How have the Islanders changed under Mathieu Darche? 

With a dynamic first-overall pick rookie in Matthew Schaefer and a Vezina candidate goalie in Ilya Sorokin, the New York Islanders and their success have been one of the big stories of this NHL season.

First-year general manager Mathieu Darche has had a lot to do with it. The longtime Tampa Bay assistant looks like an emerging maestro in the big chair, and he’s breathed new life into an organization that had grown stagnant under the rigidity of legendary executive Lou Lamoriello’s leadership.

On Thursday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Irfaan Gaffar and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton were joined by longtime Islander Cal Clutterbuck to discuss the culture shift that’s taken place under Darche’s watch.

Irfaan Gaffar: Culture and things like that are always words that we use when talking about the National Hockey League and teams that separate themselves from from another, but I want to talk about the New York Islanders and how much things have change. Obviously, you get Matthew Schaefer and that’s a complete change in the direction and philosophy of an organization, so my question to you I guess is: What’s working right now, and how much has changed with the way that Mathieu Darche operates, the way that Patrick Roy operates and trickling down all the way to the players?

Cal Clutterbuck: It starts at the top… I mean, we had the ultimate guy at the top in Lou. You want to talk about daily accountability, look no further than Lou Lamoriello, which was great because I think we had in in New York at the time we had we had a really great nucleus of guys. We had a lot of talent, we just needed someone to come in and, you know, similar to the Buffalo Sabres right now, we needed someone to come in and and instill that daily sense of responsibility in the group… After eight years the Islander fan base got a little exhausted with the way that we were going about trying to win. I think that the league is outgrowing that sort ‘let’s just take care of our own end and score enough to win,’ mentality. I think the talent is too dynamic; I think the way that it’s all gone. So Matieu Darche comes in, a little bit more relaxed situation for a lot of guys who’ve been there a long time. There’s freedom for the players to be seen in public. That creates a buzz in the rink.Then, you get the first overall pick. You get really lucky with the first overall pick, because you know, a first overall pick is great in any year, but when you’re talking about a player who can come in and have the type of impact that this kid’s had. it just raises everyone’s level. I think the Mat Barzals of the world, Bo Horvats of the world get excited they have a new toy to play with. They are excited about different ways that they can create offense.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…