders? Flexibility. They did not sign any UFAs to a deal longer than 2 years. The Islanders look to be competitive now while having flexibility in the back pocket as a weapon of the future. When Cole Eiserman/Victor Eklund and more prospects are ready there are options available depending on when the time comes.
The following is written by Rachel Luscher /NewYorkIslanders.com:
“Relationships are important to me,” Thompson said. “When the players start to trust you – that takes time – then you can start to teach them, that’s what I’m trying to do here. I’m trying to meet everybody, learn faces and names. I thought the camp was run so well.”
“The mix of players enter Islanders Development Camp from the Canadian juniors, European leagues, NCAA and the USHL. They come into camp with various levels of experience and comfortability, but they were able to learn a lot from Thompson and the coaching staff in a short span. His goal wasn’t to evaluate players, but rather to introduce skillsets they might not have had before.”
To conclude, Mathieu Darche and the New York Islanders have a game plan that is so far being executed extremely well. The forward group has become crowded, and I don’t believe the Islanders are done just yet…
Stay tuned.