OHL coach says NY Islanders prospect has NHL ceiling few predicted before draft

The New York Islanders may have found themselves something special in the fifth round of the 2026 NHL Draft. And if you ask Guelph Storm Associate coach and former Isles defenseman Ron Davison, Vladimir Dravecky's ceiling is a whole lot higher than his draft position might suggest.

In a Q&A with Chris Botta, Davison offered a pretty encouraging assessment of the young defenseman, who has quickly become one of Guelph's most important players.

You can read the full Q&A at IslesFix , a daily Islanders newsletter.

"I don't see any reason, if he continues to emerge, why he can't play in one of your top-two pairings," Davison said. "He'll be able to run a power play and he'll be able to take regular shifts."

That's quite the endorsement for a fifth-round pick.

Dravecky is already logging 23-24 minutes a night, playing on the power play, killing penalties and handling just about every situation the Storm throw at him. And with Guelph guaranteed a spot in the Memorial Cup as the host city, he'll have an opportunity to showcase his development on one of junior hockey's biggest stages.

Offensively, Davison sees something that separates Dravecky from most defensemen at the OHL level. His ability to take control of the puck and create offense almost single-handedly.

"I'm not comparing him to Quinn Hughes, but what he does for us in the OHL is what Quinn Hughes does in the NHL, where he can be a one-man breakout machine," Davison explained.

Of course, there's work to do. Dravecky needs to get stronger, improve his defensive positioning and learn to handle bigger opponents. Davison and former Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi are working closely with him on those details.

Perhaps the most encouraging takeaway, though, has nothing to do with his skill.

Davison says Dravecky constantly asks for extra ice time, works relentlessly and barely acknowledged signing his Islanders contract before getting back to business. In fact, his biggest problem might be knowing when to take a break.

"We have to slow him down a bit because he'll be exhausted by the weekend," Davison said. "I'm sure the Islanders saw that too in training camp. He's been a pleasure to work with so far. In junior hockey, the sky's the limit for him."

For a fifth-round pick, that's exactly what you want to hear. There's still a long way to go before Dravecky becomes an NHL regular, but the early returns are awfully encouraging.

And when the coach working with him every day is already talking about top-four potential and saying the sky's the limit, it's hard not to get a little excited about what the Islanders might have found

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