Isles Day-to-Day: Darche Provides Updates on Pageau and Drouin

Islanders General Manager and Executive Vice President Mathieu Darche met with the media on Saturday morning, providing injury updates and sharing his thoughts being back in Tampa Bay after spending six years with the organization.

PAGEAU UPDATE

JG Pageau shed the orange non-contact jersey and skated as a full participant on Saturday morning but he'll miss his seventh straight game on Saturday.

Pageau last played in a 2-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Nov. 22. The center has 12 points (6G, 6A) through 22 games this season.

“Pageau is very close,” Darche said. “There's still a chance for tomorrow, but we'll see. We’re talking [in the matter of] days. As you saw, he’s basically going through a full practice.”

DROUIN UPDATE

Darche offered an update on Jonathan Drouin, who will miss his second straight game on Saturday with a lower-body injury. Drouin has 15 points (3G, 15A) through 26 games with the Islanders.

“Drouin stayed back home just to get some treatment," Darche said. "I don't expect him to be out too long, so hopefully it's just day to day. We’ll see when we get back.”

DARCHE ON SHABANOV

Darche touched on how pleased he is with Max Shabanov's play in his first NHL season. The Russian winger racked up nine points (3G, 6A) in 16 games this season. A bulk of those points came after he returned from an upper-body injury that sidelined him for 12 games from Oct. 21 - Nov. 16. Since returning, Shabanov has six points (2G, 4A) in 10 games.

With Kyle Palmieri out for the season (torn ACL) Shabanov is providing some key reinforcement, skating on a line with Bo Horvat and Emil Heineman.

“Shabanov was playing really well before he got hurt,” Darche said. “He came back, it’s always an adjustment the first few games, and then he has been playing extremely well. Now he’s got an opportunity with Palmieri out and he’s been playing really well with Bo and Heineman.”

DARCHE ON HIS RETURN TO TAMPA

Darche spent six seasons in management with the Tampa Bay Lightning - six years as their director of hockey ops and three as Assistant General Manager - and Saturday marks his first time back to Tampa Bay as a visiting general manager.

“I had a great six years here,” Darche said. “But it’s very different than if it were a coach or a player coming back, right? For me, I'm not on the ice, I don't have an impact on the actual game itself when it's being played. So it's very different.”