Regardless of the sport, it’s not very often that a first-time General Manager has the opportunity to have the first overall selection in a draft, but that’s what is in store for New Islanders General Manager and Executive Vice-President Mathieu Darche on Friday night when he will have the first pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. The likelihood is that the Islanders will take defenseman Matthew Schaefer from the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League.
Darche is ready for the moment but he’s also keeping his cell phone within reach because this is a time of the year for wheeling and dealing.
“I know I’m going to get a great special player on Friday,” said Darche during a Zoom meeting with reporters on Tuesday. “The phones are always busy during draft week. There are so many things going on. Teams are always calling and kicking tires on different things but that’s just regular normal draft week chatter.”
It's been a month since Darche was hired to lead the Islanders’ hockey operations, but preparing for the draft wasn’t the only thing on his to-do list as he’s been pretty busy re-shaping the Islanders organization.
GETTING THE RFA’S SIGNED
The Islanders have four restricted free agents…
-Defensemen Noah Dobson and Alex Romanov
-Forwards Simon Holmstrom and Maxim Tysplakov
Darche would like to have them all back with the Islanders.
“I’m still trying to sign all of our restricted free agents,” said Darche. “I’ve been talking with the agents and it’s just part of the process. It’s been a very cordial negotiation. We all have our ideas of where the contracts should be and we’re working through it.”
NEW ASSISTANT COACHES
The first big piece of news following the hiring of Darche was when he announced at his introductory press conference that Patrick Roy would return as Head Coach and that assistant coaches John MacLean and Tommy Albelin would not return.
Darche and Roy discussed some options to fill those openings and they have named Bob Boughner and Ray Bennett to round out the coaching staff who will join returning assistant coach Benoit Desrosiers and goaltending coach Piero Greco.
“They’re going to compliment Patrick very well,” said Darche. “Bob is going to coach the defensemen and probably run the penalty kill. Ray has had tremendous success as a power play coach he’s going to help Patrick on the power play. Those are two areas that we needed to improve a lot.”
A NEW LOOK FRONT OFFICE
While reports indicate that now former Islanders President and General Manager Lou Lamoriello quietly re-signed his son Chris Lamoriello and Steve Pellegrini to two-year extensions, Darche has brought in his own guy naming Ryan Bowness as Assistant General Manager.
Ryan is the son of former Islanders Head Coach Rick Bowness, but that didn’t play a role in the decision.
“I hired him because he’s been around the league,” said Darche. “He’s ran pro departments so he’s going to run our player personnel department including the pro scouting. I’ve built a relationship with him over the years. I’ve seen his work.”
On their website, the Islanders continue to list Lamoriello as Assistant General Manager and GM of the Bridgeport Islanders while Pellegrini is listed as Assistant General Manager.
With Bowness in charge of pro scouting, where does that leave Islanders legend and longtime Director of Pro Scouting Ken Morrow?
“Ken has the same role,” said Darche. “Ken was scouting and he’s going to keep doing that. He’s done a great job. We had the pro scouts come in a couple of weeks ago and got to meet him so Ken is going to keep covering and keep doing what he was doing.”
A NEW BOSS IN BRIDGEPORT
The Islanders American Hockey League team in Bridgeport has certainly struggled in recent years other than a postseason berth in 2022 when they advanced to round two of the Calder Cup playoffs. There was no question that it was time for a change and Darche made that clear when he announced a month ago that Bridgeport Islanders Head Coach Rick Kowalsky was relieved of his duties.
Earlier this week, Darche named Rocky Thompson as the new Head Coach of the B-Isles and he comes with an impressive resume.
“He’s won a Memorial Cup (national championship of the Canadian Hockey League) coaching young players,” said Darche. “He’s gone to the Calder Cup Finals with (the) Chicago (Wolves). He’s coached in the NHL. He’s a great communicator. His communication and people skills are extremely strong which is a huge asset in the AHL because you’re coaching young players.”
For Mathieu Darche, the work is just beginning.
After the draft, the Islanders will be holding their development camp next week including a blue vs white prospect scrimmage on Wednesday at Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow.
And there’s this thing called NHL free agency which begins on July 1st so Darche will be really busy putting his fingerprints on the Islanders as a rookie General Manager. He certainly has some nice perks to work with including the first overall pick in the draft and a salary cap that is going to increase.
Talk about hitting the ground running!