That led to the lowest low of a second straight playoff miss despite 43 wins, their most since 2018-19. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt absolutely stinks,\u201d Darche said during Wednesday\u2019s breakup day at Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow that followed Tuesday\u2019s season-ending 2-1 loss to the Hurricanes. \u201cIt was terrible yesterday and this morning is a terrible morning.\u201d <\/p>\n
The Islanders missed the Eastern Conference playoff cutoff by eight points despite a 43-34-5 mark after missing the postseason by nine points in 2024-25 with a 35-35-12 record. That shows the conference markedly improved this season and that the Islanders have plenty of ground to make up this offseason. <\/p>\n
So here are five offseason questions:<\/p>\n
1. What moves can Darche make? <\/p>\n
All season, the fans\u2019 expectation \u2014 or perhaps hope \u2014 was that Darche could use his first full offseason in charge of the franchise to reshape the roster. But those expectations should be tempered with a tepid class of unrestricted free agents, mainly in the 30-something category, who will not fit Darche\u2019s vision for the franchise despite $16.125 million of space under the $104 million salary cap ceiling, according to PuckPedia.com. <\/p>\n
That likely will leave the trade market as Darche\u2019s main avenue of improvement, but he said the two biggest \u201ctrades\u201d of the offseason might be getting a healthy Kyle Palmieri (knee) and defenseman Alexander Romanov (shoulder) back after both were sidelined in November. The Islanders do need to improve their defense depth and scoring. <\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s face it, when I took this job last year, I knew that for two years we\u2019d have a fairly similar roster,\u201d Darche said. \u201cContracts are contracts, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
2. Will captain Anders Lee leave? <\/p>\n
Short answer: It seems very likely. Lee, who will turn 36 in the offseason, will be a UFA after completing a seven-year, $49 million deal. He\u2019s been with the Islanders for 14 seasons<\/a> and has been the captain for eight. He\u2019s 77 games shy of 1,000 and Darche said he\u2019d like to see Lee reach that milestone as an Islander. <\/p>\n He also said a new deal would have to make sense for both sides, meaning the Islanders are not likely to offer a term or a salary attractive to Lee. There\u2019s already strong speculation that the Minnesotan could play for his hometown Wild next season. <\/p>\n \u201cWe can .\u2002.\u2002. have that conversation and see where he\u2019s at and likewise for myself,\u201d Lee said of his exit interview with Darche.\u2002\u00a0 <\/p>\n 3. Is goalie Semyon Varlamov a viable option? <\/p>\n The soon-to-be 38-year-old goalie, who has undergone two partial knee replacements \u2014 one on each knee \u2014 and has not played in the NHL since Nov. 29, 2024, told Newsday he believes he can rejoin the team next season. Darche said he considers Varlamov, who has one season remaining on a four-year, $11 million deal, a viable option to back up No. 1 Ilya Sorokin. <\/p>\n Varlamov took a major step on Wednesday night<\/a>, making 18 saves in a 5-2 win for AHL Bridgeport in his first game action in 517 days. This season\u2019s backup, David Rittich<\/a>, a pending UFA off a one-year, $1 million deal, struggled down the stretch and finished 14-10-3 with a 2.76 goals-against average and .894 save percentage.<\/p>\n 4. What impact will DeBoer have? <\/p>\n DeBoer, making his sixth NHL coaching stop, is known for quick success with his new teams<\/a>. He took the Devils (2012) and Sharks (2016) to the Stanley Cup Final in his first season with those franchises. The Stars reached the Western Conference finals in all three seasons under DeBoer from 2022-25. If nothing else, his four-game introduction at the end of the season gave him a head start on training camp. <\/p>\n \u201cPete\u2019s going to put the systems in place,\u201d Bo Horvat said. \u201cIt\u2019s up to us to go and do it.\u201d<\/p>\n 5. Which prospects will compete for a roster spot? <\/p>\n
![\"Andrew](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776416780_249_image.jpeg\"\/)
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