So much of Islanders’ future hinges on Mathieu Darche nailing No. 1 pick

LOS ANGELES — Aside from June 25, 2021, when the Islanders lost Game 7 of the NHL semifinals to the Lightning, it’s hard to come up with a bigger date for the franchise in recent memory than June 27, 2025. 

The 1-0 loss to Tampa Bay was the Islanders falling short in their best chance to win the Stanley Cup since the 1980s, and set in motion the four-year series of events that led to this offseason of incredible consequence, with Lou Lamoriello losing his job, the Islanders winning the lottery for the first time since 2009 and Mathieu Darche being installed as general manager. 

Whatever follows will be traced back to the decisions the Islanders make Friday and perhaps in the few days that follow. That’s not just surrounding the No. 1 pick, which is widely projected to be Erie defenseman Matthew Schaefer. It’s about whether the Islanders trade back into the first round to draft James Hagens as well, whether they re-sign or trade Noah Dobson and any other decisions Darche makes that shape his first roster as general manager. 

In the main, however, it is the No. 1 pick that will hold deep and lasting consequences for the organization far beyond anything else Darche may or may not do over the next few days.