Mathieu Darche’s phone keeps ringing as he prepares for his first NHL draft as general manager of the New York Islanders, and he’s sure of only one thing: They are not trading the No. 1 pick, which is expected to be defenseman Matthew Schaefer on Friday.
“I’m not trading the 1, but you look at everything, right?” Darche said on a video call with reporters Tuesday. “Teams are calling you about various options. Every time you hear something might be going on, you call a team, and my job is to do my due diligence and see what’s out there. Every single day, I’m trying to improve the New York Islanders.
“I can’t tell you all my secrets,” Darche said. “… We all know the talent at this point. You’re researching more the character and personalities. You are just trying to get as much information. There’s a few guys we like, and I do have an idea at this point, because it’s in four days. But we’re going to keep doing our due diligence all the way through Friday.”
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Schaefer and a couple of centers — Canadian Michael Misa and Swede Anton Frondell — are expected to be the top three off the board. San Jose, which took Macklin Celebrini at No. 1 overall last year, and Chicago, which got Connor Bedard at No. 1 in 2023, have the second and third picks after New York.
“He’s an impressive young man,” Darche said of Schaefer. “He’s a hell of a player. He’s a great person. But having said that, there’s a lot of other kids at the draft that we met that are very impressive. That’s why I say, regardless of who we pick on Friday, we’ll get a special player that’s going to help the New York Islanders fairly quickly.”
With Long Island native James Hagens also in the mix as a likely top-10 pick, there has been plenty of speculation about the Islanders making a trade to get back into the first half of the first round to get both players.
“I’m looking at everything,” Darche said. “If I feel the opportunity warrants that trade, I’ll try it. … Whether it’s moving up in the draft with another pick, whether it’s acquiring another pick, whether it’s trading another pick to get a player, I’m looking at all options to improve our team.”
Hagens grew up in Hauppauge and went to Nassau Coliseum as a kid. He still has the towel from his first playoff game, and his buddies who are Islanders fans were pumped to see them win the draft lottery to get the first pick.
It has started to look increasingly unlikely that Hagens is the top prospect in this draft, but that has not stopped folks in the New York area from rooting for Darche to select him. Hagens has had people approach him on the golf course and recently saw a bumper sticker reading, “Bring Hagens Home.”
“It was cool,” said Hagans, a 5-foot-11 center who was a point-a-game player during his freshman season at Boston College. “Moments like that, it puts a smile on your face.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
