Hamilton Head Coach Jay McKee is the reason NY Islanders' fifth-round pick Vladimir Dravecky joined the OH

The NY Islanders made the right side of their blue line an emphasis yesterday, drafting Lincoln Kuehne and Vladimir Draveky, while trading for the rights to Ryan Healey from the Minnesota Wild.

Dravecky, the fifth-round pick from the Brampton Bulldogs of the OHL, is an offensive-minded blueliner on whom the Islanders had some inside information. After Rocky Thompson was promoted to assistant coach with the Islanders, Jay McKee, formerly of the Brampton Bulldogs, was hired as Head Coach of the Hamilton Hammers.

After spending much of his junior career in Slovakia and Czechia, Dravecky decided to jump to Canadian juniors, with McKee’s ability to develop defensemen playing a key factor in his life-changing decision.

“Jay was the reason why I went here because when you have a coach like this who played like 800 games in the NHL, that’s unreal. He can show me things, tell me things about his career, and he has so many experiences,” Dravecky said, according to Scott Wheeler of The Athletic. “This just can help me for my career, and that’s also why I made the decision to come here, because you don’t have many coaches like this around the world.”

With Dravecky returning to Brantford next season and McKee heading to the Islanders organization, the Islanders' draft pick will continue to develop under Michael Babcock, son of newly appointed Edmonton Oilers head coach Mike Babcock.

As Dravecky will spend one more season in juniors before turning professional, he’ll be reunited with McKee - a coach who knows the player and how to get the best out of him.

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