The New York Islanders needed to have a great draft, considering the state of their farm system and roster. The 2024 NHL Entry Draft, in which they had three selections in the first two rounds, allowed general manager (GM) Lou Lamoriello to make significant upgrades. The results are a mixed bag.
The first round saw them land a star, arguably a top-10 prospect, who fell to their lap, but otherwise, the haul reflected Lamoriello’s vision. Unfortunately, Lamoriello’s vision for a great team doesn’t translate to a Cup contender, something the past few seasons have proved. He loves certain positions and skill sets on his teams, and this class reflected that. The later round particularly displayed his desire to find specific players.
Lamoriello Finds Scorers
The big win during the draft was the Islanders landing Cole Eiserman with the 20th overall pick. He’s a scorer with a great shot that allowed him to find the back of the net 83 times in 81 games last season. Eiserman has the upside to eventually becoming the Islanders’ top-line center and one of the best pure scorers in the NHL. He’s heading to college next season and won’t provide the immediate impact that some elite prospects bring to their teams, but he looks poised to help the offense soon.
The Islanders addressed defense with their next selection but then used the 61st pick they received in the trade with the Chicago Blackhawks to select another center in Kamil Bednarik. Like Eiserman, he will play next season at Boston University. Unlike Eiserman, Bednarik doesn’t have a high upside. Instead, as a more well-rounded center, he has a high floor and looks like a reliable middle-six player at the NHL level.
Related: Islanders Drafting Cole Eiserman Was Best Case Scenario
Pair the two selections with Danny Nelson, the Islanders’ top selection in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, and the pipeline has scoring up the middle for years to come. Nelson is a rising star in the farm system and has the scoring touch to eventually replace Brock Nelson as the second-line center of the Islanders.
Lamoriello entered the offseason with the urge to find scoring. He did that with the Eiserman pick, a steal in the first round. The question is if the Islanders addressed the other issues with the rest of the draft to do so. They needed to add talent to the wing and defensemen who could skate. They could have used their late-round picks on those positions, but Lamoriello didn’t do that.
Lamoriello Drafts Goaltending, Twice!
Goaltending was the one position the Islanders didn’t need to address in this draft. To be fair, the unit was disappointing last season and in the First Round, allowing the Carolina Hurricanes to defeat them easily in a five-game series. However, the Islanders by no means have issues in the net, as they are set up for the immediate and long-term future.
Start with the goaltending at the NHL level. Ilya Sorokin is one of the elite goaltenders in the league, and while he’s coming off a rough season, he’s in his prime and poised to lead the Islanders as a reliable starter. Even Semyon Varlamov, at 35 years old, proved that he can still play at a high level and take over as a starter if needed. Lamoriello agrees that Varlamov is a great option for the future, considering he signed him to a four-year deal in the 2023 offseason.
The argument can be made that the strategy for draft goaltending was to help the farm system. After all, the position was a weakness at the American Hockey League (AHL) level. The problem is that the Islanders have their goaltender of the future, Henrik Tikkanen, who is developing into a star. Sure, the position is unpredictable, and he could flop at the NHL level, but Tikkanen proved he can play at a high level with his stint in the AHL with the Bridgeport Islanders.
It also doesn’t help the cause that the Islanders drafted Tristan Lennox in the 2021 draft, in the third round, nonetheless. So, even if Tikkanen isn’t capable of being a successor, Lennox is also developing, giving the Islanders options in the future when neither Sorokin nor Varlamov is on the roster.
The Islanders already had a plan for goaltending, and by all means, they didn’t need to draft a goaltender this year. They drafted two of them, using their fourth-round pick to select Dmitry Gamzin and then taking Marcus Gidlof in the fifth round. Lamoriello loves to build his teams from the net out, and it shows in his decisions as an executive. At this point, the Islanders are just hoarding goaltenders while the other positions remain a step behind the rest of the league.
Where the Islanders Are Still Lacking
The Islanders still lack playmakers and elite talent on the wing. Aside from Mathew Barzal and Nelson, the forward unit lacks skaters who set up scoring chances and make the players around them better. On top of that, the Islanders don’t have a prospect in their system who provides versatility to the lineup, something the team has needed for years.
There are questions about the defense in the long run, especially with Adam Pelech, Ryan Pulock, and the recently signed Scott Mayfield starting to age. The good news is that help is on the way with Calle Odelius and Isaiah George, two of the draft selections in the 2022 draft, starting to move up in the prospect system. It helps that Lamoriello also drafted two defensemen in this class, but the need wasn’t as prevalent as it was to fix the forward unit.
How do you think Lamoriello did with this draft? Let us know in the comments section below!
