The New York Islanders selected Cole Eiserman with the 20th pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. To put it simply, Islanders fans should be ecstatic with the pick. Eiserman was ranked eighth on The Hockey Writers Final Consensus Picks and had rankings as high as four and five. He was the best player available and will play an integral role in the Islanders’ future.
Get to Know Eiserman
Eiserman is a 6-foot, 196-pound forward who scored 83 goals in 81 games for the United States Developmental Program (USDP) last season. He passed Cole Caufield for the cumulative all-time goals record for the program with 127. Eiserman is a left-handed forward, a quality the Islanders desperately need, and he possesses an elite shot. He is also 17, so he has plenty of time to develop.
Related: Islanders Must Trade With Sabres to Draft Cole Eiserman
Eiserman’s hands are his best trait. He has a wicked-fast release comparable to 2023 first-overall pick Connor Bedard. Eiserman can score in any fashion, from anywhere on the ice, at any time. He likes to shoot high on goaltenders but finds the back of the net in any way imaginable. He is a hard worker unafraid to get physical, especially on the boards.
Josh Tessler of SMAHT Scouting said, “Eiserman is constantly making an impact on each shift he is out there for. In the offensive zone, he is a good forechecker, will fight for pucks down low and in the corners. Eiserman will rely on his reach to stick-lift attackers and force a disruption in oppositional puck possession. He has good puck manipulation and will use it to draw in attackers and then quickly pass underneath the stick to an open teammate. Eiserman has an excellent shot, especially from range.” His evaluation is spot on, and the future is bright for the young forward.
The concern regarding Eiserman’s game is that he is one-dimensional. He is not a fast player and lacks the vision required to succeed in the NHL. He is also weak defensively, often turning the puck over in the neutral zone or trailing on the backcheck. This is not a result of poor effort but rather a lack of focus on developing those aspects of his game.
Luckily for Eiserman and the Islanders, his struggles can be solved, and he is in a great position to do so. He will be attending Boston University, one of the best college programs in the country, this coming season. He will join the likes of Tom Willander, Kamil Bednarik, Matt Copponi, Devin Kaplan, and other premier college players. He is joining a world-class program and will have world-class resources at his disposal. He will fill 2024 first-overall pick Macklin Celebrini’s role as the leading goal-scoring threat while simultaneously rounding out his game.
Eisherman’s Path to the NHL
The Islanders did not just draft the best player available but also put Eiserman in the perfect position to succeed. Given the concerns in his game, he is a few seasons removed from reaching the NHL. Since he needs to round out his game, the Islanders can afford to let him develop for a few seasons in college and in the American Hockey League.
Eiserman’s path to the NHL will be clear if developmental goes well. The Islanders lack left-handed forwards and elite scoring talent within the organization, so he will easily join the top six and powerplay unit. This is because, besides Brock Nelson, there is not a single Islanders player with as strong of a shot as Eiserman. So, in a few years, Eiserman could join the top six immediately once ready for the NHL.
Eiserman Is No Wahlstrom or Bellows
Selecting Eiserman brought much joy to a fanbase that needed this, but it does not come without concerns. Islanders fans do not have a short memory when it comes to prospects, especially considering the team has not made a first-round pick since 2019. In 2018, the Islanders selected USDP prospect and Boston College commit Oliver Wahlstrom, who sits fourth in the program’s all-time goals category. Two years before that, the Islanders selected USDP prospect Kieffer Bellows. Bellows was eventually placed on waivers, and Wahlstrom is unlikely to return to Long Island next season, so why should Islanders fans believe Eiserman will be any different?
The short answer is that every prospect is different, and Eiserman is levels ahead of Wahlstrom and Bellows when they were drafted. Not only did Eiserman have better production than both, but he did so in a weaker USDP class. Once drafted, Bellows struggled to sustain high point production at the professional level, and Wahlstrom’s skating prevented him from earning a role in the Islanders’ top six. With Eiserman, those same issues could be a concern, but the Islanders have likely learned from their previous developmental mistakes to help prepare Eiserman for his professional career.
What This Means for the Islanders
Many fans believed the Islanders would use the selection in a trade, so maintaining the pick was a bit of a surprise. The selection of Eiserman solidifies the Islanders’ prospect pool by adding an elite-level prospect. With a duo of NCAA prospects in Eiserman and Danny Nelson, the Islanders’ future has gotten much brighter in the past two drafts. The Eiserman selection also helps adjust the team’s contention timeline by adding an elite, cost-controlled talent throughout Mat Barzal, Noah Dobson, and Ilya Sorokin’s primes.
The selection of Eiserman also forces the Islanders to take a different approach this offseason. The team will likely be more aggressive in free agency or in a trade regarding future assets, such as 2025 or 2026 draft picks. The Islanders could also make a trade by moving someone like Ryan Pulock or Jean-Gabriel Pageau for Nikolaj Ehlers or Rickard Rakell.
With much of the offseason left to unfold, it will be interesting to see how general manager Lou Lamoriello proceeds. The Islanders need to shake up the roster, and that will not be done through the draft. However, Lamoriello could still move future draft capital in a trade, be aggressive in free agency, or both. Regardless of the outcome. Round 1 of the 2024 NHL Draft was a massive success for the Islanders, and fans should be thrilled to have landed such a talented prospect.
