After a head coaching change from Lane Lambert to Patrick Roy (yes, that one), the Islanders squeaked into the playoffs last year in a “tight but not really what you’d call competitive” Metropolitan Division race as the Met’s third placed team. For the second year in a row, the Carolina Hurricanes put an end to their playoff run in round one. General manager Lou Lamoriello hasn’t done much in response, so we can probably keep this one short. Their summer has had some headlines worth discussing, however, so let’s go.

Beyond retaining names in the organization such as RW Oliver Wahlstrom and D Mike Reilly, the only major activity in terms of transactions for the Isles this offseason was signing LW Anthony Duclair. I know this transition for Duclair is a hot button issue right now, but I’m gonna keep this one strictly on the ice and pertaining to dollars and cents. At four years, $14 million ($3.5M AAV), this is pretty reasonable value for shoring up the lack of scoring depth the team has suffered from in the middle-six. Part of Duclair’s instability and staying power was his dearth of productivity in more talent-deprived environments, but as Kristen Shilton notes, he has been terrific on competitive squads. His 15 points in 17 games with Tampa Bay last year shows his top end potential. The odds of that sort of PPG being retained in Nassau County are slim-to-none, but settling in somewhere between that and his floor (on the higher side) is a likely outcome and one that would be more than welcomed by Roy, Lamoriello, and co. Second round pick D Jesse Pulkkinen was signed to his ELC, as well, but more on him momentarily.

The 2024 NHL Entry Draft saw the Islanders make a pick that was simultaneously smart and ambitious in a way that felt off-brand for the New York Islanders, with them taking LW Cole Eiserman (US NTDP, committed to Boston University). I’ve written ad nauseam about Eiserman’s prolificacy as a pure goal scorer who actually possesses some other strong offensive capabilities, as well, but to recap: From Shattuck-St. Mary’s to the Development Program, he has done historic things as a goal scorer, and he has “future #1 option on a Stanley Cup winner” written on him as his ceiling. As an August 29th birthday, his runway is very long, and you have to imagine he’s going to unlock another level to his game on Comm Ave under the guidance of Jay Pandolfo and staff. D Jesse Pulkinnen was taken at 54th overall in round two. While this wasn’t the most impressive overager class, I think this was a worthy pick. The JYP product, upon having nothing left to prove on the U20 level, was an impact player on the pros in both Mestis and Liiga. He could be a solid second pairing D-man with play-driving abilities and gritty presence down the line. C Kamil Bednarik (US NTDP, committed to Boston University) was selected in round three at 61st overall. As I’ve discussed a bit before, I think he’s benefited from playing alongside Eiserman in terms of productivity but his all-around game and hockey IQ are still pretty impressive. He has a future in the NHL and I’m excited to see how he’s cultivated at BU alongside his US NTDP teammates Eiserman and Cole Hutson (the latter selected by Washington in round two). The Isles took two goaltenders in what Chris Peters notes was a weak goalie class, but it is worth mentioning that 115th overall pick Dmitri Gamzin made sense from the frequently propagated Byron Bader angle of “Draft overager goalies who’ve proven themselves in pro settings”, and with him posting a 1.98 GAA and .937 SV% on a CSKA Moscow squad that was much worse than its usual self (particularly contrasted with its five consecutive Gagarin Cup finals the previous five times it had been contested, including victories in 2019, 2022 and 2023), I’d say he has. Additionally, as Peters points out, Marcus Gidlöf was a top 100 FloHockey prospect due to his success in the J20 Nationell (putting up a .923 SV% and a 2.22 GAA in 26 GP with Leksands IF) that was available to them at 147th. That’s great value in such a phase. The Islanders’ final selection was D Xavier Veilleux at 179th overall. He’s lauded by EliteProspects for his two-way capabilities and puck moving prowess, which are reflected by his 29 assists and +21 in 62 games for the USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks last year. It should be curious to see what his ultimate path is, with him committed to Harvard University, a loaded declaration in and of itself.

Yet again, we see Lou Lamoriello not really take many chances on the market to immediately improve this team which was on the bubble and once more failed to be an impact team in the postseason. That said, I’m curious to see what Patrick Roy can do with a training camp/summer of prep and a full year to implement his changes. I also was pretty fond of their draft, with one of the best selections of round one and some pretty respectable picks on day two without any glaring weaknesses in this process. However, I think I’m going to give the Islanders a C+ for this summer. The needle wasn’t really moved, but I respected enough aspects of what little activity there was to give just above a standard passing grade.