New York Islanders 2018 Draft: Rounds 3-7

On day two of the NHL Draft the New York Islanders remained busy beyond the first two rounds. Here’s a recap of rounds three through seven.

The New York Islanders were expected to be active at the draft instead they surprised us and made all of their draft selections. Today was the second through seventh round, and Lou Lamoriello was able to find some gems in day two.

If you missed it, we recapped the second round here and you can read about those picks here. Now, we’ll look at the four newest prospects.

Round 3 Pick 72: Jakub Skarek

In what seems like a yearly tradition, the Islanders took a goalie in the late rounds of the draft. In round three Lou landed Jakub Skarek who played in the Czech Republic. Skarek had a .914 save percentage and a 2.41 goals against average.

Next year he’ll play in Liiga. Hopefully the Islanders have better luck trying to get him to come over than Ilya Sorokin, but Lou added to the goalie prospect pool this year. Skarek is the second ranked European goalie.

Round 4 Pick 103: Jake Pivonka

The Islanders used their fourth rounder on a center. Pivonka played in the USDP and had 20 points (8 goals,12 assists) in 59 games. He has a left-handed shot and stands at six foot and weighs in at 201 pounds.

He will play at Notre Dame next year, following in the footsteps of current Islanders winger Anders Lee. He played third line center so maybe he could be a bottom six center of the future.

Round 5 Pick 134: Blade Jenkins

First off what a name, secondly Lou drafted yet another American. Jenkins is a six-foot-one center weighing in at 201 pounds. Last year he played in the OHL with the Saginaw Spirit. He had 44 points (20 goals, 24 assists) in 68 games.

Jenkins ended up playing top-six minutes and had a nice role with Saginaw. He has top-six upside, but this is a bit of a hit or miss kind of pick. Some believe he will be better suited playing the wing instead of center.

Round 7 Pick 196: Christian Krygier

Another American! Krygier is a left-handed defenseman who is going to play college hockey next year at Michigan State. This past year Krygier played 48 games in the USHL, he put up eight points (all assists).

He’s six-foot-two and 192 pounds, fitting the mold of the bigger defensemen that the Islanders have been interested in lately. He’s a bit of a long-shot here but you don’t usually expect much from seventh rounders anyway.

Next: Islanders make both second round picks

Regardless, you have to be pretty happy with Lou Lamoriello’s first Islanders draft. Let’s buckle up and wait for July 1.