#mathieu-darche

#mathieu-darche

We just had an honest conversation. We talked about what we thought went well, what went wrong [last year]. And after that, I thought it clicked. I think you know those things. It's gotta be a good fit for the both of us, and I think it was.

The puck drops on the 2025-26 New York Islanders season this week, and with Patrick Roy entering his second full season behind the bench and Mathieu Darche taking over as General Manager, a new era of accountability and purpose is taking shape on Long Island. The blend of Roy's intensity and Darche's modern, player-focused approach signals change - not a teardown, but a transformation of sorts.

Yet despite the chaos, Darche insists he never felt overwhelmed. The reason, he says, comes back to his six years spent working alongside Julien BriseBois in Tampa Bay. "Learning from Julien all those years, I felt prepared," Darche told Pierre LeBrun in The Athletic. "Was it a lot? Yes. But I enjoyed the grind of it. That's what you want to do."

The Islanders continue to unveil much more of an open-door policy than they've had in the past, providing fans access to training camp practices and morning skates.