Perhaps the most important thing Mathieu Darche said Wednesday was not about the trades he just completed but about those that could still be to come.
“Nothing’s off the table if I can improve the team,” Darche said, asked whether he may dangle one of his two first-round picks between now and the March 6 trade deadline. “Doesn’t mean I’m gonna move a first-round pick by any means, but if something makes sense, I got two this summer. I’m not afraid to move one if it makes sense.
“But I won’t move one just to get a name that, oh it sounds exciting but doesn’t quite fit, just to do it. But if the right deal comes along and the price — whatever deal you feel is right, there’s a price to pay. If I feel that the deal is right for a first-round pick, I’ll do it.”
So, no, the Islanders are not necessarily done after adding Carson Soucy and Ondrej Palat on Monday and Tuesday nights, respectively, and yes, the door is wide open for them to make bigger additions over the next five weeks.
As for the two they made ahead of Wednesday’s match against the Rangers, this was about filling two needs and about sending a message to the dressing room.
“I want to reward the players for putting us in a position to get to the playoffs,” Darche said.
Message received.
“As players in the room, you feel that confidence from up top,” Jonathan Drouin said. “You always want that during this time of year.”
According to Darche, the Islanders had been looking for some time for a player who could replace Alexander Romanov on their third pair. Soucy, a 6-foot-4, penalty-killing defenseman, fit that mold.
“With the Rangers, kinda knew some trades were coming,” Soucy said. “This one made sense with family and stuff. Don’t have to uproot. We’re gonna stick around the area we’re in right now, kinda made sense there.”
As for Palat, the Islanders had enough cap space to take on his $6 million salary easily, and Darche — who was with the Czech winger in Tampa — believes he will help the Islanders in the playoffs.
“If you look at his stats in the playoffs, his points per game, goals per game, everything, it’s higher than in the regular season,” Darche said. “Even in the two years with the Devils that they made the playoffs, to me he was one of their better players in the playoffs. So we’re bringing that winning pedigree.
“Just a guy that plays the right way, that defends well. We’ve been talking about, we want to be a bit better defensively as we move forward. Yeah we want to score goals, but you’re not getting a top goalscorer easily like that at this time of year. So we’re bringing two guys that defend extremely well.”
Palat, who skated on the second line with Bo Horvat and Emil Heineman, said he waived his 10-team no-trade clause to go to the Islanders, having been convinced on both their playoff capabilities and the proximity to New Jersey, where he owns a home.
On the ice from Long Island
Sign up for Inside the Islanders by Ethan Sears, a weekly Sports+ exclusive.
Thank you
“I would love to just produce a bit more than in Jersey, but I’m not here to be scoring 50 goals a season,” Palat said. “Just here to bring the two-way game that is very important to this league. Play the right way and wherever coach puts me, I will do my best to help the team to win.”
Though the Palat deal was already being worked on when the Isles dealt their 2026 third-rounder for Soucy, Darche said knowing he may get New Jersey’s third-rounder had little effect on his comfort level giving up his own. He would have done the two deals independent of each other.
“Every day I’m trying to improve the team whether it’s through staff, through personnel, through players,” Darche said. “… I’m not making deals just to make deals. I’m making deals to improve the team. Which I am.
“I think we’re a better team than we were yesterday with those two players. If something else comes up that I can improve the team, I’ll look at it and yes, I still have cap flexibility.”
