Why Islanders traded Noah Dobson, not rebuilding, Patrick Roy, more: Catching up with Mathieu Darche

DETROIT Brad Treliving once quipped that he was drinking out of a firehose as he tried to explain the first month of his gig as the Toronto Maple Leafs general manager.

Mathieu Darche can attest to that.

Named GM and executive vice president of the New York Islanders on May 23, there havent been enough hours in the day since.

Advertisement It was the same thing, Darche said with a smile this week at the GMs and coaches meeting when reminded of Trelivings firehose comment.

Its just the timing, right? I came in, and a week later, it was the NHL combine.

Then meetings and preparing for the draft and free agency and obviously the big trade.

Plus, we had five RFAs with arb rights.

But you know what? I never felt overwhelmed.

So much to do in so little time.

He loved every minute of it.

Learning from Julien (BriseBois) all those years, I felt prepared, Darche said in a nod to his former boss with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Was it a lot? Yes.

But I enjoyed the grind of it.

Thats what you want to do.

I had fun doing it.

Obviously, it was tough.

As a first trade, it was a big one.

But you do what you have to, and I feel everyone got what they wanted out of it.

The Noah Dobson blockbuster was quite a way to open his tenure as a GM.

The Islanders moved the 25-year-old top-four defenseman to the Montreal Canadiens on June 27 in exchange for two first-round picks plus forward Emil Heineman.

People always think when you trade a player because you cant sign him to a contract, its acrimonious, but there was never any animosity, Darche said.

I had a value that I thought was my threshold, the agent (Judd Moldaver) saw something else, and then instead of arguing, it was like, If you think you can get that deal somewhere else, lets work together to make that happen.

I wanted to keep the player, but at the end of the day, we couldnt agree to a contract.

Thats business.

But there was never any argument.

Both sides agreed to make the best of it.

Thats something I learned from Julien: take the emotion out of the decision.

After six years as the right-hand man to BriseBois with Tampa Bay, Darche finally got his shot after coming close in other GM searches.

He was runner-up for the Pittsburgh Penguins behind Kyle Dubas and, by all accounts, interviewed well with the Vancouver Canucks, Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Blackhawks when they had GM openings in recent years.

Advertisement Finally, in an Islanders GM interview process that also included the likes of Ken Holland and Marc Bergevin, the younger Darche got the nod.

And so far its been unreal.

Its been great, Darche said.

Ive been very fortunate.

Julien had me involved in everything in Tampa.

Im cognizant that I was lucky for that.

I was involved in every department there.

So its not about chasing it (becoming a GM), but like anyone else, you want to take the next step.

There were a couple of other opportunities that didnt pan out.

And then this one came, and it worked out pretty well.

Its exciting.

Someone asked me what part I enjoyed the most.

Part of it is the pressure of the decisions.

I used to give opinions.

Now youre making the decisions, with the opinions of others.

I really enjoy that part of it.

The social aspect of the job suits him, as well.

Hes as gregarious as they come and has the gift of gab.

An introvert he is not.

I like being on the phone with other GMs, Darche said.

I like talking to agents.

I like being in the grind of it.

I really enjoy the entire process.

My wife asked me at the start, Do you feel its too much? Because at the start, there was a lot going on.

But I told her, No, its a lot, but I enjoy it.

I like being busy.

Maybe Im hyperactive, but I like being busy.

Its been great.

And again, he feels prepared because of how much he learned from BriseBois.

At the same time, Darche said he will have his own brand.

Someone asked me if the Islanders were hiring Julien BriseBois 2.0, he said.

No.

Theres a lot of things that Ive learned from Julien, but me and him have different personalities.

I cant try to be Julien.

That would be phony.

I have to be me.

Which is? I would say Im very collaborative with the people I work with, Darche said.

I dont like when people say, I work for you.

No.

You dont work for me, we work together.

So, Im collaborative, and communication is one of my strengths with players, with staff, with coaches.

Im a GM thats always going to be honest with players, and if they want to come and talk to me, come talk to me.

Advertisement Darches approach to all of this was part of the allure for BriseBois when he brought Darche to Tampa in 2019.

I would describe him, first and foremost, as a people person, which was part of the appeal when I hired him, BriseBois told The Athletic on Thursday.

Setting his resume aside, I knew his social skills would endear him very quickly to all the various stakeholders he would have to interact with as AGM of the Lightning.

I think those social skills will and have already served him really well in Long Island.

Darches background also appealed to BriseBois a playing career at both AHL and NHL levels with some time in Europe, as well.

The fact that Darche was active in collective bargaining both at the AHL and NHL levels as a player also stood out.

He also had a rich experience in the corporate world (at Delmar International) as a vice president of business development overseeing a team of over 30 people around the world, BriseBois said.

So, he came in with a lot of experience already not necessarily club-management experience, but a lot of experience that is relevant to the type of work we do.

Thats why I thought he was going to be a really good resource for me, and he was.

Now hes added six years of work as an NHL club executive.

Thats why I feel hes more than ready for this job in Long Island.

Darche is currently building out the Isles analytics department and beefing up the front office.

The 48-year-old Montreal native, who played nine seasons in the NHL, replaces a legend in Lou Lamoriello as Isles GM.

Big shoes.

Lou has been very nice to me since Ive been there, Darche said.

We had all those RFA arb cases.

He had been talking with the agents before I got there, so I reached out to Lou to get that background.

Aside from BriseBois, when asked for another GM who impressed him in the way he operates, unsurprisingly, Darche pointed to Bill Zito of the two-time-defending Cup champion Florida Panthers.

Advertisement You see what Bill did, coming in as an assistant GM (with the Columbus Blue Jackets) and then made some bold moves when he got to Florida wasnt afraid to make big moves, Darche said.

Which brings us back to making the Dobson trade just barely a month into the job.

Once Darche decided he wasnt going to get to a place contractually that worked for Dobson, instead of losing him for nothing in 12 months as an unrestricted free agent, he chose to maximize his trade value now.

Im pretty happy where the chips fell on it, Darche said.

The two guys we got in the first round with those picks (Victor Eklund and Kashawn Aitcheson), we didnt expect them to be there.

Replenishing the prospect pool quickly in the draft, including of course No.

1 pick Matthew Schaefer, was a key component in another major decision Darche made quickly: He was not interested in a full rebuild.

In the first week after I got the job, I spoke with every player on the team and I told them, Im not tearing it down,' Darche said.

Because this team last year had a lot of injuries, the special teams really struggled, but I think this team can make the playoffs.

As he sees it, the Islanders have too many good players in the primes of their careers to commence a teardown.

And besides, Darche isnt of the philosophy that full teardowns are the way to go in the modern NHL anyway.

The Washington Capitals are a great example of a retool on the fly that worked.

Thats what I believe in, Darche said.

Another decision that faced Darche quickly upon taking over as GM was the head coach.

Patrick Roy has three more years on his contract.

Its not always a smooth ride when a new GM inherits a coach, especially one with a bigger-than-life personality like the Hockey Hall of Fame goalie.

But the two hit it off.

They actually didnt know each other.

Advertisement The first time I had Patricks number was the day I got named GM, Darche said with a laugh.

Two days after I got named, I flew to Montreal and spent about five hours with Patrick.

I was really comfortable with him.

Its been great.

I had him in our meetings for the draft and July 1.

You know, people always say Patrick Roy has an ego.

He doesnt.

Hes fiery, and he wants to win.

The impression from the outside is that it has to be his way.

But hes actually very humble.

Ive really enjoyed working with him.

Its been very collaborative.

Its been great.

Captain Anders Lee is entering the final year of his contract.

Hes the first player Darche met with the day after he got named GM.

Theyve talked routinely all summer.

The contract part can wait.

I said to him, Lets start the year and see where it goes, Darche said.

Theres no urgency on his side, on my side.

Hes the captain of our team, and I really like the individual.

But Im new to the team, right? Theres no one thats on an expiring deal, that has one year left, that Ive re-signed.

Its not because I dont want to, I had enough on my plate this summer.

Ive got a great relationship with Anders.

Thats a file for another day.

Three and a half months into the job, Darche has already done plenty.

But it will be fascinating to see his further imprints as he molds the Islanders into the kind of modern franchise he envisions.

(Top photo of Mathieu Darche and Patrick Roy: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images) Connections: Sports Edition Spot the pattern.

Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle.

This article has been shared from the original article on theathleticuk, here is the link to the original article.