{"id":554888,"date":"2026-04-18T00:04:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T00:04:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/554888\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T00:04:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T00:04:26","slug":"new-york-islanders-nhl-draft-outlook-what-to-know-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/554888\/","title":{"rendered":"New York Islanders NHL Draft Outlook: What To Know In 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New York Islanders<\/a> (43-34-5) enter the 2026 NHL Draft<\/a> cycle positioned in the lottery after narrowly missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs.<\/p>\n

The NHL Draft Lottery is May 5 during the NHL Playoffs, giving the Islanders a chance to move up from their current slot into the top tier of selections. Their finish places them in the middle of the lottery standings, where outcomes can shift but are still most likely to remain near their projected range.<\/p>\n

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The Islanders finished sixth in the Metropolitan Division.<\/p>\n

New York<\/a> is coming off a 2025 NHL Draft class that featured multiple first-round selections. The Islanders selected defenseman Matthew Schaefer<\/a> with the No. 1 overall pick, then added Victor Eklund and Kashawn Aitcheson later in the first round. That gave the organization one of the most aggressive first-round hauls in the league and a strong foundation heading into the next draft cycle.<\/p>\n

With a deep recent class already in place, the focus now shifts to how high New York can climb when the order is finalized.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s everything we know about the New York Islanders\u2019 NHL Draft outlook.<\/p>\n

New York Islanders NHL Draft Picks In 2026<\/p>\n

The NHL Draft consists of seven rounds, and each team typically holds one pick per round unless trades alter that structure.<\/p>\n

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The Islanders traded their second-round pick to the Chicago Blackhawks<\/a> in a deal involving Josh Bailey<\/a> and their third-round pick to the New York Rangers<\/a> in a trade involving Carson Soucy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

New York Islanders NHL Draft Lottery Odds For No. 1 Pick<\/p>\n

The New York Islanders have a 4.2% chance to win the No. 1 overall pick. Their most likely outcome is remaining near the No. 13 position, with an average draft position of 12.6.<\/p>\n

Who Did The New York Islanders Draft In 2025?<\/p>\n

Matthew Schaefer, D, Erie Otters<\/p>\n

Victor Eklund, R, Djurgardens IF<\/p>\n

Kashawn Aitcheson, D, Barrie Colts<\/p>\n

Daniil Prokhorov, R, St. Petersburg Dynamo Jr.<\/p>\n

Luca Romano, C, Kitchener Rangers<\/p>\n

Tomas Poletin, L, Pelicans<\/p>\n

Sam Laurila, D, Fargo Force<\/p>\n

Burke Hood, G, Vancouver Giants<\/p>\n

Jacob Kvasnicka, R, U.S. National Development Team<\/p>\n

Has A New York Islanders Player Ever Won The NHL Calder Memorial Trophy?<\/p>\n

The NHL Calder Memorial Trophy is the NHL\u2019s rookie of the year award. Here are all the New York Islanders players who have won the award.<\/p>\n

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Who Are The New York Islanders Minor League Hockey Team Affiliates?<\/p>\n

The New York Islanders are affiliated with the Bridgeport Islanders in the American Hockey League and the Worcester Railers in the ECHL.<\/p>\n

When Is The NHL Draft?<\/p>\n

The NHL Draft will take place on June 26- 27 in Buffalo, New York at KeyBank Center. It\u2019s the 64th NHL Draft.<\/p>\n

2025-2026 NHL Final StandingsEastern Conference<\/p>\n

Atlantic Division<\/p>\n

Toronto<\/a> Maple Leafs \u2014 32-36-14, 78 pts (eliminated)<\/p>\n

Metropolitan Division<\/p>\n

New York Islanders \u2014 43-34-5, 91 pts (eliminated)<\/p>\n

New York Rangers \u2014 34-39-9, 77 pts (eliminated)<\/p>\n

Western Conference<\/p>\n

Central Division<\/p>\n

Chicago Blackhawks \u2014 29-39-14, 72 pts (eliminated)<\/p>\n

Pacific Division<\/p>\n

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FloHockey is the streaming home to some of the best hockey leagues in North America, including the ECHL and more. Check out the broadcast schedule to watch more hockey.<\/a><\/p>\n

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Join The Hockey Conversation On FloHockey Social<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New York Islanders (43-34-5) enter the 2026 NHL Draft cycle positioned in the lottery after narrowly missing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":554889,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5110],"tags":[233,95,8479,229,26,29,5901,96,144,230,147,93,146,57,5,122,46304,145,1951,374,38,21,231,151,3328,159,35,5190,5189,4,465,25,56,100,168,234,84,104,92,66,3154,27,39,109,18],"class_list":{"0":"post-554888","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-islanders","8":"tag-anaheim-ducks","9":"tag-boston-bruins","10":"tag-bridgeport-islanders","11":"tag-buffalo-sabres","12":"tag-calgary-flames","13":"tag-carolina-hurricanes","14":"tag-carson-soucy","15":"tag-chicago-blackhawks","16":"tag-colorado-avalanche","17":"tag-columbus-blue-jackets","18":"tag-dallas-stars","19":"tag-detroit-red-wings","20":"tag-edmonton-oilers","21":"tag-florida-panthers","22":"tag-hockey","23":"tag-islanders","24":"tag-josh-bailey","25":"tag-los-angeles-kings","26":"tag-mathew-barzal","27":"tag-matthew-schaefer","28":"tag-minnesota-wild","29":"tag-montreal-canadiens","30":"tag-nashville-predators","31":"tag-new-jersey-devils","32":"tag-new-york","33":"tag-new-york-islanders","34":"tag-new-york-rangers","35":"tag-newyork","36":"tag-newyorkislanders","37":"tag-nhl","38":"tag-nhl-draft","39":"tag-ottawa-senators","40":"tag-philadelphia-flyers","41":"tag-pittsburgh-penguins","42":"tag-san-jose-sharks","43":"tag-seattle-kraken","44":"tag-st-louis-blues","45":"tag-stanley-cup-playoffs","46":"tag-tampa-bay-lightning","47":"tag-toronto","48":"tag-utah-mammoth","49":"tag-vancouver-canucks","50":"tag-vegas-golden-knights","51":"tag-washington-capitals","52":"tag-winnipeg-jets"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=554888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/554889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=554888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=554888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=554888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}