New York Islanders Prospect Pyramid 2025

New York Islanders Prospect Pyramid 2025

Welcome back to Scouching’s Prospect Pipeline series and today we are looking at the New York Islanders. It is a new era for Islanders fans with Matthew Dar leading the way. The Lamarillo era is now over and they’ve drafted a lot over the last little while. They traded away Noah Dobson for more draft picks. And I’m very interested to see what’s going to happen with them over the next little bit. But we’re going to focus on their potential future with the players they already do have. And leading things off, we’re obviously going to be starting with Matthew Schaefer. It seems as though he’s going to be at least starting the year in the NHL this year, but we will see where things go. I don’t really know what I would do with him. I think I would let him play in camp and see where it goes. Give him some preseason games and see how he does because he hasn’t played a game in 2025 at all. He did play at the summer showcase, but in terms of a competitive game, he hasn’t played all season long. So, let’s give him a little bit of time maybe to get back up to speed. But boy, when this kid is up to speed, is he ever good. This is a player that could absolutely be a franchisealtering offensive defenseman. That’s not to say his defensive game isn’t very good. It’s more based on his skating ability, closing gaps, and good time stick checks, and all those little subtle things rather than more of a physical clear the front of the net style of defenseman. But at the end of the day, you’re getting him for the dynamic skating ability, the skill level, the just ability to run, play up the ice himself, step up in the offensive zone, create offense for his linemates, and you know what? For a team that was nowhere close to the worst team in the league this year to jump up to the top slot in the draft and pick a guy like Schaefer, that’s just a lottery win. And I think Schaefer is a really, really great player to build around. There are some downsides to his game, but at the end of the day, for what he brings to the game, I can absolutely see him being an absolute rockar for a while. With the core category, I’ve got Victor. He’s not the biggest guy in the world, but he just plays a winning style of hockey in my opinion. There are things about his game that I think are flaws that will need to be ironed out over the next little while, but the physicality and the energy and the overall pace of play that he plays at should have no problem really translating to the NHL in a really productive way in a way that I think chips in at both ends of the ice. His overall tracking data this year was really, really outstanding at a men’s league level. So, we’ll see where things go for him this year. He’ll be in the SHL with your garden all season long and it’ll be really interesting to see where he goes. It is interesting to me that so many people forgot just how good he was at the World Juniors this year for a Swedish team that did pretty well. And for him to be one of the best players on that team is a really impressive accomplishment. And so to get a player of that quality in the middle of the first round, a player I had ranked significantly higher, I’m really impressed with the pickup here. And you know what, you lose Noah Dobson, but if Victorland turns out as good as I think he could be in the future, it probably will turn out to be okay for them. Flipping down to the depth category, there are a few interesting players in here and leading the way for me is Cole Eisermanman. Now, Cole Eisermanman was in the core category last year and I watched him quite a bit this year with Boston University. And this is not to say that I think he’s taken a step back in his game or something, but in terms of the limitations of his game, the defensive play, the overall off-puck play and playmaking ability, it just hasn’t taken that much of a step based on what I remember from his draft year. So this might be a guy who slots in as more of a goalc scoring first, top six, second, third line guy who can score goals in the power play and just be adequate at five on five, but in a good way. I do think Eerman has a lot more in the tank though and I think of all of these players, he’s the one riding the line between a core player and a depth player very very very closely. So, at the very least though, there’s a very talented goalcorer here and there’s a lot to chew on with Eisman’s game and I’ll be really excited to see what he can do as a sophomore at college this year. In this tier, we also have Callum Richie who had another fantastic season in the OHL this year. He’ll be making the jump to pro hockey. I don’t know if he’s an NHL player right away. I probably wouldn’t bother to rush him super quickly. But, you know what? A good AHL player who can score and really produce against men, I don’t think is outside the realm of possibility for this season. I think again this is more of a top nine or second line scoring complimentary guy who may not be the guy you want running the line or playing 25 minutes a night scoring and scoring and scoring but definitely a kid with a lot of offensive tools and a lot of potential to chew on. I think there’s a productive player in his future at the NHL level. I’m just not sure it’s going to happen right away. But boy is he ever a fun player to watch when he’s really cooking. The other guy in this range that I kind of have to put here because I saw him at the NHL level last year and thought he was decent at least and a guy that I could see sticking in the NHL long term is Isaiah George. He’s a good example of a player that I’ve been curious about over the last few years where as a junior player they’re not the most productive player, but they just go out and every single shift they’ve got a bit of that physical edge, but they’re more of a skating first sort of finesse style defense first defenseman that does have a little bit of skill, but maybe not that sort of offensive creativity and daring offensive mindset that a lot of young defenseman have this year, but still carry a good amount of value. And I think Isaiah George is a decent example of that. And so I think he’s a player that maybe deserves a spot in the maybe category because when this team is a competitive NHL franchise, is he an everyday NHL defenseman? I think time will tell, but there’s a lot of ingredients here that maybe with some experience and some time could slot in as a second pair at best, but maybe more of a third pair penalty killing style defenseman. And I’ll be very curious to see where he goes this season. He moved up a couple of tiers for this video. And maybe in a year we’re looking at him in the maybe category depending on how this season goes. but an interesting case study nonetheless. I’ve also got Cali Odelius in here and he’s had a little bit of a rocky career over the last little while since being drafted, but he played a pretty solid season in Bridgeport this past year. I would love to see a little bit more offensive output out of him, but he’s a very similarish type player to Isaiah George. maybe just not with the same sort of a physical play there here and there. But Odillius is a very very mobile, very skilled defenseman who leads with a lot of that skill and just a really efficient and fun player to watch who does have some holes in his game, but I do think that another solid year of growth and more ice time with Bridgeport and maybe a better set of offensive surroundings to play with, including guys like Callum Richie. I think there could be a role for Caliodelius down the road, but in a year we might be looking at him maybe more in the May category. And the last guy of course that I have to bring up here is Kahan Ages. Now I am not the biggest fan of Kahan Ages, at least not as a mid-first round selection in last year’s draft, but it’s hard to deny that there is going to be an NHL job for him at some point. For me, this is a really, really solid physical player with a lot of tools to play around with, an absolute weapon of a shot from the point. I felt like his best moments were when he pinched up at the offensive zone. Really sort of got involved down low, dug in the corners, got involved around scoring areas, and really mucked things up closer to the net as opposed to more in his own end and running breakouts reliably. There were just a lot of really questionable areas of his game that considering his age for the draft class. I just think he’s a bit of a ways away from a real everyday NHL player. But all the ingredients are there. There were just a lot of other players I was more interested in this draft class. But for what Hes is and comparing the fact that they’ve got him and Ecklund based on the picks they got for Noah Dobson, that’s a perfectly fine combo to get. And their first round picks this past summer of Schaefer, Ecklund, and Aes, even though it might not have been the trio I would have picked. Two of those three were my best players available at those picks. And I understand the appeal of Kahan Ages even if I’m not fully on board, but could be a good player and I imagine should be an everyday NHL player at some point. Down in the maybe category, it really pained me, but I put Camil Barak down here. Just didn’t have the productive freshman year I expected, and I feel like he’s a bit of a step behind the guys we’ve spoken about already, but I still do remain a really big fan of his style of play. I always love the zeal of a guy like Jesse Pulkinan, but I just still haven’t seen him really capture that magic of him in the Finnish Junior League last year. And I always was a little bit of a Jesse Pulkin doubter based on his play when he was drafted by New York. At the end of the day though, there is still a very interesting player here with a lot of interesting tools and talents for a player that big. And I do feel that over a long period of time, he could make the jump over to North America. And who knows what’s possible once he comes over here. But this is a guy who I think originally my gut was right on him being a big maybe literally because he is just so big. But you know him in the maybe category feels very very apt. But there are a lot of other players in this tier that I also really like watching play. I think Danny Nelson might surprise some people considering he has just been a rock solid bottom six guy everywhere he goes. He’s been playing for Notre Dame up the middle and he has been on a team that was not that great this past year in their conference. But I have liked what I’ve seen out of him. And he’s got the size and the projectability. Guys like Luca Romano I love a lot. I just really wonder about his NHL projectability. I’m not the only one who thinks that way about him. But at the end of the day, really smart player, a lot of good competitiveness in his game. And I can see why an NHL team takes a chance on him and gives him an opportunity here. So I expect him to become a very successful OHL player. Not that he isn’t already, but a better one than he already is in a bigger role with Kitchener. The day I’m recording this video, Adam Valentine said that he’s not coming to Kitchener’s camp anymore. To me, that opens up a big hole on Kitchener’s roster that Luca Romano probably can help fill if he wasn’t filling it already. But the other guys in this tier I also just enjoy watching a lot, especially Denil Pakorov, one of the weirdest cases last year who was on nobody’s radar until about February. But he was a guy that was sort of on and off my list early in the year. a really big but lanky and skilled and devastating shot first scorer who I think has some good potential. It’s just going to take a little while to get there, but a year here, a year there over in Russia, just taking steps up the ladder of pro hockey there. And I can easily see Porov being a guy that slots into an NHL lineup in four, five or 6 years, but I can’t say that with a certain level of certainty, but I do think that there’s a pretty decent chance of that happening. On the opposite side of the coin is a Thomas Politine who I think is just a perfectly fine and adequate player. There’s nothing really that blows me away about his style of play, but he is kind of like a more basic version of a Porov where things are relatively kept simple but efficient. He goes to the net. He can tip pucks in front. He’s got a bit of a physical side to him. He’s not small. There’s a lot of things that maybe with time could come a ways and you end up with a bottom six NHL player and he’s one that I could see it possibly happening with, but I’m still thinking that the NHL is a bit of a ways away. Quinn Finley is also up here. I’ve been really surprised with just how successful he’s been with Wisconsin over the last little while. I’m not sure about an NHL level player, but based on what I’ve seen at the NCAA level to this point, I think Finley deserves a look as maybe a player that makes it to the NHL. There’s also a handful of goalenders in here led by Marcus Hidloff who went back and had a pretty solid season with Lexand this year. I’m looking for him to take another step forward. He looked pretty solid playing for Sweden internationally when he got the chance and so he is a gigantic goalender. Who knows? I know people in Sweden are really excited about him and we’ll see where it goes. Dmitri Gamzen also had an excellent year in the KHL this year. This was always a player that they took a flyer on him when he was quite old for the draft class, but this is a player that I could see jumping straight to the NHL after his contract expires over in Russia because he has had quite a lot of success to this point. But based on what I’ve seen of him and the track record of KHL goalenders, I just don’t think there’s a whole lot of certainty. And when you look under the hood with Gansen, there’s nothing that really outperforms what’s expected of him based on the workload he faces. But we shall see. Burke Hood is another one in here. Another solid goalending pickup. And between the three of these, I think there’s a pretty decent chance that they’ve got something that can help them at the NHL level in the near future. That’s the best you can hope for, I think, when you’re looking at goalending. Down at the bottom of the pyramid here, there’s not a whole lot I want to get into. I always had a soft spot for Matt Majio, but now that he’s getting on the older side of being a prospect in my database and not the most amazing AHL player, I had to downgrade him here. There are other guys here like Jesse Nurmy, who’s always fun to watch, but again, I’m not sure about an NHL level player there. I do really like Jacob Kasnika and hope for the best for him because he’s one of these players where while he’s flashing his best play, he is a really exciting player, but you just don’t see it a whole lot. But I do think a few years in college, similar to a guy like a Quinn Finley, maybe you do see some growth in his game and he marches his way up the pyramid long term. But considering where he’s drafted, I don’t think you can expect too much. But at the end of the day, I think similar to some other teams we’ve talked about in this series, the New York Islanders have undergone a really impressive transformation over the last couple of years. They’ve made some trades that landed a guy like Callum Richie. They’ve gone out and drafted guys that fell in the draft too far like guys like Cole Eisermanman and Victor Ecklund. They’ve gone out and got some different styles of players out there. Guys like Politine and Procarov and Romano and Aes all fill different shoes in different ways that I think is really interesting. They’ve got some really impressive young players on defense that while I’m not sure if they’re all going to work out, guys like Isaiah George, Calio Deodelius, and Jesse Pulkinan. They’re all interesting with some level of intriguing talent bases you can bet on. And I think at the end of the day in net, you’ve got a few good options. And the Islanders look like they’re in relatively good hands all things being considered. We’ll see what happens with the NHL team this year. I’ll be very interested to see where they go this year. Again, this was not a team that finished dead last last year with the best lottery odds and got the first overall pick because of how awful they were. They lucked out. They got a great player to build the future of their team with. And I think that there are some interesting days ahead for the Islanders and whoever is running their scouting department nowadays. Seems to be with it well enough and I think they’ve done well enough in the last 12 months that their future looks pretty good. And with that, we’re going to call it. If you like the video, definitely like and subscribe. If you really liked it, definitely consider a subscription over at scouting.ca. CA where you can get access to all kinds of fun data tools and our Discord server and plenty of other fun stuff that you’re just not going to find anywhere else on the internet. So check that out at scouting.ca. Thank you for watching and we’ll see you in the next

In this episode of the Prospect Pyramid series, Will Scouch breaks down the New York Islanders’ prospect system. From their most promising young players to depth prospects still finding their game, every name is placed on the pyramid to show where they fit in the organization.

Will works through the tiers, giving his perspective on the strengths and weaknesses of the Islanders’ pipeline.

#ProspectPyramid #Isles #NewYorkIslanders #Scouching #HockeyProspects

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