{"id":614149,"date":"2026-07-04T02:57:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T02:57:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/614149\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T02:57:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T02:57:16","slug":"islanders-first-round-pick-malte-gustafsson-soaking-in-first-week-with-organization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/614149\/","title":{"rendered":"Islanders first-round pick Malte Gustafsson soaking in first week with organization"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Last Friday, Malte Gustafsson<\/a> sat in his seat at the NHL Draft in Buffalo as the opening-round selections came off the board.<\/p>\n

He did not go in the top 10, and the St. Louis Blues and New Jersey Devils went in different directions with the 11th and 12th picks.<\/p>\n

Up next were the Islanders, who selected the Swedish defenseman with the 13th overall pick.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s amazing,\u201d Gustafsson told Greater Long Island <\/a>following Thursday\u2019s Development Camp practice at Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow. \u201cI can\u2019t really describe it. It was incredible to hear my name get called. It\u2019s been an amazing week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gustafsson is a 6-foot-5, 203-pound left-handed defenseman who will return to Sweden for a second season with HV71 of the Swedish Hockey League.<\/p>\n

The plan is then for him to move to North America and join the Islanders organization, where he could push for a roster spot in 2027-28. The more likely scenario would have Gustafsson beginning that season with the Hamilton Hammers of the American Hockey League.<\/p>\n

This week, Gustafsson has had the opportunity to become acquainted with his future home while meeting the Islanders\u2019 NHL and AHL coaches, members of the organization and many of the prospects who could eventually become his teammates.<\/p>\n

\"\"EAST MEADOW, NEW YORK \u2013 JUNE 29: Malte Gustafsson #88, prospect for the New York Islanders, skates during Day 1 of the team\u2019s annual Development Camp, held at Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow, New York on June 29th, 2026. Credit: New York Islanders<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been great,\u201d said Gustafsson, who turned 18 just 15 days before the draft. \u201cI\u2019ve gotten to learn a lot of things on and off the ice and get to see the facilities and get to know the staff and get to know the guys. It\u2019s been good.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his first season with HV71, Gustafsson recorded three assists in 27 games while establishing himself as an intimidating two-way defenseman with poise and physicality.<\/p>\n

After moving up from HV71\u2019s under-20 program, Gustafsson showed he belonged while competing against experienced professional players.<\/p>\n

At Development Camp, he was able to pick up a few lessons to take home to Sweden before he eventually returns to Islanders Country.<\/p>\n

\"\"EAST MEADOW, NEW YORK \u2013 JUNE 29: Malte Gustafsson #88, prospect for the New York Islanders, skates during Day 1 of the team\u2019s annual Development Camp, held at Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow, New York on June 29th, 2026. Credit: New York Islanders<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t really have much expectations,\u201d Gustafsson said. \u201cI\u2019ve just been trying to take in as much as possible. We\u2019ve been working on some stuff and I think it\u2019s really helped me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Islanders fans also received an up-close look at Gustafsson during the open practices and Wednesday night\u2019s Blue and White scrimmage.<\/p>\n

He was among the prospects who drew the most attention, along with fellow defensemen Kashawn Aitcheson, Calle Odelius and Isaiah George, as well as forwards Cole Eiserman, Victor Eklund and Daniil Prokhorov.<\/p>\n

At last year\u2019s Development Camp, much of the focus was on first overall pick Matthew Schaefer, who went on to win the Calder Trophy as the NHL\u2019s Rookie of the Year.<\/p>\n

In the not-too-distant future, Gustafsson could find himself playing alongside Schaefer on the Islanders\u2019 blue line.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t really thought about it,\u201d Gustafsson said. \u201cBut his year was incredible and it would be amazing to play with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

After completing his first week as an Islander, Gustafsson will return home to Sweden to prepare for next season.<\/p>\n

Although he will be far from Long Island, he plans to follow his future team as closely as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs much as I can,\u201d Gustafsson said. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to watch the games since they\u2019re in the middle of the night, but I\u2019ll keep track of course.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the last year, general manager Mathieu Darche has replenished the Islanders\u2019 prospect pool, giving the organization plenty to look forward to over the next several seasons.<\/p>\n

As the Islanders work to build a younger and faster roster capable of contending for the Stanley Cup, Gustafsson could become an important part of that blueprint.<\/p>\n

Highlights<\/p>\n

Top: EAST MEADOW, NEW YORK \u2013 JUNE 29: Malte Gustafsson #88, prospect for the New York Islanders, skates during Day 1 of the team\u2019s annual Development Camp, held at Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow, New York on June 29th, 2026. Credit: New York Islanders<\/p>\n

\"Your
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Subscribe<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last Friday, Malte Gustafsson sat in his seat at the NHL Draft in Buffalo as the opening-round selections…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":614150,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5110],"tags":[5,122,3328,159,5190,5189,4],"class_list":["post-614149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-islanders","tag-hockey","tag-islanders","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-islanders","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkislanders","tag-nhl"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116859466200367863","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614149","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=614149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614149\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/614150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=614149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=614149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=614149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}