How NY Islanders draft pick Marcus Gidlöf spent draft night and his goals for the near future

When Lou Lamoriello and the NY Islanders stepped on the draft floor at the 2024 NHL Draft, the organization had plenty of holes to fill within its prospect pool, including depth at the goaltending position.

In the fourth round they elected to take Dmitri Gamzin, a 21-year-old who has spent the last few years playing with CSKA Moscow in the KHL, under now Bridgeport Islanders goaltending coach Sergei Naumovs.

One round later, Lamoriello returned to the well, selecting his second goaltender in as many rounds, taking the 6'6" Marcus Gidlöf of Leksands IF in Sweden.

Gidlöf played the 2023-24 season in the J20 Nationell, appearing in 26 games, posting a 2.22 GAA and .923 Sv%.

Gidlöf spent the night watching the draft at a friend's house, excited to be drafted regardless if in the second round or the seventh.

"When the Islanders came up, it felt extremely fun," Gidlöf told HockeySverige.se (translated from Swedish to English). "It was a goal that came true. Also, getting to work with the Islanders, which is an organization with a lot of history, will be awesome."

As players typically are at the draft, Gidlöf was unaware he was about to be selected by the Islanders. However, he soon received a call from a member of the organization's scouting staff.

It only took four, five minutes before they got in touch," Gidlöf said. First there was 'Jussi' (Juha Riihijärvi), a Finnish Swede. He congratulated me and said that it will be great and that it will be fun to work with me."

Set to return to Leksands this season, Gidlöf has his eyes set on making Team Sweden at the 2025 World Junior Championship in Ottawa.

"Absolutely, it is something I strive towards," says Gidlöf. "I want to take a place there and join in fighting for it. For me, it's about being able to do the job every day, checking in. If I join, I see it as an extremely fun checkpoint to check off. If I don't come, I have to keep working."

Gidlöf is part of Team Sweden's Summer Showcase team, taking the first step towards being part of the team that heads to the Canadian Capital this holiday season.