Islanders' depth of college prospects looking impressive: 3 players to watch

The trends of Lou Lamoriellos drafts in his tenure as New York Islanders general manager look mostly like college-bound kids and Europeans.

The Islanders have had to mine the middle rounds for prospects these last seven seasons as Lamoriello has traded the teams first-round pick four times and, despite some of the uninspiring results at the NHL level, the Isles havent picked in the top 10 in Lamoriellos time here.

Advertisement Isaiah George is the best prospect the Isles have and he did come out of the OHL.

So did Noah Dobson.

But the other shots the Isles amateur staff has taken in the first three rounds have been on players from Europe (Simon Holmstrom, Aatu Raty, Calle Odelius, Jesse Pulkkinen) or college players.

Lamoriello helped write the book on how to mine the college-bound player route in the draft during his time with the New Jersey Devils Brian Rolston, Bill Guerin, Jay Pandolfo, Brian Gionta, Zach Parise and Travis Zajac were among the high-pick hits on college guys Lamoriello made, along with many misses, as well.

Lamoriello is a college guy, having gotten his start as a coach and athletic director at Providence, so it makes sense.

And while the Isles arent exactly speeding up anyones prospect rankings theyre No.

25 in our Scott Wheelers latest , though that is higher than theyve been they have put together a solid group of prospects currently in the NCAA who are getting attention.

Cole Eiserman, the 20th pick in June, is the headliner.

But hes got company.

Heres a look at three other Islanders prospects drawing notice in the college ranks.

Danny Nelson, C, Notre Dame (No.

49, 2024) If you watched the World Juniors six weeks ago, you saw plenty of high picks.

Eleven players on the USA roster were drafted higher than 49th in the 2023 or 2024 drafts, plus there was 2025 top-five-rated James Hagens.

But one of the standouts was Nelson, who played a big role in Team USAs second consecutive gold medal and drew lots of praise for his play in the tournament.

Hes really grown into an all-around, 200-foot player, Lamoriello said last month about Nelson, who had four goals and two assists at World Juniors and was an alternate captain.

Nelsons sophomore season at Notre Dame hasnt been bad, with 11 goals and 10 assists in 28 games, but the Irish are having a rough season, last in the Big Ten with a 9-20-1 record.

Advertisement I feel like were better than our record shows, Nelson said.

For me personally, Ive added some tools to my game that I wanted to add.

Driving the play a little more, using my skating, using the middle of the ice in the D-zone and the O-zone.

I feel like Ive gotten better at that.

Nelson is 6 foot 3 and 203 pounds, so the old saw of staying in school to get bigger and stronger may not apply to him after this season.

There might be a real decision to make for Nelson and the Islanders on whether hes best served turning pro and spending a full season in the AHL to get acclimated to the pro pace or whether he should be back for his junior year at Notre Dame.

Bridgeports track record for development under Lamoriello isnt great, though its better for forwards.

Holmstrom played 154 AHL games before becoming an Islanders regular and he looks like a solid middle-sixer.

Marc Gatcomb played most of his pro career in Abbotsford of the AHL before signing a two-way deal with the Islanders last summer, but he is making the most of his NHL time.

Kyle MacLean was also a longtime Bridgeporter before making a dent with the Isles last season.

And, with a real lack of drafted forward prospects at the AHL level William Dufour, Matthew Maggio, Alex Jefferies and Eetu Liukas are currently the only Isles draft picks on the Bridgeport Islanders roster theres an opportunity for Nelson to play big pro minutes as a 20-year-old.

Quinn Finley, LW, Wisconsin (No.

78, 2022) Finley fits another interesting draft trend for the Islanders under Lamoriello: Like Eiserman and Nelson, Finley was born in August, so he was 17 at the time of the draft and perhaps a bit overlooked compared to the already-18 draft-eligible players.

Due to the late birthday, Finley played his post-draft year in the USHL, which is a rarity; he had a decent freshman year at Wisconsin but has broken out this year with 19 goals, 34 points and seven power-play goals, all of which are top 15 in college hockey.

Advertisement He didnt get much power-play time before this season but now hes making the most of it.

Just something coach (Mike Hastings) had me doing this year, in that flank spot, and its working out well, Finley said.

Wisconsin, like Notre Dame, is having a down year at 11-18-3, so the end of this season will come quickly for Finley.

He still has some filling out to do at 6 feet and 187 pounds but, like Nelson, he and the Islanders may have a decision to make in the spring about whether to stay for a third season or see what a developmental year in the AHL could do.

Finley and Nelson know each other well, and not just from seeing one another across the ice in conference games.

We roomed together at World Juniors last year, we were linemates there, Finley said of the 2024 gold medal-winning U.S.

team.

We keep in touch a lot.

Eiserman, too.

Its pretty exciting to think well be together in the future.

Kamil Bednarik, C, Boston University (No.

61, 2024) Eiserman and Bednarik played together for two years at the U.S.

National Team Development Program, where they both committed to Boston U.

Lamoriellos Islanders then picked them in consecutive rounds in June.

Cant get away from each other, Eiserman said with a laugh about his suitemate in Boston.

But the two forwards couldnt be more different on the ice.

Eiserman is a no-conscience goal scorer who celebrates as if he got shot out of a cannon.

Bednarik is a defense-first center whom Pandolfo, the BU coach, already relies on for penalty killing and late-game, lead-preserving minutes.

Bednarik has a goal and 14 assists in 29 games as a freshman on a team thats been consistently ranked in the top 10 this season, but his stats arent what has mattered so far.

Hes the type of player who can help you win championships, Pandolfo said of Bednarik.

Hes got plenty of offense in his game, too, but hes going to be a player that any coach will feel confident calling on in big situations.

Hes probably underrated offensively, but hes playing a certain role for us now.

An intelligent player, a winner.

Every coach wants that.

Advertisement Where Eiserman says Alex Ovechkin is his idol, Bednarik has a different view of his ideal NHL player.

I always watched Patrice Bergeron a lot, Bednarik said.

Everybodys always trying to score in youth hockey and no ones really thinking about defending, the other things.

I always liked the idea of stealing the puck off someone to go down and score, or keeping the other team from scoring.

Its a real challenge.

BU had three games against top-ranked Boston College in the last month and it was Bednariks line that saw plenty of time opposite BCs top two lines, which feature a handful of first-round picks.

Bednarik will get his chances to shine in the years to come hes still 18 so the only things in his near future are a return to BU and a chance to play some minutes at the 2026 World Juniors for the U.S.

squad.

But, a lot like his college coach, Bednarik has the qualities that Lamoriello and his amateur staff look for in a future NHL glue guy.

(Top photo of Danny Nelson in February 2024: John Mersits / Imagn Images).

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