{"id":397640,"date":"2026-01-09T17:56:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T17:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/397640\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T17:56:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T17:56:08","slug":"islanders-gm-ok-letting-contract-situations-play-out-past-deadline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/397640\/","title":{"rendered":"Islanders GM OK letting contract situations play out past deadline"},"content":{"rendered":"

NASHVILLE, Tenn. \u2014 Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche hasn\u2019t betrayed much urgency about signing Anders Lee or Jean-Gabriel Pageau, both pending free agents, to contract extensions, and kept up that posture Thursday.<\/p>\n

Not only have there still not been discussions about an extension for either player, Darche said before his team\u2019s 2-1 shootout loss to the Predators<\/a>, but if the Islanders stay in the playoff mix, he\u2019s got no problem going past the trade deadline with both of them unsigned.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah. This is the team I have right now,\u201d Darche said. \u201cI don\u2019t give myself a deadline, necessarily. They know I\u2019m happy with them, they know they\u2019re part of our team. We\u2019ll just go from there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"IslandersIslanders general manager Mathieu Darche Robert Sabo \/ New York Post<\/p>\n

That stands in stark contrast to how Lou Lamoriello approached negotiations with Brock Nelson a year ago, trying in vain to re-sign Nelson and then moving him to the Avalanche when it became clear no agreement would be reached. <\/p>\n

Of course, another key difference is the context: The Islanders were on the outer fringes of the playoff race at last year\u2019s deadline. <\/p>\n

Two months before this year\u2019s, they\u2019re in second place in the Metropolitan Division, in the thick of the race.<\/p>\n

Still, Pageau\u2019s and Lee\u2019s situations have drawn attention around the NHL. Both have partial no-trade clauses, but if made available, they\u2019d be highly sought after. <\/p>\n

Darche\u2019s comments Thursday, in that context, served to strengthen the Islanders\u2019 negotiating posture with other teams: If they have no qualms about keeping either player unsigned, then there\u2019s no reason to take a discounted offer.<\/p>\n

\"JuuseJuuse Saros makes a save on Anders Lee during the Islanders\u2019 2-1 shootout to the Predators on Jan. 8, 2025 in Nashville. Steve Roberts-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Given how the Islanders are playing right now, though, there\u2019s little reason to assume Darche would be soliciting. Neither player, it should be noted, has shown any interest in leaving the Island.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, I\u2019m an Islander,\u201d Pageau told The Post. \u201cI play every night, I want to win. That\u2019s all I control. The other stuff will take care of itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand, look, he\u2019s gotta see where our team is at,\u201d Lee told The Post. \u201cI\u2019ve been focused on our team and putting ourselves in a good position where we\u2019re adding at the deadline. We believe in this room that we\u2019re a playoff team.\u201d<\/p>\n

After missing the tournament last year, that belief has been completely validated through the season\u2019s first 43 games, with Tuesday\u2019s 9-0 shellacking of the Devils<\/a> serving as an exclamation point.<\/p>\n

The NHL will have a roster freeze during the Olympic break, which could have mixed effects on the market. <\/p>\n

Darche said the freeze could be an incentive to add a player before the Olympics, giving him more time to acclimate, but if a player is going to Italy, teams will want to wait and make sure they come back healthy.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOn the ice from Long Island\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Islanders by Ethan Sears, a weekly Sports+ exclusive.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\u201cThese things, you never know when it\u2019s gonna happen,\u201d Darche said. \u201cBecause it takes two to tango whenever you want to do something. I guess we each have our own situation. When I feel the timing\u2019s good for me to add someone, doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s the right timing for the other side also. It\u2019s gonna come quick after the Olympics, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the Islanders keep playing the way they have, though, the conversation about Lee and Pageau could become moot. <\/p>\n

Darche, in that case, would be in position to not only stand pat with his expiring deals, but to act as a buyer ahead of the March 7 deadline.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m happy that we\u2019ve set ourselves in a position to fight and be in the playoffs,\u201d Darche said. \u201cThere\u2019s still a lot of work to be done. The goal during the year is, \u2018Hey, we want to make the playoffs.\u2019 There\u2019s half the games left and we\u2019re in a good position.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NASHVILLE, Tenn. \u2014 Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche hasn\u2019t betrayed much urgency about signing Anders Lee or Jean-Gabriel…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397641,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[50235,394,385,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-397640","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-mathieu-darche","9":"tag-new-york-islanders","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}