New York Islanders Recent First Round Selections

With the NHL draft tonight let’s take a look back at the New York Islanders first round selections from the past few years.

In the previous two drafts the Islanders had two first round selections in the first round. This year they have just one with the 19th pick in the draft. The idea was to build a core group of prospects for the future, that’s why they tried to obtain multiple first round selections.

At this point the Islanders are no longer in that stage of acquiring as many prospects as possible. The Islanders have a lot of prospects at the forward position and there is even a possibility that Islanders GM Garth Snow moves one in hopes for a top 6 forward.

There’s no guarantee that Garth even keeps this pick at 19 this year. Arthur Staple thinks that the Islanders could potentially try to move back due to their lack of picks later in the draft.

Everyone points to the 2009 draft and drafting John Tavares as the turn around of the franchise. Obviously John Tavares has done more than his fair share to help the Islanders grow as a franchise. Heck we even saw him will the Islanders to a Game 6 victory in the Florida series almost all by himself.

The last few years have been interesting for the Islanders and their first round selections. Some are still unproven, others have shown flashes of being solid NHL players and others are no longer with the Islanders anymore. Let’s take a look at the Islanders first round selections and where they are now in terms of their development or NHL career.

Next: 2015 First Round