The Islanders needed to hire a general manager who understood today’s hockey, which emphasizes speed, skating, and scoring. They got that with Mathieu Darche.
What better way to do it than to hire someone from the Tampa Bay Lightning front office? The Bolts define how hockey should be played. That’s why they have been one of the successful hockey franchises in recent years, including denying the Islanders two Stanley Cup championships.
It’s hard to question the hiring of Mathieu Darche as the new Islanders general manager and executive vice president, and credit goes to Islanders’ point man, John Collins, for conducting a hiring process that proved exhaustive, logical, and decisive.
He targeted prominent figures such as Ken Holland, Marc Bergevin, and Brendan Shanahan, but the more Collins spent time with Darche, the more he came to like him. He did whatever it took to ensure he got his guy and didn’t let him go elsewhere. This explains why Shanahan was too late to get a chance to make a case for himself.
Mathieu Darche (photo courtesy NHL.com)
Darche possesses an impressive resume, including talent evaluation, salary cap expertise, and analytic knowledge. He worked his way to the top. Most importantly, he played in the NHL, so he has a good understanding of what motivates players. Plus, he is a team builder. He worked with Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois in building two Stanley Cup championships with the Bolts.
There’s no doubt in my mind he is ready to take the next step in his role as general manager.
John Collins (photo, The Hockey News)
This hiring is a crucial time for this franchise. The Islanders won the NHL Draft Lottery, so Darche gets a month to evaluate candidates such as Long Island native James Hagens, Matthew Schaefer, Michael Misa, Porter Marton, Caleb Desnoyers, and make that choice as the team’s overall No.1 pick.
This itself makes a great hire, as Darche knows offense and has played in today’s hockey. It’s one of the reasons why Collins focused on him. You figure Darche and his staff will focus on drafting a scorer since the team needs one.
Darche will also place a premium on player development, which is essential. The Islanders have struggled to get players to play for them as free agents, and most of the time, veterans don’t exactly pan out. In a young man’s game today, it’s essential that the Islanders do that.
That is not to say Lou Lamoriello never believed in player development. I don’t think he knew how to find the right players, and he seemed stuck in his ways, focusing on defense and goaltending to win games. It worked for a while, but once the talent welled up through age, the team never was the same, and Lamoriello never had answers.
This is why a change in the front office was necessary. If Lamoriello had no answers, there’s no reason to employ him anymore.
Darche’s hiring brings hope, finally. It means there is a direction again. It means the Islanders will have a new identity. It means they are going to be entertaining. There is finally renewed interest after an organization that had stalled in recent years.
This is easier to embrace than the hiring of Holland, who never really had much experience rebuilding a team from the ground up. The Islanders are a team that needs to get younger and build for the long term. This is a rebuilding project. This is why Collins had in mind by hiring Darche.
But let’s not get carried away. It could take three or four years for the Islanders to become an elite team. Islanders fans are always going to be curious to see how the No. 1 overall pick develops. They will be finding out about the young players in the team’s feeder system.
Rebuilding can be fun. It certainly beats what we’ve seen over the last few years. Yes, there are not going to be pretty nights, and that’s okay. At least, the organization has a plan, and the Islanders will stick to it. That itself is progress from the status quo.
No one knows if it will work or not. That’s the beauty of all this, and we’re going to find out if it does.
