ISLANDERS REVEAL: Mathieu Darche's Deadline STRATEGY—Buy, Sell, or SWING for a Goal Scorer?

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The NHL Trade Deadline is just days away and what Matthew Darsch does next will have

a huge impact on the islanders this year and in the future we'll break it down next.

Your Lockdown Islanders, your daily podcast on the New York Islanders, part of the Lockdown

Podcasts Network, your team every day.

Welcome everybody to the Tuesday edition of the Lockdown Islanders Podcast, part of

the Lockdown Podcasts Network, your team every day.

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an episode and thank you for helping to make Lockdown the number one sports podcast network.

I'm Gil Martin.

I've been covering the New York Islanders for two decades and I wrote the book Ice Wars

of History of the Islanders rivalry with the Rangers from 1972 till the modern era.

So glad you could join us today to talk a little Islanders hockey.

Well, we have got a lot going on right now.

The trade deadline is Friday.

How will Matthew Darsch approach the deadline?

What are his options?

What is the most likely outcome?

We'll break all of that down.

We'll also answer some of your mail bad questions about the trade deadline and we'll talk

about what this team can do to clean up some of those slow starts that have plagued them

in the last three games, although they did come back and win all three.

Let's start with the trade deadline.

It's Friday afternoon.

We are close to deadline day and the Islanders have a lot of directions that they could go in.

And it's a little harder maybe to nail down what Matthew Darsch is going to do because this

is the very first time that he is going to be the GM, not the assistant GM, but the GM

at an NHL trade deadline.

And we have a situation where the New York Islanders have exceeded expectations this year.

And they're kind of ahead of schedule on this re-tool that obviously and every day is

no.

We've talked about it on Monday's bonus show and Monday's regular show as well.

Matthew Shafers speeding up that timeline, getting some other guys healthy has helped this

team surprise people.

And it's been great to watch this team do well.

But ultimately, the first two questions that Matthew Darsch has to answer.

What do you do about Anders Lee and JG Pazzo?

And I think the team's recent success, not to mention the fact that Lee and Pazzo have

both played well lately.

You know, that's a double-edged sword, right?

I mean, on the one hand, it makes you think, hey, these guys still got it.

Maybe we should sign them to a new deal.

And on the other hand, it makes you think, well, these guys are hot.

Interest is going to be higher.

We can get more for them if we trade them.

Maybe we should do that.

And it's a difficult decision.

I do think, though, that the fact that the islanders are where they are right now in

the standings and that they have surprised so many people and the vibes around the team

are so positive right now.

I think it's less likely that Matthew Darsch trades JG Pazzo or Anders Lee.

Even though, again, long-term, that might be the best approach for the team in the short

run when your team is playing well, when the locker room is as cohesive as this islander's

locker room has been, breaking up, don't trade in the way you're capped in and trading

away.

A veteran player like that is more difficult.

It really would require the GM to say, hey, I know we're ahead a schedule.

We're playing with House Money.

I want to make the playoffs, but if we make it great, if we don't, we don't, we're building

for the future.

I don't think that Darsch would do that at this point.

I don't think ownership would be happy if he did because they want to sell playoff tickets

and the more playoff games they host, the more money they make, because players don't

get paid their regular salary during the Stanley Cup playoffs.

That's the first decision and then you have your options, right?

You could sell, you could buy, and then if you buy, you could buy big.

Go for that home run, get that sniper that this team has needed for what, two, three decades

at this point.

Like I said, I think the last true sniper this team has had was Ziggy Palfee who played

for the team in the late 90s.

So you could swing big, you could add a depth piece or two, or you know, you could do that

middle ground, which is more or less what they did before the Olympic break by adding depth

pieces like Carson, Susie and Andre Palat, who can help short term without really hurting

you long term.

I mean, Susie is an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season.

Palat has one more year left on his deal.

And if he doesn't, you know, live up to his $6 million cap hit, you could buy him out

over the offseason.

There's one year left on his deal.

It wouldn't be that cost prohibitive.

So there are, you know, by adding those two guys and essentially adding a six round pick

and moving up in the third round when you put those two trades with two different teams

together, you know, what Darshan did and it was very smart was he added two short term

players without tying the team up and restricting their, you know, options in the future.

Those guys help for the short term.

They don't kill you in the long term.

The only thing you took on was some cap and they actually got more picks.

So I mean, overall, that was a brilliant move.

Was it a game changer in the sense that the trajectory of the franchise changes?

No, but it helped the team in the short run and, you know, that was what it was designed

to do.

I think we're going to see more of the Palat Susie kind of deals where they may add

a player, maybe a middle six forward, maybe a third pair defenseman.

I hope that they add some physicality because that definitely is lacking.

And look, the playoffs, things get more physical, not less physical.

And in a best of seven series, when you're playing the same team four, five, six, seven

times in a row, you know, the opposition is going to go after.

Matthew Schaefer.

If you think they've gone after him during the regular season, look out in the playoffs

because they will hit him, try to get under his skin, try to get him off his game.

And the Islanders are going to have to have guys who can respond.

Their track record on that is mixed at best.

And they really don't have a guy right now on this roster who has the reputation of being

someone who's going to deliver and put a little fear into opposing teams.

So I think that's the most realistic thing.

If you're hoping that the Islanders are swinging for the fences, that they could add a

Cairo, for example, Jordan Cairo from the Blues or a Steven Stamcoast, although again,

I kind of hesitate to add players on the other side of 30.

In fact, I'd like them under 28 years old if I can help it.

But be that as it may, a Thomas, a Cairo from the Blues or another goal scorer because

you never know who could move or who couldn't.

They got a free-up cap space.

So whether it's Jonathan Drew and Anthony Duclaire and there were some rumors out there

that the Islanders are shopping Duclaire, but keep in mind both Drew and Duclaire

have full-no-trade clauses right now.

They would have to wave it.

Now, if I'm Anthony Duclaire and I know I'm not getting in the lineup consistently in

that Patrick Wah doesn't always like my style of play.

Maybe I'd be more willing to accept the deal, although he may also be tired of being on

so many teams and moving constantly, so he may hesitate, you don't know.

But both Drew and who's been in the lineup but hasn't been productive and Duclaire, who

has not been in the lineup, but when he has been, has been productive offensively.

They have full-no-trade clauses.

And if you're bringing in a guy with a salary cap AAV of $8 million, $9 million, you've

got to free up at least four or five million because right now the Islanders have a hair

over $6 million in cap space and that with Alexander Romanov on LTIR, if Romanov comes

back for the playoffs, you can't play somebody because you don't have enough cap space.

You now need to be cap compliant in the playoffs.

It's complicated, but if you're going to bring in a big fish and that sniper that this

team needs, you've got to ship somebody out and we'll see who, if anybody, they would

move out or who they could move out.

And again, if Lee and Orpazzo can agree on a contract, if they're really far apart

on an extension, maybe they trade them even though they don't want to trade them or

it wouldn't be their first choice to trade them because they price themselves out of

the market.

So putting it mildly, there's a lot of moving parts.

If the options are go big, stay put, sell off or go for that moderate middle of the road

move, I think they'll go for the moderate middle of the road move.

You'll see, Darsh, like I said, doesn't have a track record.

It'll be interesting to see how this all plays out.

Another guy who you wonder about who could be traded in my mind, Max Shabanov, Shabby,

Light Duke Lair has been out of the lineup.

A lot has not earned a lot of ice time.

And if I'm Shabby, you know, maybe I want that chance to play somewhere else.

If he can get an opportunity because Shabanov, one year deal, you know, whether he's

back next year or not, depending on who they bring in, there's again, so many moving

parts to try to figure out.

But if I had to guess what Matthew Darsh is going to do, I say he adds moderately and

may also sell off a player or two.

I don't think they go big yet at this point.

I think they might go big before the draft or over the off season, maybe even bringing

in a free agent, but we'll have plenty of time to talk about that.

We've got mail-back questions from you about the trade deadline and we're going to talk

about that.

Plus, oh yes, for our islanders birthday of the day.

Another islanders' defenseman, an American born islanders' defenseman who won the call

to trophy in the mid to late 90s.

Let's see if you can guess who this is.

We've got that and more coming up on today's Locked On Islander's podcast.

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And if you use the code deadline ahead of the trade deadline this Friday afternoon, you'll

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Let's go to the mailbag.

Mailbag is always fun and it's always great to hear from all of you.

This one is from John in Smithtown.

Since the trade deadline is coming up, in my opinion, the only untouchable prospects are

Eclan, H.S. and Richie.

That being said, I heard rumors that the blues may look for H.S. and in the trade package.

I can't see that happening and I would not be happy with that.

Now, if you had to put a trade value on each prospect, what would you put on them?

And who are you untouchables, John from Smithtown?

John, thank you very much for the question and it's a good one.

Those two, Eclan and H.S. and to me are guys I really don't want to part with.

When you say someone is untouchable, John, I think, like that's an exaggeration.

I know what you mean by it, but like for example, everyone would say that Ilja Serokin is untouchable

right now for the islanders or Matthew Barzall or Bo Horvat are untouchable.

But if somebody said, will trade you Conor McDavid for Bo Horvat with the islanders do that?

Probably.

So, you know, when we say untouchable, it means I have to be blown out of the water by an offer.

And I wouldn't make Richie untouchable, although I really like Cal Richie and I think in a year or two, he'll be a really solid two C with, you know, 20 to 25 gold potential.

And the ability to really be a great 200 foot two way player.

I think he's got a bright future ahead of him.

I think H.S. and I don't want to trade unless I'm blown away. Why?

For one thing, he had a dynamic blue line presence and second of all.

And we all know how we know this team needs more physicality.

And he could help on the power play.

And Eclan, I think, is our, you know, the next best forward prospect that we've got.

So I'm with you that I don't want to deal any of these three guys.

But the old expression is if you want to get something, you got to give something.

And, you know, I could tell you right now, like if you want Jordan Cairo, Jonathan Drew and a number one ain't getting it done.

So it's a tough call.

If I had to put it in order, it's the order you had it in, Eclan, H.S. and Richie.

As in, I don't want to trade them.

The most I am a little more open to trading them.

But, you know, and then you have coal eyes or men who I think is intriguing to a lot of teams.

But his stock has fallen a little bit this year as his production fell.

Now he's been injured. That's been part of the equation for him.

I don't consider him untouchable right now.

But again, with the islanders longing for a sniper.

You know, I'm reluctant to trade a guy who, you know, could be potentially the answer to that equation.

So we'll see how this all plays out.

But ultimately, I think that I'm reluctant to part with any of those guys, especially Eclan and H.S. and.

And I've got to get a really good player in return with term, you know, with a reasonable salary, not a rental.

You know, let me say it this way, the, the bar would be high.

You've got to blow me away in order to get this.

So we'll see.

But again, thank you very much for that question.

Now the second question we have is from James.

Hi, Gil, great show on the NHL. You're like a senior guru.

Everyone trusts you and takes your direction.

I'll skip the rest of that part. My question to you.

Why do guys like pull up and pellet garner so much respect?

They're good, but not great.

And they're treated like they're great.

Will the islanders get any wire in the playoffs?

If they're the only great defense, if they're only great defenseman is an 18 year old rookie.

What about future years?

It's going to take shape for at least a few years before he's really great.

What are we doing here?

And how should they play this out?

I think there's a bunch of different ways to answer that question.

But I'm going to start this way.

First of all, pelican pollock were huge parts of the islanders back to back trip to conference finals in 2020 and 2021.

And at that point in their career, I think they were in their prime on top of their game.

They hadn't really been as slow down by injuries, which do take a toll on all athletes.

I think like you said, they're good, but not great.

They've had good years this year, kind of had a bounce back year.

And your question, will the islanders get anywhere in the playoffs?

If they're only great defenseman is an 18 year old rookie, I kind of think the answer is probably not very deep into the playoffs.

This team, I would say, if they get beyond round one, they're not going to be favored in any other round.

And they may not be favored in round one either if they make the playoffs.

And I think they will, but certainly not a guarantee.

So I think, you know, they'll be lucky to be favored in one playoff series.

And that would be the opening round.

So, you know, this team is developing.

And the thing is, go back and think about the great islander dynasty teams.

The islanders defense core in the early 80s only had one Hall of Famer.

And that was Dennis Potvin.

But you had some really good players around Dennis Potvin.

So, you know, you don't necessarily need six elite defensemen to make a long playoff run.

But one excellent outstanding defenseman, two or three very good defenseman and a couple of, you know, above average to good defenseman in the modern NHL with 32 teams.

That's more than adequate.

I mean, again, going back to the dynasty years.

The third lane, who was the, you know, third pair defenseman on the islanders back then.

Or Mike McEwan and no offense to those players because they were very important to the success of the dynasty era islanders when they were with the team.

But nobody is going to say they were more than good to very good players, but they played a specific role and they played it well.

And, you know, for McEwan, he was the more offensive minded guy could give you help on the power play.

The second unit usually when Dennis Potvin was not on the ice, who could pass well and give you that transition game and skate.

Gord Lane, more of a shutdown guy, a physical guy clearing out the front of the net, standing up for his teammates, being solid in his own zone.

Neither of them were all stars as islanders, but both of them had a job.

They were good at what they did.

And that mattered.

So I think the issue is that Pelican Pollock are starting to get older.

How many more years they'll have to be good to very good remains to be seen if they can stay healthy remains to be seen.

But I don't know, you know, as of right now, I think you can add one more very good defenseman and shaper goes to become elite.

I think they're fine on the blue line.

But again, thank you very much for the question.

James appreciate the kind words as well.

And again, everybody feel free send in those male bad questions.

We've got more to get to on today's show.

The islanders need to clean up their slow starts.

We'll talk about that here, what some of the players had to say.

We'll have our islanders birthday of the day next on today's locked on Islanders podcast.

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The islanders are on a five game winning streak.

They've won all three games since they came back from the Olympic break.

And yet one thing they did in all three games, one thing that they have in common in all three games.

They gave up the first two goals of the game fell behind.

And yeah, they managed to come back.

And yeah, they managed to win.

But let's face it, that is not a sustainable recipe for long term NHL success, especially on a team like the islanders that tends to struggle to score goals.

So, you know, Patrick Wah, after the game on Sunday.

He said, I feel like the better we're going to be on our breakouts, the better we're going to be in our D zone coverage.

I think our expected goals against are a little bit high because we made too many turnovers.

You know how it works.

You make turnovers technically.

It's a scoring chance.

So if we do a better job there, I think we're going to improve because we're doing so well on the rush off the rush.

We're in the top five in the league, but breakouts where bottom of the league.

So if we could clean up there, I think that's going to help a lot.

And Andrews Lee basically, you know, mentioned that the Panthers who the islanders played on Sunday are very good at that particular aspect of the game.

Bo Horvath, I think, summed it up best.

He said, we can't get used to it.

It being falling behind early in games.

Obviously, we'd like to get off to a bit of a better start and play with a lead.

And again, you know, part of it is being ready to play at the opening face off.

I don't know how Patrick Wah can work on that.

Cleaning up what they do in their own zone and transitioning.

It's been an issue for this team for three or four years now, really since Barry trots left.

And it's something they've got to do better.

And hopefully, you know, that's one thing that Matthew Schaefer can help you with because of the way he skates or Tony,

Angela, because of how he passes or skates.

There are guys on this team who can be better in this department.

Now it's a question of execution, but this team has got to get off to better starts because playing from behind in the NHL.

If you look at the spread, even just one nothing scoring the first goal in a game.

Leaguewide, your odds of winning are significantly better than if you fall behind one to nothing.

And if you think about it, if the average NHL game, the team scores a little more than three goals.

If you get that first goal, that puts you at a big advantage.

Time now for our Islanders birthday of the day.

This one I think was pretty easy, but let's see if you got it.

Again, we are a couple of days early, but March 5th will be.

The 49th birthday of former Islanders defenseman Ryan Barard, the wound socket road island.

I love the name of that town native six foot one, 195 pounds.

First overall pick in the 1995 draft, not just first round, but first overall pick by the Ottawa Senators.

Never played for the Senators and played for the Islanders in 1996, 1997.

scored eight goals and 48 points that year and won the Calder trophy as the NHL's top rookie came back with a 14 goal 46 point season.

The following year and then was traded midway through the 1998 99 season to Toronto played for Toronto suffered a serious eye injury.

Then later to sad out of season came back played for the Rangers, the Bruins, the Black Hawks, the Blue Jackets, and had a second tour of duty with the Islanders in 0708 before heading to finishes and his pro career in the KHL for his NHL career.

Barard, 619 NHL games, 76 goals, 323 points and an even 500 penalty minutes, add two goals, 10 points in 20 playoff games, none of those with the Isles.

And had he not suffered that serious eye injury which made him miss a season and threatened his vision.

Who knows what he was capable of long term because he was off to such a great start to his career.

One of his better games as an Islander, November 23rd, 1996, Islanders visiting the Phoenix Coyotes in Phoenix, Eric Feesho, the goalie for the Islanders and Nikolai Habiboulin gets the start for the Phoenix Coyotes.

And in this game the Islanders jump out quickly to a three nothing lead Derek King and Ziggy Palfy score on the power play 24 seconds apart and our Islanders birthday at the day Brian Barard, he happens to assist on both of them and then 23 seconds after the Palfy goal on the same power play.

Barard scores Travis Green and Derek King with the assist Iles up three nothing after one period it was three nothing after two periods but Keith Kachak scores with 17 seconds left in regulation.

Game goes to overtime it ends in a three three tie they still had ties back then Islanders were outshot badly 40, 40 to 21.

But 37 saves by Feesho for Brian Barard or Islanders birthday of the day a goal to assist he had scored on his only shot on goal in the game and he was even plus minus because everything he did was on the power play but Brian Barard a solid offensive defenseman whose career was impacted by a serious injury.

He is our Islanders birthday of the day.

If you have a question a comment maybe a topic you'd like us to discuss on a future episode email us at locked on Islanders at gmail.com and if you leave your first name and where you're from we're happy to mention you on the show when we discuss whatever's on your mind.

You can follow the show on X at locked on Iles you could follow me go Martin on X at ice wars and YR vs NYI will keep you up to date on all things Islanders all year long and I am live tweeting during nearly every Islanders home and road game.

So join me for a little instant insight and analysis and it's great to talk Islanders hockey with you game time or anytime.

Every day is we are back tomorrow we'll talk about more trade deadline news rumors and a whole lot more plus we'll have our weekly farm and prospects report don't forget that Wednesday night and Thursday night the Islanders are on the west coast so our Thursday and Friday shows will debut on YouTube well after midnight and look for our bonus episodes they'll be dropping sometime in the mid to late afternoon.

We'll have those every day this week so keep an eye out both on YouTube and wherever you listen to podcasts for those until then have a great day everybody stay safe and of course let's go Islanders.

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