"I met with his agent, Neil Sheehy, here this week," Darche said while attending the NHL Scouting Combine presented by Fanatics. "I said at the end of the year I'd love for Anders to play his 1,000th game with the Islanders, but it has to work for us and for him. He's earned the right to look at options where he is in his career. We're planning ahead, so I still hope we can get a deal done. It's not there yet, and we'll keep working at it till July 1."
Lee, selected in the sixth round (No. 152) of the 2009 NHL Draft, is fifth in Islanders history with 923 games played and his 308 goals are fourth. He was fourth on New York with 42 points (19 goals, 23 assists) in 2025-26 while playing all 82 games for the third time in four seasons.
"He's been a great leader, a great captain, and we'll keep talking until we find out there's a deal or no deal," Darche said. "It's a process, these things, right? So, we'll see where it goes."
Darche also said defenseman Alexander Romanov and forward Kyle Palmieri should be fully cleared before training camp opens in September.
Romanov last played Nov. 18, missing the final 62 games of the season because of an upper-body injury. Palmieri had surgery to repair a torn ACL in his knee sustained Nov. 28.
Darche said it's likely Romanov would have played if the Islanders had reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs. New York stayed in the race until Game No. 81 of the season and finished seven points behind the Philadelphia Flyers for third place in the Metropolitan Division.
"Had we made the playoffs, he probably would have played in the playoffs, or close to maybe Game 3 or 4 (of the first round)," Darche said. "He's doing great. He's training normally. He's been skating at the facility. I think he's back in Russia, but there's going to be no issues with him or Kyle Palmieri next year. We expect both of them to be back."
