New York Islanders’ Prospects No. 4 After Being Ranked Dead Last Two Years Ago
The Islanders’ prospect pool was just ranked fourth in the National Hockey League by The Athletic. This is a remarkable turn of events for the Islanders, who had the worst prospect pool in the NHL just two years ago.
This stunning turnaround is a credit to Islanders’ General Manager Mathieu Darche, who is in his first season. The prospect rankings do not even count players currently in the National Hockey League, such as Matthew Schaefer, Calum Ritchie, and Maxim Shabanov. They are all playing for the Islanders right now.
Islanders’ Top Prospects
Danny Nelson is a great prospect who is ranked around No. 80. He has been both a defenseman and a forward in his junior career. This has raised some questions, but with the University of Notre Dame, he has played a solid forward. While he won’t likely ever be a big offense type, Nelson’s defensive awareness and physicality are both major assets in the National Hockey League.
Kashawn Aitcheson is a physical defender. He gets into some fights and battles hard along the boards and at the net front. His physical play will be welcome with the Islanders. He has 249 penalty minutes in the Ontario Hockey League before this season. He is a strong skater, and he gets good grades across his offensive skills. Aitcheson will be asked to protect Schaefer when he arrives with the Islanders.
Cole Eiserman was the 2024 NHL Draft’s premier goal-scoring prospect, and he was the most polarizing player in the group. Some people think he will be a star, some people think he will flame out. The reason people were so high on Eiserman was that he scored 72 goals in 69 games during his draft season. He scored 25 goals for Boston University as a freshman. He is ranked around prospect number twenty and will likely score 30 goals a season in the National Hockey League.
Victor Eklund is a winger who is ranked near the top ten in terms of prospects. He had an excellent season in the Allsvenskan last year. He impressed in Sweden’s second-tier league as a draft-eligible and has again been impressive in the SHL despite being just 19 years old. Eklund has skill and skating are strong traits, but it’s his compete level that makes him a special prospect. Ecklund’s brother plays for the San Jose Sharks.
When one adds these great players to the Islanders’ solid young core, you get something special. That core includes Schafer. He would be ranked near the top of this list if he were not already revolutionizing the National Hockey League.
He is joined in the Islanders starting lineup by Ritche, himself a high-ranked prospect, an import from Russia, Maxim Shabanov, and a Swede with a deadly shot in Simon Holmstrom. The Islanders also have two first-round draft picks in the deep 2026 NHL Draft.
Parting Shots
This is a stunning turnaround for the Islanders, who are now in the top five of the National Hockey League rankings after being ranked at the bottom of the rankings just two years ago. Not all prospects will certainly pan out, but a team having a lot of them hedges against this risk.
Usually, teams that are bad have good prospects and vice versa. That was not the case when the Islanders were bad, and it is not the case now. The Islanders are in second place in the Metropolitan Division, in part because of their exciting young players.
