Darche excludes himself as a reason why NY Islanders don't have roster flexibility

Mathieu Darche's explanation for why New York Islanders fans shouldn't expect major roster changes this summer makes sense on the surface.

It also leaves out one pretty important detail.

He's the one who has spent the last year making many of the decisions that have contributed to the lack of flexibility he's now pointing to as the reason why significant changes aren't coming.

"Like we've mentioned before, I don't expect any significant, significant changes," Darche said after the NHL Draft. "There's not going to be four players out and four players in because the reality, like I've mentioned since last year, I think for two years we had a lot of guys signed."

That's true. The Islanders were never entering this offseason with a clean salary cap sheet or a roster full of expiring contracts. There were always going to be limitations. Darche also correctly noted that some of the moves he made during the season didn't technically add contracts to the organization's books.

"The trades we made last year, we didn't add any contracts," he said.

Again, technically speaking, that's accurate. Ondrej Palat essentially replaced Maxim Tsyplakov. Jonathan Drouin was added after the Brayden Schenn trade. But if we're being honest, that's also missing the bigger picture.

The Islanders acquired Schenn, who has two years remaining on his contract. They acquired Palat, another veteran player with term remaining. Darche signed Alexander Romanov to a long-term extension. He signed Drouin. He extended Jean-Gabriel Pageau. None of those decisions, on their own, were unreasonable. But taken together, they represent a clear organizational choice: preserve the current competitive window rather than maximize future flexibility.

Because if the team isn't viewed as a legitimate Stanley Cup contender entering next season, and if the Metropolitan Division has only gotten stronger around them, then the lack of flexibility isn't just something that happened to the Islanders. It's something that was, at least in part, created by the choices made over the last year.

"My job, I'll be on the phone tonight, I'll be on the phone all day the next few days," he said. "If there's an opportunity to improve the team, I will do it."

Maybe an opportunity presents itself. Maybe it doesn't. But if the Islanders are once again fighting for lottery position instead of a playoff spot next spring, the conversation won't be about why Darche didn't make major changes this summer. It'll be about whether he should have created more room to make them in the first place.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow