islesinfo - Craig Darby

Craig Darby was acquired by the New York Islanders from the Montreal Canadiens along with RW Kirk Muller and D Mathieu Schneider in exchange for C Pierre Turgeon and D Vladimir Malakhov on April 5, 1995. The deal was a bold one made by Islanders GM Don Maloney which would come back to haunt him and the franchise early in the 1995-96 season. As for Darby, he was an addition the Islanders were hoping would blossom down the road as the team looked to rebuild.

Darby was the Montreal Canadiens second round pick, 43rd overall, in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft. Following two seasons with Providence College, Darby joined the Canadiens AHL farm team in Fredericton for the 1993-94 season. Upon scoring 20 goals in each of his first two professional seasons, Montreal called up Darby for a look on February 8, 1995. That night he played his first NHL game against the Ottawa Senators and recorded his first NHL point, an assist on a goal by Brian Bellows. He was called up to Montreal on two different occasions, and recorded 2 assists in 10 games played.

Darby was Fredericton's leading scorer at the time he was dealt to the Islanders as he had 21 goals and 68 points in 64 AHL games. Observers believed he was developing into a solid all around player with excellent defensive skills. The Islanders originally assigned him to the IHL's Denver Grizzlies, but he was recalled two days after the deal on April 7th. Darby made his Islanders debut the next night vs. the Florida Panthers. He would see action in two more games for the Islanders in 1995 at Tampa Bay and against Philadelphia. He sat on the sidelines for 10 of the Islanders final 13 games.

Darby began the 1995-96 season with the Islanders AHL affiliate, the Worcester IceCats. Overall he had another decent season of 22 goals and 50 points in 68 games played. During the season he was called up to the Islanders three different times: in December, February and April for a total of 10 games and another two assists.

From the fans point of view, Darby came off as a player who did not bring a ton of passion to his game. Perhaps he did not want to be a part of a rebuilding team, just like his trade partner Muller, who was dispatched to Toronto earlier in the season by new general manager Mike Milbury. On June 4, 1996 Milbury, who replaced Maloney in large part due to the result of the deal with Montreal, allowed Darby to be claimed off waivers by the Philadelphia Flyers. Apparently, Milbury was not very impressed with what he saw first hand of Darby as coach of the Islanders.

Darby put up yet another 50+ point season in 1996-97 with the AHL's Philadelphia Phantoms. He would finally record his first NHL goal in a 9 game visit with the Flyers. In 1997-98 he got into only three more games with the Flyers despite a career season in the AHL where he recorded 42 goals and 87 points. Darby was then claimed by Nashville in the June 1998 Expansion Draft. He spent the entire 1998-99 season with the IHL's Milwaukee Admirals.

At 27 years of age, Darby's young career would come full circle as he was signed as a free agent to return to Montreal. He made the Canadiens for the 1999-00 season and would go on to statistically have the best two seasons of his NHL career with 19 goals and 45 points in 154 games played. In 2001-02 though, Darby found himself back in the AHL with the Quebec Citadelles. He would go on to sign a two year free agent contract with New Jersey in 2002. Despite proving himself as a capable set up man in the AHL it was only good enough to get him a total of 5 games with the Devils. After signing another two year deal with Tampa Bay, Darby was traded to Vancouver in September of 2005. He never saw action with the Lightning or Canucks. For 2006-07 Darby decided to take his game to Europe and signed with Augsburger, Germany.

In 1991-92, Darby earned Hockey East co-Rookie of the Year honors (shared with Boston College defenseman Ian Moran) and was named to the Hockey East All-Rookie Team after recording 17 goals and 41 points in 35 games for the Providence Friars as a freshman. He was named to the AHL All-Star Team in 1998 and the AHL Second All-Star Team in 2003 with Albany. Over is career, Darby has played in over 700 games in the AHL where he has recorded 218 goals and 620 points.