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...
Islanders Reveal Peter DeBoers First Opening Night Line Combos
The Islanders are set to open the 2026-27 season on the road against the Maple Leafs, and with Peter DeBoer taking over behind the bench, the first projected lineup gives an early look at how the new coach wants things to look. Ilya Sorokin is slated to start in goal, with Bo Horvat, Simon Holmstrom and Kyle Palmieri among the forwards penciled into the opener, while the defensive pairings and extra skaters were arranged after recent practices.
Palmieris place in the group is a notable one as the Islanders head into opening night with a few moving parts still worth watching. The lineup also suggests there may be more to sort out among the bottom six than first glance indicates, and Anthony Duclairs placement on the fourth line adds another layer to the early-season picture as DeBoer settles on his first combination choices. [Read more 🡒]
Mathew Barzals Setback Wont End The Season Islanders Fans Want
Mathew Barzals latest knee setback is a familiar and frustrating development for Islanders fans, especially with the season approaching and his role once again in doubt. After the same issue kept him out for most of the 2024-25 campaign, the expectation is that he will begin this year on the sideline, leaving New York to manage early-season plans without one of its most dynamic players.
Still, Barzals outlook is not as bleak as the injury news suggests. His past performance trends point to a player whose impact can swing the Islanders offense if he gets back to full health and into a heavier workload, and the conversation around him now is less about whether the talent is still there than whether the body will cooperate long enough to let it show. For a team that needs him at his best, that uncertainty hangs over everything. [Read more 🡒]
Islanders Face A Brutal Metro Reality Few Fans Wanted
The Islanders are heading into the 2026-27 season with a group that looks awfully familiar, even after a summer that saw Anders Lee leave and Matias Maccelli arrive in free agency. Kyle Palmieri, Alexander Romanov and Ryan Pulock are back after injury absences, and young Victor Eklund has cracked the roster, giving the team at least a few fresh faces around a core that still looks largely intact.
For all of that, the early outside view is hardly flattering. The changes were modest, the roles are still being sorted out, and there is enough uncertainty around the lineup to leave the Islanders projecting as a team with more questions than momentum. In a division that rarely offers much room to hide, that kind of lukewarm outlook is exactly the sort of reality fans were hoping to avoid. [Read more 🡒]