The NY Islanders will have plenty of quality options to select at No. 13 in the 2026 NHL Draft

The ping-pong balls didn’t bounce in the NY Islanders' favor this year at the NHL Draft Lottery, as they had only a 2% chance of moving up to 10 places to the third overall pick. The expectation going into the night was that they’d be picking 13th overall, and that’s exactly where they landed.

The Toronto Maple Leafs moved up from fifth place to first overall, and the San Jose Sharks moved up seven places to second overall, picking in the top five for the fourth straight season.

The NY Islanders have options at pick No. 13

The overall consensus is that Gavin McKenna and Ivar Stenberg are the top two top players in this year's draft and could very easily be taken first and second overall. In the next tier are defensemen Chase Reid, Keaton Verhoeff, and Carson Carels, as well as center Caleb Malhotra. Though those four players may not be taken with picks 3-6, consensus rankings have them as the next four best available.

Following those six players, there’s about 15 players who could be selected at any point.

Though the Islanders have done a phenomenal job at rebuilding their prospect pool, there is still plenty of work to be done. The organization has a number of left-handed defensemen who have played NHL games or are close to becoming NHL-ready, but the right side is severely lacking. Daxon Rudolph or Ryan Lin could be options at No. 13.

If they elect to go the route of power forward, there should be plenty of options for skilled players with size. Ethan Belchetz, Oscar Hemming, Oliver Suvanto, and Ilia Morozov are all 6’3” or taller. Just below them, size-wise, are Adam Novotny and Marcus Nordmark, listed at 6’1” or taller.

Mathieu Darche could elect to add more speed and the prototypical skilled forward to the prospect pool. Here you have players like Viggo Bjorck, Tynan Lawrence, Nikita Klepov, and Wyatt Cullen. 

The Islanders will have their pick of a number of players who will be a welcome addition to the organization and will hopefully be able to help this team sooner rather than later. 

In the coming weeks before the draft, we’ll go more in-depth with some of these prospects, discussing their skills and weaknesses before the NHL Draft on June 26 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo.

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