The Islanders tried to swing big on Kirill Marchenko before he ended up with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and they believed they had a path to keeping him around if they’d landed the deal.
That’s according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, who reported that New York was in the mix for the Columbus Blue Jackets star forward. LeBrun also asked Islanders GM Mathieu Darche about the club’s interest, but Darche wouldn’t directly confirm it.
Instead, he said, “every time there’s a good player available, we make calls. He’s a good player.
I thought he was really good last night. Good for the Leafs.”
LeBrun added that the Islanders couldn’t match Toronto’s offer because they didn’t have a player comparable to Matthew Knies, who was at the center of the Leafs’ package.
Darche’s stance on the bigger picture was just as clear: trading Noah Dobson to the Montreal Canadiens for a package headlined by two first-round picks did not mean New York was starting over. He told LeBrun, “It’s my job to always try and improve the team,” and said he “spent the summer trying” to bring in impact talent. The Islanders are now heading into their first full season under head coach Peter DeBoer, with the hope that veterans Mathew Barzal, Ilya Sorokin, and Bo Horvat can mesh with young talent like Calder winner Matthew Schaefer and push the club back into the playoffs.
Across the division, the Devils will be without Connor Brown to start the year. Head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters, including Amanda Stein, that Brown was injured in practice on Monday.
The team is still evaluating the issue, but Keefe said Brown will miss New Jersey’s first two games, beginning with tomorrow’s opener against the Philadelphia Flyers and continuing Saturday against the Islanders. Brown, 32, had 18 goals and 43 points in 75 games during the 2025-26 season, and he’s slated for an important bottom-six role with penalty-killing duties.
In Columbus, Ivan Provorov is questionable for tomorrow’s season opener against the Buffalo Sabres, according to Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch. Provorov has been off the ice for three straight days, though he hasn’t been ruled out.
If he can’t go, recent trade addition Emil Andrae is expected to step into the lineup. Provorov remains the Blue Jackets’ top defenseman after Zach Werenski, and last season he posted nine goals and 31 points while averaging 24:48 of ice time per game, the 10th-most in the NHL.
In Other News...
Blue Jackets Blue Line Suddenly Looks Very Different After Carson Soucy Move
The Blue Jackets blue line took on a different look almost immediately after their major trade with Toronto, with Carson Soucy signing on for a one-year deal to help stabilize a group that suddenly needs more certainty. Columbus had to make the salary-cap math work, and the move fit the moment as the club reworked its roster with an eye on the opening weeks of the season.
Soucys arrival also comes at a time when the Jackets are bracing for some defensive absences, which pushes him toward a prominent role right away. With several regulars expected to be unavailable at the start, Columbus may not have much choice but to lean on the veteran as a top-four option while the rest of the blue line sorts itself out. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jackets Hand Jet Greaves A Role That Changes Everything
The Blue Jackets goaltending picture has shifted into something much cleaner for 2026-27, with Jet Greaves stepping into the clear No. 1 role after establishing himself as the clubs top option. Columbus also added Cam Talbot on a one-year deal, giving the room an experienced veteran presence as the team reshapes the depth chart in net and leans into a younger starter.
Talbot arrives saying he is ready to help however he can, and the transition should be a familiar one given his existing relationships with players and their families. For Columbus, the bigger question is how quickly Greaves can settle into the kind of workload that comes with being the guy, especially after a major move altered the goaltending landscape and left the Blue Jackets building around a very different tandem than the one they had before. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jackets Fans Still Remember One Goalie Who Set The Standard
Opening night at Nationwide Arena always has a way of pulling old memories back into the building, and for Blue Jackets fans, the No. 1 sweater has carried a few different stories over the years. Jean-Franois Labb, Tom Ppperle and Steve Mason all wore it in Columbus, each leaving behind a different kind of footprint as the franchise tried to find stability in goal and a face for the position.
Labbs time in Columbus was brief, Ppperles was mostly a stopover, and Mason remains the one who still stands out in the minds of many fans because he gave the Blue Jackets real momentum at a time when they needed it most. His Columbus run eventually ended with a move to another organization, but the memories attached to that jersey number have lasted much longer than the roster turnover around them. [Read more 🡒]