Two trades in two days with the Islanders’ two closest geographical rivals to fill the two biggest lineup holes prove two things about first-year general manager Mathieu Darche.
One, he believes in this group’s playoff potential beyond just qualifying for the postseason. Two, the GM again showed he is proactive, something first evidenced this offseason when he didn’t hesitate to deal defenseman Noah Dobson to the Canadiens when contract talks stalled.
So ex-Rangers defenseman Carson Soucy and ex-Devils forward Ondrej Palat both are in Wednesday night’s lineup against the Rangers at UBS Arena as the Islanders begin a potentially season-defining gauntlet of six games in nine days with five of those matches against Metropolitan Division opponents.
The timing of the deals well in advance of the NHL trade deadline on March 6 was no accident with the Islanders in third place in the division and just 6-5-1 in January entering Wednesday’s match. Defenseman Alexander Romanov (right shoulder) and top-six wing Kyle Palmieri (left knee) were both lost for the regular season in November but now defenseman Ryan Pulock (upper body/day-to-day) and center Cal Ritchie (lower body/day-to-day) are absent, too.
“We’re bringing some experience in the NHL to help us,” Darche said on Wednesday. “I want to reward the players for putting us in this position to get to the playoffs. I felt like without being crazy moves, these are two players that will help us as we push toward the playoffs.”
Darche acquired Soucy, a pending unrestricted free agent, for a third-round pick in 2026. But he got a third-round pick back plus a sixth-rounder in 2027 and Palat, in the fourth season of a five-year, $30 million deal, for underperforming forward Max Tsyplakov.
“It’s an exciting day for us,” coach Patrick Roy said. “They’re both going to play an important role on our team. It’s good for the players. What I love is we haven’t touched our draft picks. Actually, we added a draft pick. We do believe that today we’re a better team than we were yesterday.”
As to why now, entering this important stretch of games and with the three-week Olympic break starting on Feb. 6?
“At the end of the day, why wait until the deadline when we have important games against our division,” Darche said. “Since the new year, we’re playing just around .500 and we’re playing all divisional games. I wanted to push our team and to show our players that, ‘Hey, I want to make the playoffs.’
“I like it because it gives us a few games. It gives them the Olympic break for the guys to settle in. I’ve seen where I was before, you get players, they come in, you never practice, you play a game every second night. We’ll have eight, nine days of practice during the Olympic break before the final stretch. So the guys will be here. Their families. Luckily for them, they’re not moving too far.”
Salary-cap space this season is not an issue with Palmieri and Romanov, forward Pierre Engvall and goalie Semyon Varlamov all on long-term injured reserve.
Also, acquiring Soucy and Palat will not preclude Darche from further trades before March 6. And Darche said he would not hesitate to use one of the Islanders’ two first-round picks in this year’s draft for what he considered the right move.
And with the salary-cap ceiling projected to rise another $8.5 million to $104 million, the Islanders are in good shape for next season, too. Right now, the Islanders have a projected $22.5 million in space for 2026-27 and $57.5 million for the following season, when the cap ceiling is projected to be $113.5 million.
“If something else comes up that I can improve the team, I’ll look at it,” Darche said. “I still have some cap flexibility. I still have a lot of cap flexibility for next season.”
The value of seeing a proactive GM making these types of moves is almost immeasurable to the players.
“It’s a strong message to the group that there is belief and that’s a powerful message,” said Rangers coach Mike Sullivan, who won two Stanley Cups with the Penguins. “Teams that I’ve been associated with over the years that were in position to challenge, when the GM is proactive in that regard to try and help the cause, I think it goes a long way with the players.”
Darche showed two things in the last two days. And both were good for the Islanders.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.