Latest contract efficiency rankings were absolutely brutal for the NY Islanders

Mathieu Darche has preached patience since taking over as general manager of the New York Islanders. The Athletic's annual contract efficiency rankings suggest patience may be required for another reason.

Using its model to evaluate every NHL contract, The Athletic ranked the Islanders 28th out of 32 teams, a slight improvement from last year's 29th-place finish. Given the modest turnover on the roster, that result isn't particularly surprising.

What stood out was why the Islanders remained near the bottom. According to the analysis from Dom Luszczyszyn, many of the club's lowest-rated contracts stem from decisions made during Darche's first offseason as general manager.

"No team has more D-level deals than the Islanders," The Athletic wrote. "The worst part is that four of them came on Mathieu Darche's first year on the job. Extending Alexander Romanov immediately backfired, giving up value for both Brayden Schenn and Ondrej Palat was odd given their contracts, and extending Jean-Gabriel Pageau instead of moving him was a misstep."

It's a harsh assessment of a front office that has been in place for only a few months.

The report specifically questioned Darche's acquisition of Schenn, his decision to take on Ondrej Palat's $6 million cap hit, the three-year extension for Pageau and Romanov's new contract, which now makes him the highest-paid defenseman on the roster.

There were positives, thanks to Lou Lamoriello and some ping pong luck.

The Athletic identified Matthew Schaefer's entry-level contract as arguably the best value in the NHL, while Ilya Sorokin's long-term deal was also viewed as one of the league's strongest contracts for a starting goaltender.

Still, those bargains weren't enough to offset the concerns elsewhere on the roster.

Whether the criticism proves justified will ultimately depend on results. For now, however, The Athletic's model paints an unflattering picture of Darche's first offseason.

The model, of course, could be wildly inaccurate, but then again, it did rank the Carolina Hurriances as having the best mark, so perhaps it's more right than wrong.

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