Sign up for the new Hockey Night in New York Patreon at patreon.com/hockeynightny and get 40% off your first month with promo code “ISLESFIX”
Good Morning, Islanders Country.
I know the NHL Draft was held live on ESPN for the first time ever, and I know that it was being audited, with precise procedures followed, but I also know that the New York Islanders fans willed this to happen. It was Manifest Destiny.
Whether it was the league taking away the All-Star Game at UBS Arena for an “international event,” Lou Lamoriello still being around the club, or Governor Kathy Hochul writing an open letter to commissioner Gary Bettman earlier in the day, there was just a feeling that somehow this could happen. The NHL owed the Isles, and how their debt would be paid.
Take a listen to my instant reaction with Chris Botta:
If that wasn’t enough good orange and blue juju, Ken Morrow, one the greatest, if not the greatest good luck charm in hockey history was representing the team.
“I just had a feeling today,” Morrow said. “I was going through the day, preparing for tonight. I don’t know how to explain it, but I felt like I wasn’t getting prepared for nothing to happen. And wow. I’m just speechless right now.”
Kenny felt. I felt it. We all felt it.
It was stunning. It was surreal. It was something we all experienced the exact same way. It was awesome. Now the anticipation starts and work begins.
We don’t know yet who will be in charge of making the Isles’ pick, but whoever it is was gifted a potentially franchise-altering opportunity. It doesn’t necessarily change the direction the new GM will take the Islanders, but it could mean they get where they want to go much faster.
Let’s dive in.
📰 NEWS: There’s no “generational” player hype surrounding the No. 1 pick this year, but there are three or four players that all project as NHL All-Star caliber players that will jumpstart the Islanders’ retool under new front office leadership.
Last month, The Athletic’s prospect guru Cory Pronman ranked the top prospects for this year’s draft. Here are some excerpts from three of the top players that the Islanders can choose from at the NHL Draft on June 27th in LA. (We’ll get to James Hagens in a bit.)
Matthew Schaefer, D - OHL
Schaefer, who was the No. 1 pick in the 2023 OHL draft, emerged as a front-runner to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft despite missing much of his draft year with mono to start it and then a broken collarbone suffered in the second game of the World Juniors (he didn't get back skating until March 13). Even with the shortened year, Schaefer impressed scouts so much over the last year and a half — domestically and especially internationally — that he put himself in the pole position
Michael Misa, C - OHL
Entering this season, scouts wanted to really see him take charge more and take over as the guy for the Spirit and that’s exactly what he did, answering the questions some had of him with an emphatic draft year in which he led the league in scoring, was its top player basically from start to finish, and tied John Tavares for the most points by a U18 skater in the OHL since 2000 with 134 (in two fewer games than Tavares).
Porter Martone, RW - OHL
Martone was a top player in the OHL this season; however, he did struggle at the World Juniors for Canada. Martone's skill level and creativity with the puck are elite, especially for a man his size. His reach and skill will allow him to beat a ton of NHL defenders one-on-one. He makes a lot of difficult plays and does so in traffic.
Bring Him Home?
In February, Arthur Staple of The Athletic penned a feature article on James Hagens, the rare New York Islanders fan with NHL talent. At the top, he shared a quote from 2024 1st rounder and Team USA teammate Cole Eiserman. “I would just joke with him when we’d be sitting around, wondering where he’s going to end up,” Eiserman said. “I’d say, ‘Don’t worry, you’re going to be an Islander.'”
Will the Esierman prophecy come true? Most rankings have two or three prospects ranked higher than the kid who grew up watching Josh Bailey. We’ll see if the fairy tale comes true, even if it takes a trade down to see it happen.
Here is The Athletic write up on Hagens:
Hagens' edge work is high-end and he’s extremely elusive in open ice. He makes a ton of difficult plays on the move and is a high-end playmaker. Hagens isn’t that big or physical, and can stay on the outside too much, but he gives a decent effort and coaches tend to lean on him. He has the potential to be a play-driving top two line center in the NHL.
📚 SOUND SMART: Per Eric Hornick, the New York Rangers earned all 8 points over the Islanders this season - had NYI won one of those games (in regulation ) and all other games stayed the same, the NYR would have won the lottery.
The hockey gods work in mysterious ways.
🎥 ISLES REWIND: The Islanders will select 1st overall for the fifth time in their history (Billy Harris: 1972, Denis Potvin: 1973, Rick DiPietro: 2000, and John Tavares: 2009). Here’s a video of when GM Garth Snow announced that Tavares would be the team’s pick at No. 1 ahead of D Victor Hedman and C Matt Duchene.
🎧 Isles House: Cinco de Misa “DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES?! The New York Islanders have won the draft lottery and the boys were fired up to talk about it! We get into our reactions from winning the lottery to where the team goes next.”
🔗 Islanders land No. 1 overall pick in NHL Draft Lottery stunner by Ethan Sears, NY Post “Having the No. 1 pick in hand, though, certainly makes the job far more attractive, as whoever the Islanders take will be added to a core that already includes Mathew Barzal, Ilya Sorokin, Noah Dobson, Cole Eiserman and Calum Ritchie as its anchors — the latter two having been added to the prospect group.”
🔗 New York Islanders win draft lottery for 1st time since 2009 by Greg Wyshynski, ESPN.com “The New York Islanders won the NHL draft lottery on Monday night, moving up 10 spots to make the league's first live televised drawing a memorable one. "It was dramatic," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman told ESPN after the drawing. "It worked the way it was supposed to in terms of the process. But the result was unpredictable."
And we leave you with this…rewatch all the drama play out again. It was cinema.
Thanks for reading! Follow us on Twitter for regular updates until the next newsletter.
And please check out our newsletters about the Knicks and Mets, too.
FYI Schaefer also lost his billet mom last season.
https://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/light-feet-heavy-heart-the-tragic-story-of-a-rising-hockey-star-and-two-unfathomable/article_fdb7a16e-07c9-11ef-9316-df7d141e4347.html