No matter what happens, it is very hard to picture a world in which the Islanders come out as definitive losers of the past 24 hours.
Combine the two deals they made with their two crosstown rivals and Mathieu Darche, essentially, traded an underperforming Maxim Tsyplakov, who was in need of a change of scenery, to the Devils in exchange for Carson Soucy, Ondrej Palat and a 2027 sixth-round pick, while swapping his 2026 third-rounder with New Jersey’s — which might end up being a better pick when all is said and done.
Palat’s $6 million cap hit next season could become a problem for the Islanders to navigate, but even in the absolute worst-case scenario, they can wash their hands of him in 2027. It’s hard to get too worked up about that when Pierre Engvall will be on the books until 2030.
Taken together, the two deals are a shrewd piece of business. Soucy addresses a need the Islanders tried for two months to fill internally and could not; getting someone who could be defensively steady on the third pair was an absolute necessity between now and the trade deadline, and Ryan Pulock’s injury this week only served to highlight that further.
Soucy does not have a particularly high ceiling, but he’s a safe bet to do exactly that, and as an expiring contract, carries little risk. Whether or not this pair of deals definitively changes the Islanders’ outlook is going to come down to Palat.
When Nick Leddy was available on waivers last week, there was a portion of the Islanders fan base wanting to bring him back, recalling his contributions to the two final four teams. Darche, who was not here during that period and thus not prone to the same nostalgia, smartly kept his powder dry on a player whose skillset was the complete opposite of what the Islanders needed.
I bring this up because Darche was a part of the Lightning during Palat’s best years, when he was one of the core pieces that helped Tampa to two straight Stanley Cup championships. This is reason to believe that being back with Darche will help Palat, whose stint with the Devils was nothing short of disastrous. It’s also reason to wonder whether Darche looked past Palat’s recent play to his own eventual detriment.
The Islanders need scoring, and they need players who can operate inside the dots, create havoc in the dirty areas and around the front of the net. At his best, Palat can do that, but it’s an open question whether he can still reach that level when he turns 35 in March.
The Islanders already have a number of wingers who are struggling to score. Jonathan Drouin has gone 29 straight without a goal; Max Shabanov has scored once in his past 29 games; Anders Lee once in his past 14; Emil Heineman twice in his past 16.
Palat has two goals in his past 25. A situation in New Jersey that became fairly uncomfortable after the Quinn Hughes sweepstakes ended badly for the Devils was surely a factor, and none of this is to overlook the defensive contributions Palat — or any of the aforementioned wingers — can make.
But, newsflash: the Islanders aren’t getting too far if five of the six wingers in their top nine are not scoring goals.
There’s also the risk inherent in acquiring a player before the Olympic break who will be going to Milan. The Islanders will have just two players in Italy — Bo Horvat with Canada and Palat with Czechia — but given the concerns around the ice at Santagiulia Arena, they, along with everyone else, will be holding their breath for two straight weeks.
Still, if things don’t work out, it’s not exactly a disaster. Tsyplakov was hardly playing, and the Islanders certainly did not make themselves a worse team. They also have enough optionality to either keep pushing chips in or to even sell if things go haywire between now and the March 6 trade deadline.
As of a few weeks ago, Darche hadn’t engaged Jean-Gabriel Pageau or Lee’s camps on extensions; Tony DeAngelo, David Rittich and even Soucy are all on expiring deals and could be of interest to playoff teams as well. If the Islanders struggle into, or out of, the Olympic break, that will need to become a conversation.
On the other side of the ledger, Darche addressed two needs without, on net, losing any draft or prospect capital. Though it would be surprising to see the Islanders move any of their top prospects, they’ve still got two firsts and the Devils’ third-round pick to play with.
The pair of deals also sends a message to the dressing room: the Islanders earned their way to some badly needed additions before the Olympic break.
Keep playing well, and Darche might respond in kind.
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