Islanders: Best and worst draft classes of the 2010s

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DALLAS, TX – JUNE 23: (l-r) Lou and Chris Lamoriello of the New York Islanders attend the 2018 NHL Draft at American Airlines Center on June 23, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Over the last ten years of NHL drafts, what has been the best and the worst class of prospects for the New York Islanders?

Over the last ten years, the New York Islanders have made 13 picks in the first round. Five of those picks were in the top half of the draft. Just on that note alone, you’d think the Islanders draft history over the last ten years would have been fantastic.

It’s never that simple, and certainly not when it comes to the New York Islanders. The Isles should have amassed an impressive bunch of picks to build a core that should have propelled them to glory. It didn’t.

In fact, their best draft class of the last decade has come from a year where they didn’t even have a first-round pick of their own.

For this post, I’m just looking at what the Islanders were able to get out of the draft. I’m not considering if those prospects were traded for something else. So no extra credit for the Reinhart pick because he was traded for Barzal and Beauvillier.

First, the worst draft classes of the decade from the worst of the worst to a draft that could have been better.

TORONTO, ON – DECEMBER 29: Michael Dal Colle #28 of the New York Islanders skates against the Toronto Maple Leafs during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on December 29, 2018 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Islanders defeated the Maple Leafs 4-0.(Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /

The Worst Classes

Worst of the Wost: 2012

Best Pick: Adam Pelech 65th Overall

A top-five pick technically wasted here. Garth selected Griffin Reinhart fourth overall in 2012. Thankfully, Reinhart would eventually turn into Mathew Barzal and Anthony Beauvillier. But Reinhart has the second-fewest NHL games played in the first round. He was a bad, bad pick.

Fortunately, the Islanders were able to take Adam Pelech in the third round.

Could have been disastrous: 2014

Best Pick: Devon Toews 108th Overall

Garth Snow would leave the 2014 draft with two first-round picks: Michael Dal Colle (5th overall) and Josh Ho-Sang (28th overall). In the later rounds, he’d get Ilya Sorokin (78th overall), Linus Soderstrom (95th) and Devon Toews (108th).

While Michael Dal Colle is now in the NHL, he’s not having the impact a fifth overall pick would be expected to make.

Josh Ho-Sang was a risky pick. Blame who you will for how things turned out, but the risk didn’t pay off.

Devon Toews has been the best pick made in the 2014 draft. Although that could change when Ilya Sorokin makes his debut in 2020-21.

Could have been better: 2010

Best Pick: Brock Nelson 30th Overall

Nino Niederreiter is technically still a good NHL player, but he was never that player for the Islanders. And that’s on the Islanders. They failed to do their due diligence to evaluate the character of the player and completely alienated him within two years.

At least, they’d get a good player out of the first round by taking Brock Nelson 30th overall. To be fair, they were only able to get the best version of Brock Nelson seven years later when Barry Trotz would eventually become the head coach.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 06: Kieffer Bellows #20 of the New York Islanders celebrates his second goal of the game against the Los Angeles Kings at 12:10 of the third period at the Barclays Center on February 06, 2020 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Undecided

Way too early: 2019

Best Player: Simon Holmstrom 23rd Overall

It’s still way too early to tell how this Islanders draft class will pan out. But so far the signs are encouraging.

While taking Simon Holmstrom 23rd overall was strange. He was projected to be a second-round pick by most analysts and has been plagued with numerous injuries over the last three seasons. He might be a great find. At least he’s in North America already.

Samuel Bolduc, taken in the second-round also seems to be a good find.

Best of a bad situation: 2017

Best Player: Sebastian Aho 139th Overall

The Islanders didn’t make a first-round pick in 2017. That pick went to Vegas along with Mikhail Grabovski in order for the expansion franchise to select Jean-Francois Berube instead of one of the valuable players the Isles exposed at the expansion draft.

Sebastian Aho is clearly an NHL caliber player. He’s probably not anything more than a third pair defenseman but to get an NHL caliber player in the fifth round is a good pick up.

We’ll see what second-round pick Robin Salo can become as he looks to head to North America. Sixth-round pick Arnaud Durandeau has already turned pro and is bouncing between the AHL and ECHL for the Isles.

Could be a good year: 2016

Best Player: Kieffer Bellows 19th Overall

Kieffer Bellows could very well be in the NHL to start the 2020-21 season. After a slow start to his professional career, he turned things around this season. He was scoring seemingly at will in the AHL for a few weeks. That lead to an NHL call-up where he again looked impressive. By 2020-21 we should have a good sense of what Bellows will be at the NHL level.

Otto Koivula (120th overall) has already bounced between the AHL and NHL this season. He looks to be a good depth center going forward. In two years we’ll see if Anatoly Golyshev (95th overall) can be an NHL caliber player.

The 2016 class looks like it has the making of a good draft year, but we still don’t know for sure until we see these players hit the NHL.

Good-ish: 2011

Best Player: Scott Mayfield (34th Overall)

You can certainly make the case that Ryan Strome (5th overall) was the best player taken in the draft. But I’m going to argue that Scott Mayfield was, simply because of where both players were drafted.

With the fifth overall pick, there were certain expectations for Ryan Strome. With a 50 point sophomore season, it looked like he could live up to those expectations. But in the following three years that hope faded as Strome settled into becoming a 30-35 point player.

Scott Mayfield is exactly as advertised. He’s a rock-solid top-four defense-first defenseman. While that role doesn’t put up a ton of points it’s still incredibly important. As a second-round pick, the expectations are lower on Mayfield. So for me, Mayfield was the better pick.

SUNRISE, FL – JUNE 26: Mathew Barzal poses after being selected 16th overall by the New York Islanders in the first round of the 2015 NHL Draft at BB&T Center on June 26, 2015 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

The Best

Really Good Pick: 2013

Best Player: Ryan Pulock 15th Overall

It took him a while to get to the NHL, but now that Ryan Pulock is here, he’s the Islanders undisputed number one blueliner.

The right-handed d-man with a cannon of a slapshot was handed the number one role by Barry Trotz in 2018. A decision that was rewarded by the Islanders immediately becoming the best defensive team in the league.

Alan Quine in the sixth round was an alright pick. We all remember that double OT goal against the Panthers in the 2016 playoffs right?

Makings of a fantastic draft: 2018

Best Player: (Toss-Up) Oliver Wahlstrom 11th Overall or Noah Dobson 12th Overall

In a few years, the 2018 draft could easily be the Islanders best draft of the decade.

Oliver Wahlstrom is a supremely skilled player and could be a great top-six forward in the NHL in just a few years. Noah Dobson is already in the NHL although in a reduced role, but his rise will be quick, expect him to be in the Islanders top four in just two years.

Getting Bode Wilde in the second-round was an incredible steal for the Isles. The mobile offensive-defenseman was supposed to be a first-round pick. Add promising Russian forward Ruslan Iskakhov, and the Isles left the 2018 draft with probably the best first four picks.

We’ll see in a few years if that’s true.

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Best of the Best: 2015

Best Player: Mathew Barzal 16th Overall

Going into the 2015 draft the Islanders didn’t even have a first-round pick. Their pick belonged to Buffalo as part of the Thomas Vanek trade. But with Griffin Reinhart going to Edmonton, the Islanders were able to move back into the first round.

They would select 2018 Calder Trophy winner Mathew Barzal 16th overall and Anthony Beauvillier with the 28th overall pick (yet another pick they got from the Reinhart trade).

Barzal is a superstar in the making that the Islanders had no business drafting. If not for Garth Snow picking Peter Chicarelli’s pocket, the Isles likely leave the first round of the 2015 draft empty-handed.

The 2018 draft class could eventually prove to be a better class, but for now, hardware talks louder and Mathew Barzal’s Calder Trophy screams: “The best of the best”.

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