TAMPA, Fla.

Mathieu Darche has an easygoing and outgoing personality, willing to chat and quick with a self-deprecating laugh, and it’s all real. But don’t get fooled by it. The first-year Islanders general manager is as competitive as possible, and yes, returning to the arena where he spent three seasons as the Lightning’s assistant GM to Julien BriseBois after joining the organization in 2019 as director of hockey operations 100% meant something to him.

“I had six great years here,” Darche said, downplaying the focus on him. “It’s very different than if it were a coach or a player coming back. I’m not on the ice. I don’t have an impact on the actual game itself.”

Still, money on the board — the age-old hockey tradition of pledging financial reward for performance? “There better be,”

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