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Darche’s Moves Create Opening Night Roster Competition

Darche’s Moves Create Opening Night Roster Competition

Here's a way-to-early guess at the Islanders' 2025-26 opening night lineup.

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David Kolb
Jul 02, 2025
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Darche’s Moves Create Opening Night Roster Competition
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PHOTO: New York Islanders

New York Islanders GM Mathieu Darche filled holes in a rather impressive way throughout day one of free agency.

With Noah Dobson now in Montreal, the Islanders were in need of a right-side, power-play quarterbacking defenseman, so they brought back Tony DeAngelo on a one-year deal worth $1.75 million.

With Semyon Varlamov still a major question mark despite no setbacks in his rehab process, there was a need for an insurance policy in goal, so they signed veteran netminder David Rittich to a one-year deal worth $1 million.

With Brock Nelson now in Colorado, the Islanders were in need of a goal scorer in their top six, so they signed forward Jonathan Drouin to a two-year deal worth $4 million annually to help at 5-on-5, but especially the power play.

Other signings included depth forwards and defensemen on two-way deals to help bolster Bridgeport.

The Islanders team has never been deeper, which will create a tremendous amount of competition once training camp opens up.

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