The New York Islanders are expected to hire Mathieu Darche as their next general manager, according to multiple reports. Darche, who played nine seasons in the NHL, most recently served as the director of hockey operations for the Tampa Bay Lightning. He would replace Lou Lamoriello, who held the president and GM roles from 2018 through this season but did not have his contract renewed for the 2025-26 campaign.
Darche won two Stanley Cups during his stint in Tampa Bay, and in both the 2020 and 2021 seasons, the Lightning defeated the Islanders in the conference finals. The Islanders have the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft after winning the lottery earlier this month.
Darche’s professional playing career spanned more than a decade and featured stops with five different teams. He bounced back and forth between the AHL and NHL and played 268 games in the latter, accumulating 75 career points. That includes 18 playoff appearances and three postseason points. He suited up for the Columbus Blue Jackets, Nashville Predators, San Jose Sharks, Lightning and Montreal Canadiens before his exit from the league in 2012.
The Islanders made the general manager change after a seven-year run under Lamoriello. He oversaw several successful seasons at the helm and constructed rosters that in 2020 and 2021 reached consecutive Eastern Conference Finals. He twice won the league’s GM of the Year award.
The 2021 playoffs marked the last time the Islanders advanced beyond the first round, though, and they missed the postseason entirely in two of the last four years.
Lamoriello closed his Islanders tenure without a Stanley Cup but was a three-time winner with the New Jersey Devils. He turned the franchise into perennial contenders following his rise as the longtime president and general manager, and the Devils won the Stanley Cup in 1995, 2000 and 2003.
