Islanders prospect daily: Bode Wilde’s low trade value and why that’s good

Usually, my daily prospects focus on New York Islanders prospects (and players in the system) who played the day before or will be playing later today. But with no prospects in action yesterday or today, I wanted to look at something that I found interesting yesterday.

On Tuesday, The Athletic’s Arthur Staple and a few mystery executives evaluated a number of fan-submitted trade proposals (subscription required). Outside of a few entertaining nuggets (like one executive not wanting to talk about trading away Ladd because it just didn’t make sense), one thing that stuck out to me was how Bode Wilde was valued.

According to the mystery executives, Wilde isn’t seen as a good enough prospect even though Trotz said the 2018 second-round pick was a John Carlson-type.

New York Islanders Bode Wilde isn’t valued in the trade market and that OK

According to my rankings, Wilde is seventh of 27 prospects across the Islanders system. His 81 points in 73 OHL games do a lot of heavy lifting. And rightfully so, Wilde was a dominant two-way defenseman for the Saginaw Spirit.

After being drafted 43rd overall by the Islanders in the second round of the 2018 NHL draft, Wilde went off for 70 points in 62 games for the Spirit.

But at the pro-level, the Islanders haven’t seen that same dominant player from the OHL. Bode Wilde’s adaptation to the pro level hasn’t gone as well as, say Samuel Bolduc (a second-round pick in 2019). He has two points to his name with eight games played this year.

Keep in mind, this is the same player that should have gone in the first round of the draft but fell to the Isles in the second round with the 43rd pick.

He’s a risky player for sure, even he’ll tell you that. He isn’t shy to try a risky move or two, but he’s got the skill to pull it off more often than not. That’s why Barry Trotz called him a John Carlson-type.

But it’s also why he isn’t seen as a top prospect, even in the Islanders relatively weak prospect pool. He just isn’t that player right now. And I have to think that’s by design.

The offensive side of Wilde’s game isn’t going anywhere. His ability to see a play develop and execute it will always be there. The defensive side of his game can be taught. That’s something Brent Thompson can impart on the young man.

Assuming the Isles move a piece or two from their pool, he not likely to interest any of the teams out there. Which will suit the Islanders just fine. They like Wilde, they know his potential and they know it might take a year or two before he hits the level they know he can hit. They’re perfectly fine for him to fly under the radar and become the player they think he can become.