NASHVILLE, Tenn. — You start with Matthew Schaefer because it is impossible not to start with Matthew Schaefer, because you cannot tell the story of how everything on, about and around the Islanders’ organization changed without starting with Matthew Schaefer.
The thing about hockey, though, is that one player, even a generational player, doesn’t get to dictate everything. This isn’t basketball. The Penguins were 22-46-14 in Sidney Crosby’s rookie season; Alexander Ovechkin had been an NHLer three years before making his playoff debut.
So yes, you start answering the big question with Schaefer. But the Islanders’ 24-15-4 record heading into Thursday night’s game at the Predators and year-over-year 180 as an organization, which has them second in the Metropolitan Division as they set out on a seven-game cross-continent road trip, is about so much more.
Just like Lou Lamoriello was the right person bringing the right philosophy at the right time when hired in 2018, so too was general manager Mathieu Darche this summer. And in so many ways, Darche is the polar opposite of his predecessor.
