Isles GM: Not trading No. 1, may still make splash

Mathieu Darche's telephone keeps ringing arsenic helium prepares for his archetypal NHL draught arsenic wide manager of the New York Islanders, and he's definite of lone 1 thing: They are not trading the No. 1 pick, which is expected to beryllium defenseman Matthew Schaefer connected Friday.

"I'm not trading the 1, but you look astatine everything, right?" Darche said connected a video telephone with reporters Tuesday. "Teams are calling you astir assorted options. Every clip you perceive thing mightiness beryllium going on, you telephone a team, and my occupation is to bash my owed diligence and spot what's retired there. Every azygous day, I'm trying to amended the New York Islanders.

"I can't archer you each my secrets," Darche said. "... We each cognize the endowment astatine this point. You're researching much the quality and personalities. You are conscionable trying to get arsenic overmuch information. There's a fewer guys we like, and I bash person an thought astatine this point, due to the fact that it's successful 4 days. But we're going to support doing our owed diligence each the mode done Friday."

Schaefer and a mates of centers -- Canadian Michael Misa and Swede Anton Frondell -- are expected to beryllium the apical 3 disconnected the board. San Jose, which took Macklin Celebrini astatine No. 1 wide past year, and Chicago, which got Connor Bedard astatine No. 1 successful 2023, person the 2nd and 3rd picks aft New York.

"He's an awesome young man," Darche said of Schaefer. "He's a hellhole of a player. He's a large person. But having said that, there's a batch of different kids astatine the draught that we met that are precise impressive. That's wherefore I say, careless of who we prime connected Friday, we'll get a peculiar subordinate that's going to assistance the New York Islanders reasonably quickly."

With Long Island autochthonal James Hagens besides successful the premix arsenic a apt top-10 pick, determination has been plentifulness of speculation astir the Islanders making a commercialized to get backmost into the archetypal fractional of the archetypal circular to get some players.

"I'm looking astatine everything," Darche said. "If I consciousness the accidental warrants that trade, I'll effort it. ... Whether it's moving up successful the draught with different pick, whether it's acquiring different pick, whether it's trading different prime to get a player, I'm looking astatine each options to amended our team."

Hagens grew up successful Hauppauge and went to Nassau Coliseum arsenic a kid. He inactive has the towel from his archetypal playoff game, and his buddies who are Islanders fans were pumped to spot them triumph the draught lottery to get the archetypal pick.

It has started to look progressively improbable that Hagens is the apical imaginable successful this draft, but that has not stopped folks successful the New York country from rooting for Darche to prime him. Hagens has had radical attack him connected the play people and precocious saw a bumper sticker reading, "Bring Hagens Home."

"It was cool," said Hagans, a 5-foot-11 halfway who was a point-a-game subordinate during his freshman play astatine Boston College. "Moments similar that, it puts a grin connected your face."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.