Darche Thankful For Isles Start
GM Mathieu Darche spoke to us on Wednesday morning to share his thoughts on the season thus far.
EAST MEADOW, NY — Ahead of the New York Islanders’ game against the Boston Bruins, general manager Mathieu Darche spoke about a variety of topics.
Here’s what he had to say:
TEAM PROGRESSION & IDENTITY
Q: How do you evaluate this team so far?
Mathieu Darche: “Listen, what I’d like is we the way we’ve progressed from the start. Our defensive game has really improved over the last few weeks. You saw on the trip, like at the beginning of the year, we changed the system, so there was some adjustment from a lot of players that we turned pucks over a lot at the start, which we’ve been a lot better. I think against Seattle, we gave up eight or nine scoring chances, which, when you do that more often than not, you’ll win games. Took a while to win it, because we had to go to a shootout. But I like that we’re progressing. There’s still work to do. I like the confidence of our players right now, and it’s a tough League, right? We… if you look at the start of December coming up, after those three games here we have, they were playing Tampa, Colorado, Tampa, Florida, Vegas, and I’m Tampa. So that’s, well, we’ve done a great job in the last trip, but we are taking one game at a time. You know, we’re focused on Boston tonight, and we’re trending in the right direction, which is nice to see. And I like the vibe around our team, the players, the… you know, Patrick talked about joy, and you can see there’s joy the way they’re playing. They believe every game we have a chance to win, whether we’re down or not. You know, we even some games. You look at the St Louis game, it might not have been our best game, but we push in a third, and we give ourselves a chance to tie it up. Unfortunately, we didn’t. So there’s no games that the guys don’t feel they can win, which is a great mentality to have.”
POWER PLAY PERFORMANCE
Q: The power play is dead last, but it looks dangerous. What do you think?
Darche: “Yeah. I mean, if you look on the… I mean, everybody’s got different expected goals data, but from what I look at like, we’re… I’m not saying we’re top five, but we’re still around the 10 to 15, so it just… it hasn’t gone in. And the good thing, it doesn’t kill the momentum in games, because we… I think we have chances, but we we’re in a result oriented business, so we’ll have to score goals eventually, which you know, that St Louis game is the best example. Six on four would have been a perfect time. You score there, you start the overtime on the power play. So it’s a work in progress. But I think we… we get in the zone great. We rarely… like it doesn’t happen very often that, you know, you spend the whole two minutes going in the zone, coming in your zone, back and forth. So I think the goals will come. We just have to trust the process. We’re doing a lot of good things. By the end of the day, of course, we… we can say all we want. We have great chances we’ll have to score, but I’d be more worried if we struggle… like we’re gaining entry, we’re creating chances, we’re moving the puck well. So you hope that regression… regression comes at one point.”
DEPTH, INJURIES & WHEN TO CONSIDER OUTSIDE HELP
Q: How comfortable are you with organizational depth amid injuries, and when do you start thinking about looking outside?
Darche: “Well, I constantly look at ways to improve the team, whether it’s from within or looking at opportunities outside. My job is to always, you know, I’m on the phone all the time. You’re just listening to what’s going on out there right now, like the way we’ve played even on this trip, the last, you know, Romy’s missed the last three games. We won two out of three. And he’s missed time at the beginning of the year also. So there’s players that step up, Boqvist’s played pretty well in the last few games. And you know, when Marshall Warren played, he played well, and now Mitchell’s here, probably won’t be in tonight, but if there’s an opportunity. I’m very comfortable with giving the guys we have a chance, but my job is to always look, and if we have options to improve the team, I’ll do it. But there’s always a cost to anything you do. So I think, especially at forwards right now, we’ve had two forwards out every game. So yeah, we have injuries right now, but I’ll knock on the wood a bit. But we’ve been fairly…when you look at other teams, if I look even at my former team, that we’re going to play a lot like they…they’ve played the last two weeks with basically their best 3D out, and they’ve won some games. So it’s a next man up mentality.”
TRADE DEADLINE & SCHEDULE COMPRESSION
Q: With the Olympics and the earlier trade deadline, could trades come sooner?
Darche: “Well, even if you look the last few years, there’s a lot of trades that happened earlier too, because you give more time for… it doesn’t matter who you are. I’ve experienced because we’ve made a lot of trade in Tampa during those years. It takes a few weeks usually for the player to get settled in. They come in your environment, new coach, new system. So when you’re able to, you’d like to do something earlier rather than later, which is not always the case, because the teams that’s trading apart there, they want to wait it out to get the best they can. I think the main thing about the condensed schedule is probably a little bit on the injury front you see around the league. But again, it’s… I think what makes it a bit tougher right now too is there’s a lot of teams that are still in it, like it’s so tight everywhere, like other years sometimes even you get to Thanksgiving, early December, you have teams that alright, mathematically of course, they’re still there this time of year, but you’re looking at it, you’re like, well, you know, it’s going to be tough. And this year, I mean, for the longest time in the Eastern Conference, you’d win two games, you end up in second place, and you lose two, you were in last place in the conference. So I think there’s too many teams that are still in it right now that it’s fairly quiet.”
INJURY UPDATES: PAGEAU, VARLAMOV, LTIR
Q: Any more clarity on Pageau?
Darche: “Pageau, we expect him to play before Christmas. Like so it’s… when we say week to week is because it’s longer than day to day, but it’s not month to month either. So we’ll see how it progresses, but I would suspect two to three weeks at the most, if not sooner. So there’s nothing concerning on that… that aspect, there’s no surgery needed. There’s nothing. It’s just healing and all injuries.”
Q: Anything on Varlamov? Is he expected out for the year?
Darche: “It’s honestly… It’s going to sound like I don’t have an answer, but it’s the same as it has been the last time. He’s progressing. I mean, I saw… you saw this morning, like he’s taking some shots from the goalie coach, but very controlled. So we think… I’ll give Varley if he’s making every effort to have no regret at the end, and it’s a big rehab, so he’s taking the time he needs, and we’re giving all the help he can get. And we’ll see where it goes, because right now, I don’t have a timeframe, it’s just he’s going through the rehab as it’s tolerated, and we’ll see where he goes.”
Q: How do injuries affect LTIR strategy with the new rules?
Darche: “Well, it’s more the playoff cap rule that changes. During the season, we have plenty of cap room right now, because we, you know, we only have Engvall on LTIR, but there’s a few other guys that we can put on LTIR, and all these guys will clear the 10 days, 24… 10 games, 24 days. So that’s not an issue, but we have to make sure for the playoffs there’s… we have the flexibility, because now, when the playoffs are different, it’s only 20 players… it’s players instead of 23. But we’re planning… I mean, every time we do something, the numbers… when you have a salary cap, the numbers play into the decisions you make. But I think we have fairly good flexibility right now.”
CALUM RITCHIE DEVELOPMENT
Q: What have you seen from Ritchie as he’s settled in?
Darche: “Well, I think, you know, from the start, maybe it was a lot to give him on the second line right away. We just wanted to see it, and then we switched the lines. We’re going… well, he was doing a great job on the fourth line defensively. Like, that’s what I’ve been impressed… is as a young guy, sometimes they struggle defensively. He’s really helped our fourth line defensively. And now you’ve seen over the last three, four games, the offense is starting to come, which is great to see. He seemed to have developed pretty good chemistry with Shabby and they’re playing well right now. And now he has an opportunity while Pajo is out to play a few more meaningful minutes. But I think he’s… I would say the last week to two weeks is really where he took that step, and he’s contributing even more. So we’re happy with his progress.”
RELATIONSHIP WITH PATRICK ROY
Q: What have you seen from Patrick Roy, and how has your relationship evolved?
Darche: “Well, it’s been great. We communicate constantly. Like we’re on the same page on how we want to play, communicating with players. We talk every single day, even on a day off, we’ll get on the phone and chat. So it’s been great. And I didn’t know much about Patrick before working with him, but you can see his passion. I mean, you saw his passion in Dallas, which any… knowing it was genuine. He was mad, and as we all are. Like, I mean, we lost the player for the regular season, which is tough for us. But I think he’s done a great job. It’s funny — one of the pieces of advice I got from my previous boss is, you know, when you get this job, you need to be able to be on the same page as your coach. If you’re not on the same page as your coach, it’s very tough for it to work. And Patrick and I are definitely on the same page.”
ANALYTICS DEPARTMENT EXPANSION
Q: Where are you in building out analytics and modernizing that department?
Darche: “Well, I think it’s going to take a little bit of time to get to where I feel we should be, but we’re already… we’ve made big strides in the last few months. We’re starting to get some data that… listen, some of the people we hired always joked that, you know, they’re smart when they don’t put their undergrad on their resume, they only put their masters and their PhDs. So they’re a lot smarter than me. They’re math people. And so we’re building out the department. We have a good chunk of data now, but it’s a big undertaking to modernize that part, so we’re moving forward with it, and it’s going to take a few months. But we… that’s why we’re hiring people. We’re going to hire someone else soon. We’re up to about four or five full-time people now. But it’s a big undertaking because there’s a lot of data, especially when you incorporate the puck and player tracking that the NHL gives. It’s a huge file of data. You’re building your own models and things like that. So… but we have great people working on it, and I always joke that they’re a lot smarter than I am, and I tell them what I want, but how they do it — that’s math that is above what I studied in college.”
ASSISTANT COACHING STAFF
Q: How important was it for Patrick to hire his own assistants?
Darche: “Yeah, for sure. For where I came from, that’s what I saw. Where I came from, the team has had coaches come and go and, you know, you’re involved with the coach. And he’s the head coach, so he runs that coaching department. He has to be comfortable with who he wants to work with. Like I always say — we’re going to come up with a list together. You decide. I only have the veto of saying no to someone if…because I do my due diligence too. If I hear some red flags somewhere. But besides that, I want him to be comfortable with the people he’s working with. And Ray and Boogie have been great additions, personality-wise, skill-wise, so I think Patrick’s really comfortable working with them.”
INTERNATIONAL PLAY & OLYMPIC AVAILABILITY
Q: Does the organization want players to participate internationally?
Darche: “Well, Matthew Schaefer is not going to World Junior, I’ll tell you that much. Yeah. But yeah, of course — it’s an opportunity. I would never restrict a player from representing their country. It’s an honor, especially at the Olympics. It’s been since 2014. It’s been over 10 years since the NHL has been at the Olympics, and most of the players in the league weren’t playing pro yet the last time we went. It’s an awesome opportunity, and… to go and spend time with guys like Sidney Crosby, you can only grow as an athlete, as a player.”
Q: Where do you feel Schaefer belongs in those Olympic discussions?
Darche: “That’s not for me. I’m not part of the management group. I mean, we talk with them, but… you saw the news that they’ve added him to the testing and he’s deserved it. It has nothing to do with him being the first pick — it’s the way he’s played. Everybody around the league has been extremely impressed… offensively and defensively. He should be very proud that at 18 years old, at minimum, he’s in the conversation.”
GOALTENDING: RIDDICH, SOROKIN & WORKLOAD
Q: What gave you confidence David Rittich could bounce back?
Darche: “Well, I mean, we’ve seen him — the year before his numbers were great in LA. He’s had good moments in Calgary. And when you’re looking for a goalie and obviously you have the cap and all that, we felt with his experience… and he’s got a big personality, which is great. He brings life to the room. He’s got the nickname ‘Big Save Dave,’ so he’s done quite a few of those. We’ve been extremely happy.”
Q: With Sorokin’s workload, how important is having Rittich perform like this?
Darche: “Well, for sure. You won’t see goalies play 70–72 games like Marty Brodeur. The game’s too demanding. We have 16 back-to-backs. So right there, there’s 16 games you rarely put your same goalie in twice. Whether Soroky’s in net or Dave is in net, we feel very comfortable.”
BO HORVAT & OLYMPIC CONSIDERATION
Q: What’s amazed you most about Bo Horvat and does he deserve Olympic consideration?
Darche: “Well, I mean, he definitely deserves consideration. Bo’s big strength to join these teams is he can play everywhere — up and down the lineup. Center, wing. He’s 6-1 but he’s 225, so he brings some size. He’s top 10 in faceoffs. He can play PK. A lot of people think these Olympic teams are all-star teams, but you need to build a team. And Bo can play up and down. That’s a huge asset. He’s been our offensive leader and his leadership is outstanding.”
The Home Stands first three games have been horrific! They have to attack the middle of the ice in the Ozone, and have better shooting accuracy. They don’t seem to match some of the bigger more physical teams ie Boston Minnesota etc. Max Tsyplakov has been nothing short of horrendous. I think that experiment 🔬 is OVER! Lacks the skating required to succeed in the NHL. George should be up and in the lineup at LHD #3. Gatcomb also should be up playing on 4th Line. Tsyplakov should be put on waivers and if not claimed go to Bridgeport.
The offense completely dried up on Home Ice and the PP is BAD! This is where Eklund, Eiserman, Finely, Jefferies, Romano and Kashawn Aitcheson make a difference as far as skill. This team seems to be a little above the last few seasons, and that’s it! Shooting accuracy isn’t there, and toy Dept is empty!