Things looked bleak for the New York Islanders as recently as the 2023–24 season. They boasted, at best, a roster that could sneak into the playoffs but be swiftly dealt with. Even worse, their prospect pool was among the league’s worst—no defining players, and fairly low-end depth.
However, in a one-year span, everything changed. Today, they have one of the most enviable prospect pools in the NHL. Luck was involved, but some savvy trades and not overthinking the draft process allowed for this immediate turnaround.
Islanders’ Cole Eiserman Pick Turned the Tide
It all started at the 2024 NHL Draft. They were picking a modest 20th overall following a five-game exit in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Though first-round picks are heavily coveted assets across the league, talent starts to seriously tail off in that range. Fortunately, they had an opportunity to make a splash.
Related: Islanders’ Bounce Back Candidates for 2025–26
Cole Eiserman was once considered the second-best player in the 2024 class. But despite an impressive 58-goal campaign for the U.S. National Team Development Program (USNTDP), teams cooled on the so-called “one-dimensional” prospect. The young sniper fell to the Islanders as a result, and they took advantage.
He may never become the face of a franchise, but Eiserman has what it takes to carve out an impressive NHL career. Tied for fifth place in NCAA goal-scoring (25) as a freshman last season, he easily lived up to expectations. For the first time in about half a decade, the Islanders landed themselves a potential star in the draft.
Islanders’ Masterful Brock Nelson Trade
As the 2024–25 trade deadline neared, the Islanders were on the outside looking in for the playoffs. With veteran Brock Nelson’s contract set to expire in the summer, they made a tough but necessary decision: dealing him to a contender. Needing a second-line center, the Colorado Avalanche were happy to make an offer.
The Islanders got a little more than many fans expected for a 33-year-old on an expiring deal, though: a 2026 first-round pick, a 2028 third-round pick, center prospect Calum Ritchie, and defenseman Oliver Kylington as a throw-in. Colorado sold off high-end assets to chase the Stanley Cup. In cases like these, the seller almost always wins when all is said and done—it already looks that way for New York.
Ritchie is a 20-year-old center who, last season, put up an impressive 1.17 assists per game in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and played a first-line role for Team Canada at the World Junior Championship. His playmaking and play-driving ability could make him an impactful player at the NHL level. Set to turn pro with the Bridgeport Islanders this season, he’ll look to further the belief that a top-six future awaits him.
The 2026 first-round pick, which has top-10 protection, is almost certain to be in the later stages of the opening round. Star players are, as mentioned, hard to come by in that range, but the Islanders have made the best of these picks recently (which I’ll expand on shortly). In a jam-packed 2026 class, another highly touted prospect is destined to fall—perhaps it’ll be right into the Islanders’ lap.
While New York’s prospect pool got quite the boost from this move, they were far from done making changes. Let’s fast-forward a few months.
Islanders’ Franchise-Altering 2025 NHL Draft
The Islanders’ 2025 NHL Draft was franchise-altering. Holding the No. 1 pick thanks to some miraculous lottery luck, moving up nine spots, they got the right to select Matthew Schaefer—perhaps the best defensive prospect to grace the draft since Rasmus Dahlin in 2018. The 17-year-old’s elite mobility, smarts, and two-way impacts are reminiscent of Miro Heiskanen. Evidently, that’s a monumental selection.
The Islanders weren’t done, though. Before the evening arrived, they put an end to all the Noah Dobson rumors—he was traded to the Montreal Canadiens for their No. 16 and 17 picks and forward Emil Heineman. Seeing as Dobson is a top-pairing, right-shot defenseman who’s just 25 years old, the value heavily favored Montreal on the surface. But New York responded by landing Victor Eklund and Kashawn Aitcheson, arguably winning the draft in the process.
Eklund was seen by many as a top-10 talent in the class, and I myself saw him as someone with top-line upside. However, if you were paying close attention to insiders, his draft-day slide was already foreshadowed.
The Athletic‘s Corey Pronman interviewed scouts just a few weeks before the 2025 NHL Draft, and one made a bold prediction about Eklund. “He’s a small winger without elite offense; those types tend to fall. He’s top 10 on almost every list, but I can almost guarantee that won’t happen on draft day,” (from ‘NHL Draft Confidential 2025: What insiders think of Matthew Schaefer, goalies and more,’ – The Athletic – June 9, 2025).
This is to say that Eklund’s outlook hasn’t changed. The Islanders were simply the first team willing to take a chance on a high-compete, high-smarts winger whose size (5-foot-11, 169 pounds) is a significant on-paper weakness. In reality, though, that frame didn’t stop him from outworking grown men in Sweden last season. He became the sixth draft-year prospect in his league’s history to record 0.60-plus points per game across at least 20 contests, joining Anton Frondell, William Nylander, David Pastrňák, Elias Pettersson, and Alex Wennberg.
As for Aitcheson, he doesn’t have a comparable profile, but he could certainly be a top-four defenseman in the NHL. With a booming shot, hard-hitting presence, and an ability to play in all three zones, he has the traits to be a quality blueliner. A one-two punch of Schaefer and Aitcheson could rule the Islanders’ left side for a long time.
A few months prior to the 2024 NHL Draft, The Athletic‘s Scott Wheeler ranked the Islanders’ prospect pool 32nd in the NHL—dead last (from ‘New York Islanders are No. 32 in 2024 NHL prospect pool rankings,’ – The Athletic – January 9, 2024). On the day of this writing, Pronman ranked them ninth (from ‘New York Islanders rank No. 9 in NHL Pipeline Rankings for 2025,’ – The Athletic – August 27, 2025). The transformation was as immense as it was sudden.
The Islanders still need to figure out if a full-on rebuild is best for their future—they’ve yet to commit to a direction. Whether they choose to tear it down or ride with what they have, the future is finally bright on Long Island.
