The NY Islanders completely reshaped their prospect pool after last night's first round

After years of being bounced in the first round and never making much of a push in the postseason, Lou Lamoriello did all he could to make the NY Islanders roster as strong as possible for a deep playoff run.

After back-to-back Conference/Semi-Finals appearances, Lamoriello still had his foot on the pedal. Still, the Islanders' train slowed to a point where they were no longer serious contenders, and the push Lamoriello made came at a cost. 

A new wave for the NY Islanders prospect pool

The Islanders didn’t make a first-round pick in four straight drafts, using the picks to acquire JG Pageau, Kyle Palmieri, Alexander Romanov, and Bo Horvat.

This caused the Isles' prospect pool to take a beating, considered one of the league's worst just over a year ago. 

Now, when people look at the Islanders' prospect pool, there’s a totally different feeling. There’s hope, skill, and what appears to be a bright future.

It started with the 20th overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. Cole Eiserman, who was once in contention with Macklin Celebrini for the first overall pick, slipped to the Islanders at 20, giving them the draft's best natural goal scorer. 

Then this season, Lady Luck was on the Islanders' side. With a 3.5% chance at winning the NHL Draft Lottery, the Isles moved up nine places in the draft order, winning the rights to the first overall pick. 

Mathieu Darche, in his first season in charge, selected the consensus top prospect in Matthew Schaefer, a potential number one defenseman at some point down the road. 

While making the first overall pick should have been more than enough to make the future seem brighter, Darche acquired picks No. 16 and 17 for Noah Dobson.

While the hope was that those picks would be turned into James Hagens, the plan didn’t ultimately work out, but Darche was able to select Victor Eklund and Keshawn Aitcheson with those picks.

Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff had Schaefer, Eklund, and  Aitcheson ranked among his top 10 prospects, while Chris Botta reported a scout telling him, “Crazy luck for your team. Eklund lasting until 16 is stupid. (Aitcheson) is a stud. When media does a re-draft in a year or two, both those kids will be top 10.”

On top of the draft picks, add Calum Ritchie who the Isles acquired from the Colorado Avalanche in the Brock Nelson trade, who is a potential top-6 center ready to make an impact next season.

A future that was looking bleak has quickly turned around, as the Islanders may now have one of the NHL's best prospect pools.