Like lightning, Mathieu Darche struck twice.
And, like the Tampa Bay Lightning, Darche is now reunited with Ondrej Palat.
The Islanders acquired Palat, the Czech winger who struggled through three and a half seasons in New Jersey, and recouped the third-round pick they sent to the Rangers one day prior in exchange for Carson Soucy.
The Devils threw in the third-round pick, along with a 2027 sixth-rounder, as the price to take on the last year of Palat’s $6 million annual cap hit, with his contract expiring in 2027.
The Islanders sent Max Tsyplakov the other way to New Jersey, giving the Russian winger a fresh start that was clearly needed, given his struggles to crack the lineup.
Tsyplakov also has another season left on his deal at a $2.25 million annual cap hit, so the net add to the Islanders’ books is $3.75 million.
Palat, who has 10 points in 51 games this season, looks like the Islanders’ attempt to replace Kyle Palmieri, who tore his ACL earlier this season.
Whether it works out that way or not will likely depend on whether he can recover the form that saw him be a key contributor for the Lightning as part of an extended run that included two Stanley Cup wins and two more appearances in the Cup Final.
It’s been believed for some time that Palat could be on the move, and Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald’s inability to accommodate the winger’s no-trade clause came to the fore when the Wild beat New Jersey to the Quinn Hughes sweepstakes.
If Palat is the same player for the Islanders he was for the Devils, then his cap hit will become the same weight on Long Island as it was on New Jersey.
Darche, however, knows the player well from his days in Tampa, and presumably believes he can help him find what’s been missing from his game.
