The left side of the blue line gets more crowded within the NY Islanders' prospect pool, selecting Malte Gustafsson

One thing that NHL GM's try not to do during the NHL Draft is draft for need, and nobody could fault Mathieu Darche for that following the selection of defenseman Malte Gustafsson with pick No. 13 at the 2026 NHL Draft.

Gustafsson is a towering 6'4" defenseman, which adds to the crowded left side among the organization's prospects. Last season, the Islanders selected Calder Trophy winner Matthew Schaefer with the first overall pick, while also taking Kashawn Aitcheson with pick No. 17. Three left-handed defensemen were taken in the first round in two years, adding to Isaiah George, Warren Marshall, Xavier Veilleux, and Jesse Pulkkinen.

Schaefer is locked into the Islanders' top pairing for what will hopefully be a long time, Aitcheson could make his NHL debut at some point this season, while George and Warren have already played a handful of games with the Islanders.

Aside from the plethora of prospects, Adam Pelech is signed for three more seasons, and Alexander Romanov signed an 8-year extension last summer.

The likely outcome is that Darche elects to move either Romanov or Pelech, or one or multiple of his prospects, to add to the forward corps. Darche's goal at the trade deadline was to not move Aitcheson, but with Gustafsson now in the picture, perhaps he's more willing to move one of the two to get that goal scorer they've been searching for.

The Gustafsson pick may not be the one fans were hoping for, but he was likely the top player available on their draft board. Whether it's this season or next, when they'll have more cap flexibility, it wouldn't be a surprise to see a defenseman moved at some point to loosen the log jam on the left side of the blue line.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow