Recapping the NY Islanders A+ Draft Class

NY Islanders Future Is Promising

After the Noah Dobson trade, it was expected that picks No.16/17 would be used to trade up and draft Long Island native James Hagens. As disappointing as it was not to bring Hagens back to his childhood team, the Islanders may be better off.

Keeping those two picks to acquire Eklund and Aitcheson gives the organization depth and flexibility in potential trades. It's hard to find a team with a deeper prospect pool than the Islanders after this draft concluded.

Quick Recap

For Islanders fans, this is one of the more exciting times in recent years. It's hard to recall when the team had this deep of a prospect pool as they do right now. Don't forget, the Islanders have two first-round picks in next year's draft, in what is regarded as a deeper draft than this year's.

The Islanders added a star defenseman in Schaefer, a tenacious forward in Eklund, an old-school and hard-hitting body in Aitcheson, two sleepers with Prokhorov and Romano, and hopefully, a few hidden gems in Poletin, Laurila, Hood, and Kvasnicka.

Adding this draft class to existing Islanders prospects like Calum Ritchie, Cole Eiserman, Danny Nelson, Quinn Finley, Calle Odelius, and Isaiah George, the future is bright and exciting for Islanders fans.