Islanders: Ranking last 10 first rounders from worst to best

The entry draft is on my mind. It will be until it happens in early July. I'm sure I'm not the only New York Islanders fan that's in the same mindset. The next few weeks will be dedicated to thinking who the Islanders might draft in 2022.

But when you think of the future you unintentionally also think of the past. So when I think about who the Islanders might draft I also think of the players they did draft.

So with that, I'm looking at the last ten first-round selections by the Islanders and ranking them from worst to best.

Griffin Reinhart | 2012 4th Overall

You knew Reinhart would be the first one up and the worst one. As the fourth overall selection in 2012, Reinhart had big expectations to fill. He was supposed to be a top-pair defenseman for the Isles in a few years' time.

That did not pan out. Reinhart should be at his peak right now but he's not even in the NHL. Heck, it seems like he's retiring from professional hockey. That was not supposed to happen.

Sure the Islanders eventually traded him for Barzal and Beauvillier but that's not what he was drafted to do. Getting what the Islanders got out of him via trade was the best-case scenario from a worst-case situation.

Michael Dal Colle | 2014 5th Overall

Again, another player drafted high up in the draft that hasn't yet made an impact at the NHL level. There's still time for Dal Colle I suppose. He's doing well at the AHL level and could be considered for a bottom-six position at the NHL level. But we're going on year eight since he was drafted and still, no impact at the NHL level, yet.

But like Reinhart, that's not what the Islanders were hoping for when they drafted him. He was supposed to be a power forward that would be a staple of the Isles top-6 for years. Being a replacement-level player places him near the bottom of the list.