Islanders’ High Floor Leaves Darche With Limited Options

The Metropolitan Division has a lot of unknowns, with a few rebuilding teams on the rise and veteran-heavy teams trying to keep their competitive window open (it’s happening with the New York Rangers). So, there can be a surprise team that piles up the wins against the division and makes the playoffs. The Islanders have a core that can do that with Barzal, Horvat, and Sorokin in their primes and Romanov starting to enter his best seasons as a defenseman.

That’s the first problem with the Islanders and their core. With a low ceiling, this team is stuck in the murky middle. They won’t be a Cup contender, and at best, they can make the playoffs and lose in the first round (which happened in 2023 and 2024). In the NHL, the teams that make deep playoff runs have stars that can take over games, and while the Islanders ha ve good players, they don’t have those difference-makers.

Darche’s Tough Path to the Top

When a team is good and looking to become a contender, it’s hard for them to take that next step. It’s why multiple teams in the NHL appear stuck and only a handful look like Cup contenders. For the Islanders, it’s hard to build a core that can win a Cup when they have good but not great players.

It’s also difficult to move on from the core they have. The Noah Dobson trade is a good example of the growing pains that come with trading away a player who is in that good, not great, tier. Yes, he was the best-scoring defenseman on the Islanders, who added a spark from the point. However, he’s not the game-changing defenseman who takes over games in the playoffs. It’s why the trade and avoiding a cap hit of an extension made sense in the big picture.

So, the Islanders are stuck with this group for the time being and aren’t trading any of their core players (the four big names are locked into long-term deals anyway). This leads to the other issue, which is building through the draft. Ideally, Darche lands those elite talents who turn things around. The problem is that the Islanders will be too good to be in that position.

They won the lottery to land Matthew Schaefer when they were in no position to do so. Yet, it’s unlikely they will again in the years ahead, and Darche can’t bank on it (and probably doesn’t want to either). At worst, this team will draft in the 5-10 pick range.

Where the Islanders’ Core Gives Darche an Advantage

The good news is that a youth movement can change the dynamics of the Islanders. They will have a great young core for years to come if Schaefer, Calum Ritchie, Cole Ei serman, and the two prospects Darche drafted following the Dobson trade, Kashawn Aitcheson and Victor Eklund, become stars.

It’s unlikely all five of those prospects work out, with one or two projecting as star-caliber, but the rest projecting more like NHL regulars who, at best, are a tier below that elite level. It will also take time to see this group make an impact at the NHL level, with Ritchie looking like the most NHL-ready at the moment (defensemen take more time to develop, so Schaefer is unlikely to take over games in his rookie season). This group, however, does have a higher ceiling than the one currently.

Until the prospects are ready, the Islanders will be in the mix for a playoff spot. That’s where Darche can find another avenue to the Cup, as he can make a big move to get the core to the next level. Darche can make a splash to add an elite talent to the core, and suddenly, the contending window is open.

With a surplus of prospects, Darche has that option at his disposal. He can always flip one for a star without compromising the long-term vision. It’s why the Islanders being in the middle with a high floor isn’t the worst of things, especially considering how Darche has toed the line between tearing it down and continuously pushing the chips into the middle of the table.