Darche focused on making Islanders 'winning organization'

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Mathieu Darche knows the job he's been hired to do and the importance of bringing the New York Islanders back to prominence.

The 48-year-old is also aware of the history of the franchise he has been handed the keys to.

"I grew up in Montreal, I was born in (19)76, my first memories of watching hockey was the Islanders winning every Stanley Cup," the new general manager said at his introductory press conference at UBS Arena on Thursday.

The Islanders won four consecutive Stanley Cup championships from 1980-83. They nearly won for the fifth straight season, losing to the Edmonton Oilers in the 1984 Cup Final.

But they haven't been back there since; the closest they came was back-to-back losses to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the third round, including Game 7 in 2021. Darche was Tampa Bay's director of hockey operations at the time for the two Stanley Cup championships before being promoted to assistant GM under Julien BriseBois in 2022.

"I still remember that Game 6 at the (Nassau) Coliseum (in 2021) when (former Islanders forward) Anthony Beauvillier scored in overtime and how loud that building was, nevermind all the beers being thrown on the ice everywhere," Darche said. "It's an unbelievable fan base. I'm really, really excited.

"I told (BriseBois) next time we play in the conference final, (the result's) going to be the other way around."

It's that enthusiasm that won over Islanders ownership. John Collins, who spearheaded the interview process and sat beside Darche at the podium Thursday, is confident Darche is the right person to replace Hall of Famer Lou Lamoriello. The Islanders announced April 22 that Lamoriello's contract would not be renewed.

"The more time you spend with Mathieu, the more you like Mathieu," Collins said. "It's authentic. … We're committed to making sure he has every resource to be successful."

Darche has already gotten to work. He met with Patrick Roy last weekend and announced Thursday that Roy will return as coach next season, but without assistants John MacLean and Tommy Albelin. Assistant Benoit Derosiers will be retained. The Islanders (35-35-12) missed the playoffs, finishing nine points behind the Montreal Canadiens for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.

Bridgeport, the Islanders' American Hockey League affiliate, will have a new coaching staff after it finished last in the league standings (15-50-7).

"I think this team could have been a playoff team, should have been a playoff team," Darche said. "Do we have work to do? Of course we do. This summer, that's going to be my focus. Obviously, the focus right now is on the draft coming up."

There's reason for Darche to be excited about that -- the Islanders won the NHL Draft Lottery on May 5 and will have the No. 1 pick of the 2025 Upper Deck NHL Draft on June 27. Defenseman Matthew Schaefer (Erie of the Ontario Hockey League) is No. 1 on NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters. Center Michael Misa of Saginaw (OHL) and center James Hagens of Boston College, a Long Island native (Hauppauge, New York), are also options.

An unlikely option, Darche said, would be trading the No. 1 pick.

"It's not very often you get a (GM) job and the first thing you have to do is pick the best player in the draft," Darche said. "I expect us to make the pick. … You have to do your due diligence. Anybody that calls, you have to listen. But someone would have to really knock my socks off to trade that pick because we're going to get a special player."

In the meantime, Darche will continue to have dialogue with the players currently on the roster. He said he's already met with captain Anders Lee, who was in attendance Thursday, and has spoken with nearly every player on the roster.

"He's coming from the outside looking in a little bit," Lee said. "He'd watch us play when we were in Tampa and vice versa, but we all knew (we could have been a playoff team) too. There's no doubt we were disappointed with how our season went and fighting to stay alive all season and not quite get over the hump and be within striking distance at the end.

"We did everything we could to grind our way to get there, (but) we came up short. There's really no excuse for that, other than the onus was on us."

But Lee also made a point to remember what Lamoriello brought to New York upon his arrival in 2018. The Islanders lost John Tavares to the Toronto Maple Leafs as an unrestricted free agent less than two months into Lamoriello's tenure, but the hiring of Barry Trotz as coach and the structure and culture he and Lamoriello established helped New York finish second in the Metropolitan Division in 2018-19, the start of a stretch of five playoff appearances in seven seasons.

"Lou meant a lot," Lee said. "He was a mentor, someone you can lean on, someone you could go to for things outside of hockey. Lou has seen it all, and he's done it with high character and great values. He is a man of his word, and he'll hold it.

"He made a lot of guys in that room not just better hockey players, but better men."

Now, it's up to Darche to find a way to get the Islanders to the next level. He knows his job doesn't start this fall.

"It's not something I take lightly," Darche said. "Every day, my focus will be to improve the New York Islanders and make us a winning organization. I want this team to be perennial playoff team and to go for the Stanley Cup. That's the goal.

"It's not always a straight line; but every single day, every decision I make will be not for Mathieu Darche, not for anybody else, but the best thing for the New York Islanders. I'm really excited about that."