Islanders' Round 2 draft options might be better than fans think

It’s like we’ve all forgotten that the New York Islanders have more than one pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. But that’s often the case for a team picking first overall. One that’s nowhere near as bad as a typical team with the top selection. 

The Islanders fit that mold. And, regardless of whether they take Matthew Schaefer, Michael Misa, James Hagens, or if they throw the ultimate curveball and snag someone like Anton Frondell, their strategy in Round 2 shouldn’t get overly complicated. 

My advice to Mathieu Darche is simple: Make sure you pick a player with a combination of upside and production. If you can do that, then you may just have a future top-six or top-four player should you keep the 42nd overall pick. 

The one thing I wouldn’t do is to take the opposite position of the player I drafted in Round 1. If Darche took Schaefer with the top pick, don’t take a forward just for the sake of taking a forward in Round 2.

New York Islanders will have a lot of awesome options in Round 2

Case in point, the Isles cannot botch their pick in Round 2. No, it won’t be as painful as hitting a ringer in Round 2, only for either Schaefer or Misa to be the ultimate busts (hey, you never know, right?). 

But for a team like the Isles, who are good enough to stay afloat while their second-rounder develops? No, they’d ideally hit hard on it. That’s why I’m looking at players like Cole McKinney, whose 6’0, 201-lb frame is already pro-ready. He’s also more than a point-per-game player, and he could be there at No. 42. 

Ditto for Carter Amico, who I’m convinced would’ve been a first-rounder if it wasn’t for injuries. Amico’s no points producer, but at 6’6, 234 lbs, he can be a throwback player when the day comes for him to graduate to the NHL. 

Nathan Behm is another one I’d have my eye on. He’s a versatile winger who also boasts NHL-ready size and put up 66 points in 59 games. A player like Behm is one who can develop the finer points of his game in the lower leagues before he’s ready to take over. 

The first two rounds are pivotal for the Islanders success in the 2020s

While the likes of Calum Ritchie and Cole Eiserman will be wearing the blue sweaters routinely at some point within the next season or two, imagine them ultimately joining a team that has either Matthew Schaefer or Michael Misa. Then, imagine a solid Round 2 player from the 2025 draft joining that team down the road. 

Talk about a sound core group of players, and one that could potentially have Noah Dobson, Simon Holmstrom, Alexander Romanov, and Mathew Barzal on board. While the Islanders look like an average, stagnating team now, elite drafting in the first two rounds will more than set them up as a potential powerhouse. 

We got two days remaining until the first pick is in, and a new chapter in Islanders history begins shortly thereafter.

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