EAST MEADOW, NY — There's no question that New York Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche wants to field a competitive NHL roster.
But, based on the terms given out to his free agents on Monday and the words the first-time GM shared with us, there's a clear focus on having openings in a few seasons for when the young prospects are ready.
It shouldn't be a new phenomenon, but for the Islanders organization, it surely is.
It was only a few years ago when former general manager Lou Lamoriello inked Pierre Engvall and Scott Mayfield to a seven-year extension to get the AAV down to a manageable $3 million and $3.5 million, respectively.
Even Anthony Duclair's four-year deal worth $4.5 million annually was a tad too long, the longest contract of the vets career.
While there are times for longer-term deals, such as defenseman Alexander Romanov signing an eight-year extension worth $6.25 million annually, we saw Darche opt for a short-term approach with Simon Holmstrom's extension, a two-year deal worth $3.625 million annually.
Darche told me that he believes Holmstrom could be a top-six forward, but essentially wants him to prove it — he can't get complacent on a short-term deal.
1-on-1 With GM Mathieu Darche: Draft Recap, Updates & 2025-26 Roster OutlookFollowing the conclusion of the 2025 NHL Draft, I had the chance to speak with New York Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche about his picks and more.
"You have to stay disciplined in what you do," Darche said during his free agency media availability on Tuesday evening. "Just because you have the cap space, you don't have to spend it all if you don't feel it's an appropriate way to spend your money. Whenever I sign guys, I look at the cap. I'm always looking two to three years ahead, also, to make sure that we don't…Sometimes I might feel I have great cap space one year, and then you have three guys the next year coming out of entry-level deals, and their salaries go up. And then, maybe you don't care about this year, but next year, you handcuff yourself. So there's a little planning like that we have to do.
"I didn't go into the big term.. A lot of the term guys actually re-signed with their team. You've noticed the last few days. So, just like we did with Alexander Romanov, we're really excited to have a 25-year-old signing an eight-year deal with us. So we're getting his prime years of his career with us. I think you saw a lot of teams do that with their players. Sometimes, at this time of year, when there's more cap space than teams have been accustomed to in the last few years, people might want to push for a higher cap number on some players. That's where you have to stay disciplined, and that's when you have to make sure that you do your research, you know what the value of the player is, and make sure you don't overpay, because one contract might not hurt you now, but might hurt you later."
Exhibit A of the Darche Plan was the Jonathan Drouin deal.
The $4 million AAV cap hit seems like a tad too much, right? But the fact that it is only a two-year deal allows for Darche to evaluate the player after a short-term deal. It gives him flexibility, for example, for a player like Cole Eiserman to take a spot once he's ready.
On the blue line, Tony DeAngelo may have been able to get a multi-year deal, but instead, he re-signed with the Islanders on a one-year deal worth $1.75 million. Again, the AAV is a tad bit high, but it's a one-year deal, so that does open the door for Darche to go younger on that side ahead of the 2026-27 season.
Darche's way of thinking is a complete 180 from the way Lamoriello did business.
Now, Lamoriello was thinking about winning at the NHL level, sacrificing the future to make that a reality. Ultimately, that didn't happen, and, well, there's a reason he's no longer employed.
Darche understands his NHL roster. He understood what holes needed to be filled with what kind of players to allow them to be competitive now, while also keeping a close eye on the future, which is looking more and more exciting by the day.
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PHOTO: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
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