Grading Mathieu Darche’s trades in year one

The New York Islanders season has come to an end, meaning Mathieu Darche’s first season as a General Manager has come to an end. It’s time to grade the trades that Darche made in year one as the Islanders GM.

Islanders receive: F Emil Heineman, Calgary Flames 2026 1st round pick (Victor Eklund), and Montreal Canadiens 2026 1st round pick (Kashawn Aitcheson)

Canadiens receive: D Noah Dobson

Darche’s first move was his biggest. Trading Dobson, who didn’t seem too interested in returning to the Islanders, was a statement to the team. At the time it seemed like Heineman was a throw-in, but he was a 20 goal scorer in his first season on the island, and showed some chemistry with Bo Horvat. The issue was Heineman was very inconsistent and really cooled down unless he played with Horvat.

Two first round picks are nice to have and they were the 16th and 17th over picks. So far it seems to have worked pretty well with both prospects showing major flashes. Eklund has already recorded a point in the NHL in his one game played and seems the closest to joining the NHL full time. Aitcheson will be playing in Hamilton next year, but will be turning pro, which will be a major stepping stone in his development.

Overall I give this trade an A-. I think this trade benefited the Islanders for now and in the future by trading someone who didn’t want to play for the team, and acquiring major assets for the future.

Islanders receive: D Carson Soucy

Rangers receive: Islanders 3rd round pick in 2026

This was a rough one for Darche, but in the moment there was a sense of what he was trying to do. Instead of continuing the rotating door at third line left defenseman, Darche wanted to solidify that spot while not giving up major assets. The problem was he got the wrong player. Soucy was horrendous for the Islanders most of the time. He constantly took penalties and as a defensive defenseman was terrible defensively. He hurt the team more than he helped it, and wasn’t the right guy to pair with Scott Mayfield.

Soucy was a -10 with the blue and orange, and it just wasn’t a good fit for either party. Darche traded a third round pick, in my opinion that was too much. I believed it should’ve been a fourth or fifth round pick, but I won’t nitpick on that because usually when there’s a trade like that one team has to give up more.

Overall I give this an F. This was the worst trade he made and it isn’t super close.

Islanders receive: F Ondrej Palat, New Jersey Devils 2026 3rd round pick, and 2027 6th round pick

Devils receive: F Maxim Tsyplakov

I just said that usually one side has to give up more, well the Devils didn’t give up enough. Palat makes $6 million per season for this year and next year and should’ve had to give up a first or second round pick just because of how badly they wanted to get rid of Palat. Palat is a better player than Tsyplakov, but Tsyplakov has a much better contract. Tsyplakov wasn’t good for the Islanders and seemed like a cap dump himself in this deal. He was consistently a healthy scratch and really couldn’t skate with the rest of the team.

Palat played well in his first game with the team, but was silent for basically every game after that. The positive of this deal is that the blue and orange had more assets to use after this trade. Despite it not really being enough to take on Palat’s contract it still gave the team more assets to use.

Overall I give this a D. Palat wasn’t good either for the Islanders, but they got assets to take him on in the deal.

Islanders receive: F Matt Luff

Blues receive: F Julien Gauther

This is one of the better moves Darche made. Luff is a very good AHL scorer, and is more consistent than Gauthier. The big goal for Darche and his staff this season was to make Bridgeport a winner, and this mood helped with that. Luff technically led the team in points (combination of both teams he was on) and added NHL depth as he played in five games with the Blues this year.

Gauthier never seemed like a fit for the Bridgeport Islanders. He was injured a lot and it seemed like he needed a fresh start. Luff added another scorer for Bridgeport and helped push the team to the Calder Cup Playoffs.

Overall I give this trade an A. Luff is a better player for the AHL than Gauthier and has really helped Bridgeport get to another level.

Islanders receive: F Brayden Schenn

Blues receive: F Jonathan Drouin, G Marcus Gidlof, Colorado Avalanche 2026 1st round pick, and New Jersey Devils 2026 3rd round pick

My stance on this deal has changed since it was made. At first I was very confused because it was originally announced to be only a first and third round pick in the deal. Then added into the deal was Drouin and Gidlof, not ideal, but makes the trade actually a little different. Drouin was terrible for the Islanders, so it’s good that they were able to get rid of him. Gidlof is a good goalie prospect, and while I don’t understand why he had to be in the deal, he really doesn’t have a future with the team with Dmitri Gamzin coming over from the KHL in two seasons.

Giving up a first round pick is crazy for Schenn at this point. You can make the argument that it’s viewed as a second round pick, but it’s still a first round pick and too much to give up for 34-year-old Brayden Schenn. Schenn was productive offensively for the blue and orange with 11 points in 19 games, but was very bad defensively. He can’t really play center anymore because he can’t skate with opposing centers, but he’s been very beneficial for Cal Ritchie. The Islanders don’t have a second round pick this year but if the trade included their second next year, the Devils third round pick and Drouin it would be a better deal.

Overall I give this a B-. Too much to give up for Schenn, but he did fit and has been better than Drouin. Schenn also adds some physicality which is something the Islanders needed badly this season.

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