The Athletic hates the Islanders’ prospect pipeline
There isn’t much talent coming to help the New York Islanders — or for them to use in a trade.
Scott Wheeler at The Athletic is breaking down his rankings of all 32 NHL organizations’ prospect depth.
He isn’t very high on the Islanders’ collection of young players. In fact, he ranked them 31st out of the 32 franchises. And he considers only one Islanders’ prospect to be an “A” prospect.
Here’s Wheeler’s top ten Islanders’ prospects:
- Aatu Räty, C
- William Dufour, RW
- Simon Holmstrom, LW/RW
- Ruslan Ishakov, C/W
- Samuel Bolduc, LHD
- Eetu Liukas, LW
- Aleksi Malinen, LHD
- Bode Wilde, RHD
- Matias Rajaniemi, LHD
- Reece Newkirk, C
From Wheeler’s comments, “There’s Räty, alone at the top (which, even as bullish as I am on him, isn’t great), 10 kids who I’d qualify somewhere in the C-minus to B-minus range, and a pair of kids at the tail end who warrant fringe mention.”
There are some other issues that Wheeler notes when discussing this group of players. Robin Salo, Kieffer Bellows, and Otto Koivula all graduated from his rankings because they turned 23 and Oliver Wahlstrom graduated to the NHL.
He also points out that Wilde didn’t get vaccinated before the start of this season, leading to him being loaned to play in Sweden.
If the Islanders are going to make a move of any significance, they’re going to need to do it from their NHL roster or using draft capital. Given where they are in the standings, this isn’t a hope-building write-up for Islanders’ fans.
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Tab has written about MLB, the NHL and the NFL for more than a decade for publications including The Fourth Period, Bleacher Report and La Vida Baseball. He is the author of two books about the Chicago Blackhawks and has been credentialed for the MLB All-Star Game and postseason and multiple Stanley Cup Finals. He is the co-host of the Line Drive Radio podcast.
