Does NY Islanders GM Mathieu Darche have what it takes to take a big swing?

Mathieu Darche keeps telling us he's willing to take a big swing. He'll make the calls. He'll explore the possibilities. If there's a player who can make the Islanders better, he'll be interested.

Sounds great.

But there's a pretty important question nobody seems to have an answer to.

What exactly is he willing to give up?

Darche has also made it clear that he doesn't want to sacrifice the prospect pool the Islanders have finally started rebuilding. And who could blame him? For years, this organization operated without much of a pipeline. Now, with Matthew Schaefer, Victor Eklund, Kashawn Aitcheson and others, there's finally something worth protecting.

Here's the problem. You can't keep all your prospects, hold on to your draft picks and expect another general manager to hand over an impact player.

Something has to give.

The Islanders don't exactly have an abundance of young, established NHL players outperforming inexpensive contracts, either. Those are precisely the kinds of assets teams want when they're moving expensive talent or entering a rebuild.

So what's the trade package?

That's where Darche's messaging gets interesting. He wants to improve the roster without compromising the future. That's a perfectly reasonable philosophy, but it also considerably narrows his options. And the Islanders aren't one player away from becoming Stanley Cup favorites. Giving up multiple premium assets for a short-term improvement could undo much of what Darche has spent the past year building.

There's nothing wrong with being patient. In fact, patience might be exactly what this organization needs. But there's a difference between being aggressive in conversations and actually being prepared to make an aggressive trade, or even having the pieces to do it.

Darche can call every general manager in the league. He can express interest in every available star.

Until he's willing to part with something another team actually wants, those conversations might not get very far.

Maybe the big swing is coming or maybe Darche's hands are more tied than he'd like to admit.

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