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Mathieu Darche won’t trade Bo Horvat or Mathew Barzal to the Canadiens
Félix Forget
Mathieu Darche won’t trade Bo Horvat or Mathew Barzal to the Canadiens
Credit: Getty Images
The Mathieu Darche era is now well underway on Long Island. The former Habs player, who is now GM and VP of hockey operations for the Islanders, was introduced to the media yesterday and is beginning to take the pulse of his team to determine the next steps.

And this morning, he made his first signings: he offered new contracts to Kyle Palmieri and Adam Boqvist… but as we understand it, he simply honored agreements already reached with Lou Lamoriello and the players.

But of course, the bulk of the work will take place over the next few months, when he will have to restore the Islanders to their former glory. And in many people’s eyes, a rebuild wouldn’t hurt a club with a dearth of raw talent.

But when you listen to Darche’s appearance on JiC yesterday, you realize that the GM sees things differently: he thinks his club is too talented to languish in the bottom half of the standings, and he sees the Islanders in the running to make the playoffs this year.

What we understand, then, is that a rebuild doesn’t seem to interest him… and that guys like Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal aren’t likely to be traded this summer.

Darche notes that he doesn’t rule out a retool, but he seems to believe in his current core. He sees it being in the playoff race, after all… and he even names Horvat and Barzal as important pieces of his core.

Will he really trade the pieces he himself identifies as important to his stated goal of making the playoffs? Unlikely, we agree.

Of course, it’s possible that all this could change if an offer he can’t refuse comes along… but we understand that Darche isn’t coming to town to destroy everything in order to better rebuild. There’s work to be done to get this team back on its feet… and clearly, he believes he can do it without a fire sale.

And, above all, without having to make a coaching change, given that he has reiterated his confidence in Patrick Roy and asserted that he has carte blanche to bring in his own coach if he so desires. But at the same time, whether it’s true or not, he wasn’t about to say the opposite publicly, you know…

If the Habs want a second center, then, they might have to look far from Long Island to find one. And no, trading Cole Caufield for Sidney Crosby wouldn’t be my solution.


Overtime

– Wow.

– Ah.

– Great news for the Angels.

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