Quinn Finley is a 6-foot, 179-pound left-shot winger who was drafted 78th overall by the New York Islanders in the 2022 NHL Draft. He is 19 years old and spent his first season in the Islanders organization in the United States Hockey League (USHL), split between the Madison Capitols and Chicago Steel. This season he played for the University of Wisconsin, as well as the United States World Junior Championship team where he won gold alongside fellow Islanders prospect, Danny Nelson. The two spent the entire tournament on the same line together, as well as on the penalty kill. They played a crucial role in limiting the opposition, showing defensive abilities few other teenage prospects have.
Finley scored 10 goals and 16 points in 36 games for the Badgers, outproducing other top talent such as the 2023 first-round pick of the Minnesota Wild, Charlie Stramel. Finley is expected to remain with Wisconsin next season in an elevated role with the team losing top talent such as Stramel and Cruz Lucius.
Strengths With Finley
Finley has one glaring strength that few other teenagers in the NCAA have, and that is an elite shot. Wrist shot, snapshot, slapshot, whatever, he finds ways to score. His blistering shot is lethal from anywhere on the ice, finding corners and gaps to get his team a goal. His shots also produce many rebounds as they rarely find the goaltender’s glove, generating chaos around the net for his teammates to shove in.
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He does a great job at finding the open space to create good chances, but his teammates often overlook him. His skating is strong, one of the better aspects of his game. He is also good with his stick, providing capable defense for his coaches to rely on. He is not going to be the guy on any team’s penalty kill, but he proved at the World Juniors that he knew what he was doing, so that will be a bonus for the Islanders once he hits the professional level.
Finley’s Concerns
Finley does not have any major concerns. He is on the younger side of players in the NCAA and did a great job in his rookie season. As well, he is not big, sitting around 160 pounds at the time he was drafted. Since then, he has put on weight, but it could be a struggle for him to grow accustomed to his different body. The NCAA is also a different style of hockey from the USHL, so he has had to develop his game accordingly.
The one area for the most improvement would be his playmaking. He is great at shooting the puck, and it is evident he is immensely talented, but his play with the puck is not ideal. He makes weak passes and poor reads, often turning over the puck or forcing his team to regain possession before finding good opportunities. The reality is he was not expected to be a playmaker this past season, but in 2024-25, he will need to elevate his game if he wants to become a more well-rounded player. However, this could be a result of learning how to play at the collegiate level, so there is no reason to believe he will not take the leap as a prospect.
Additional Islanders Prospect Profiles
Estimated Time of Arrival
With Finley being just 19 years old, he has a lot of time to work with. He is likely to spend no less than three full seasons in college before pondering his path. After this third season, the team will analyze his future. If he appears close to NHL-ready, they will likely sign him to an amateur tryout following his junior season, then give him a chance to join the NHL team the following season. The most likely scenario for Finley is to see him complete all four years in college and then reassess, meaning he would not reach the NHL until at least the 2027-28 season.
However, it will be easier to assess Finley as a prospect following his upcoming sophomore season since he does not have the largest sample size. If he puts on weight and muscle this offseason and becomes a more well-rounded player, it could be possible to see him in the NHL as early as the 2025-26 season given the Islanders’ lack of shooting talent.
Finley’s Ceiling and Floor
Possessing such a lethal shot, the sky is the limit for Finley. His upside could fetch as far as becoming a 30-goal scorer. Of course, that is a massive weight to put on a teenager coming off a 10-goal season in college, but watching him play will leave fans with no doubt of his potential. More realistically, his ceiling is a 20-25 goal, 45-50 point scorer who can roam a team’s middle six and powerplay. A good comparison would be a healthy and consistent version of Robby Fabbri. They both score goals and there is no doubt about their shooting talent, but they lack the ability to play a well-rounded game consistently.
Finley’s floor is not entering the NHL, in the scenario where he does not put on the weight and muscle needed to survive the NHL level. However, this should not be of concern given his growth in the two years since getting drafted, so a more realistic floor is a third-line winger who struggles to stay in the lineup. This could be an 8-10 goal scorer who gets in for about 50-55 games a season but never quite finds their groove to become a lineup mainstay. The most realistic outcome for Finley is to become a solid third-line winger who touches 20 goals a few times in his career but normally sits around the 15-goal, 30-point mark while playing penalty kill and occasionally powerplay.
In a strong 2022 Draft class, the Islanders appear to have found a hidden gem. Of course, Finley is still early on in his development and it will be a long time until he reaches the NHL, so nobody truly knows how he will pan out. However, if his first season in college is a sign of what is to come, Islanders fans should be very excited.
