The New York Islanders are not trading down from the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft.
Here is what general manager Mathieu Darche had to say:
“I’m not trading the one, but you look at everything, right? Teams are calling you about various options. Every time you hear something might be going on, you call a team, and my job is to do my due diligence and see what’s out there. Every single day, I’m trying to improve the New York Islanders.”
Darche took over for the legendary Lou Lamoriello as the Islanders’ GM on May 23 and inherits a franchise in flux.
New York has looked lost since making back-to-back Conference Finals appearances in 2020 and 2021. The Islanders took the eventual champions Tampa Bay Lightning to the brink in each of their matchups (lost in overtime of Game 6 in 2020, lost 1-0 in Game 7 in 2021), and they have failed to recapture that magic lately.
However, despite holding the No. 1 selection, New York is not your typical bottom-feeder.
It has young stars in Mathew Barzal and Noah Dobson, and a certified goaltender in Ilya Sorokin. Darche should also feel excited about prospect Calum Ritchie, who was the marquee return from the Brock Nelson trade.
Left-handed defenseman Matthew Schaefer is not exactly a generational pick, but he is still the consensus top player on the board and could make for a dominant top pairing with Dobson down the road.
While it is difficult to trust anything this time of year, Darche could be better off playing it safe and taking Schaefer, rather than, say, getting cute with a trade down for someone like James Hagens or Michael Misa.
Regardless of what Darche does, this is an exciting time for Islanders fans as their franchise has the opportunity to get back on track and avoid a full-on rebuild.
