The 32-in-32 Series is an annual event here at DobberProspects and has been condensed from two articles to one. The article will bring you: The highlighted team’s draft; insights into its off-season moves; looking at prospect risers, fallers and likely prospects to play NHL games; and of course, the writers’ top-20 prospects. Articles may be brought back when an important team update occurs, so check back because we plan to fill your hockey withdrawal needs all off-season!

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Read past 32 series stories here: https://dobberprospects.com/category/feature/32-in-32-series/

Make sure to check out the New York Islanders team page here: https://dobberprospects.com/team/new-york-islanders/

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Two things went right for the Islanders in 2025-26, and both are signs that things are headed up. Matthew Schaefer, the first pick of the 2025 draft, showed one of the best rookie seasons a defenseman has ever had, and the pipeline behind him went from an afterthought to one of the deepest in the league. Though those two victories also come alongside a lot of less bright news. New York finished 43-34-5, sixth in the Metropolitan, and missed the playoffs for a second straight year after holding a spot into April. Patrick Roy was fired with four games left, and Pete DeBoer, a five-franchise veteran with a long track record of success within the NHL most recently with the Dallas Stars, took over  and stays behind the bench for 2026-27

Schaefer was the big story this regular season. He played all 82 games, scored 23 goals with 59 points, and won the Calder Trophy unanimously, the first unanimous rookie of the year since Teemu Selanne in 1993. He tied Brian Leetch for the most goals by a rookie defenseman and became the youngest Calder winner in league history. I believe he is the cornerstone now, and everything the organization is building sits behind him.

The off-season did not add much at the top. New York lost captain Anders Lee to Utah on a three-year deal after 14 seasons, so a new captain gets named this fall. Matias Maccelli came in for scoring help, Tony DeAngelo was re-signed, and Vitek Vanecek arrived to back up Ilya Sorokin. The more important change for this article happened in the minors: the American Hockey League affiliate moved from Bridgeport to the new Hamilton Hammers under head coach Jay McKee, so the wave of prospects turns pro in Hamilton this season.

That wave is why the system jumped. Corey Pronman of The Athletic moved the Islanders’ pipeline to ninth in the league from 25th a year ago, and the reason is concentrated: the lottery that landed Schaefer, the Noah Dobson trade to Montreal that returned Victor Eklund and Kashawn Aitcheson, and the Brock Nelson trade to Colorado that brought back Calum Ritchie, now an NHL regular alongside Schaefer. The blue line, a weakness for years, is now one of the better under-20 groups anywhere. The pool is top-heavy and light on center depth, but the top is real.

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NHL Draft Recap

New York picked five times without a second or third-round selection. The second went to Chicago in the 2023 Josh Bailey trade, and the third went to the Rangers for Carson Soucy last season. Three of the five picks were defensemen, continuing the blue-line build.

Round 1, 13th overall: Malte Gustafsson, D

Gustafsson is a 6-4 defender out of HV71 in Sweden who calls himself a menace, and the label fits. General Manager Mathieu Darche said the club debated bigger forwards on the board but kept hearing that Gustafsson was the one shutting those forwards down. He plays a hard, irritating defensive game and moves the puck better than most defenders his size, with three assists in five games at the World Junior Summer Showcase and a track to Sweden’s 2027 World Junior roster. His value is defensive and structural, the kind of defender who lets the game-breakers around him take chances.

Round 4, 109th overall: Lincoln Kuehne, D

Kuehne is a right-shot defenseman headed to Arizona State, a projectable pick who fits the pattern of stocking the right side.

Round 5, 141st overall: Vladimir Dravecky, D

Dravecky, a defenseman with the OHL’s Brantford Bulldogs, rounds out a three-defenseman haul.

Round 6, 173rd overall: Artyom Matyuk, F

Matyuk, a Moscow native, set career highs with 13 goals and 39 points in 54 games in Russia’s junior league.

Round 7, 205th overall: Bobby Cowan, F

Cowan closed the draft after a 24-point freshman season at Western Michigan. He is from Edina, Minnesota, the same hometown as departed captain Anders Lee.

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Off-Season Moves

Incoming

• Matias Maccelli, F (one year, $2.25 million). A skilled winger added for cheap scoring on a short-term look.
• Vitek Vanecek, G (one year, $1 million). Veteran backup behind Ilya Sorokin, as Semyon Varlamov is still a question mark.
• Depth pieces Matthew Kessel and Mitchell Chaffee on one-year deals.

Outgoing

• Anders Lee, F (signed with Utah, three years, $16.2 million). The captain of the last decade after 14 seasons, and the summer’s biggest subtraction.
• Marc Gatcomb, F (not qualified, signed with Vegas).

Re-Signed

• Tony DeAngelo, D (two years, $9 million). The main piece of returning business on a quiet re-signing front.

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In the System

Risers

Cole Eiserman, LW

Eiserman leads this list, and the reason is the one tool that translates cleanest to fantasy: he scores. He put up 43 goals in 71 college games at Boston University after a 72-goal draft season with the national program, signed his entry-level contract in March, and jumped to the AHL to close the year. The rest of his game lags, the defensive reads and the off-puck work, and his production leans hard on the power play and getting pucks to the net. A projectable 30-goal shot is the highest-ceiling fantasy trait in this system, though, and it is why he sits ahead of the more complete Eklund. He could see NHL time this season if the shot forces the issue.

Kashawn Aitcheson, D

Aitcheson had the kind of season that moves a prospect up every board. He led all OHL defensemen in goals and points, captained the Barrie Colts to the league final, and set a Barrie single-season goals record for a defenseman. He plays a heavy, physical game with real offensive skill, signed his entry-level deal in March, and turns pro in Hamilton with a long look coming in camp. The risk sits in the details of his defensive reads, but the offensive-defenseman upside is there.

Jacob Kvasnicka, RW

A seventh-round pick in 2025, Kvasnicka answered with an 85-point season in the WHL and heads to college a much bigger name than he was on draft night. The production forced everyone to take a second look.

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Fallers

Matthew Maggio, RW

Maggio led the OHL in scoring in his final junior year, but the wave of Eklund, Eiserman, and Daniil Prokhorov arriving in the minors pushed him out of the lineup. He is off to the KHL for the playing time, with the Islanders keeping his rights.

Calle Odelius, D

Odelius ranked among the system’s top prospects a couple of years ago. A rough North American debut and a left side of the defense that suddenly runs six deep have dropped him from that tier to the fringe of it.

Jesse Pulkkinen, D

The 6-6 Finn was a high-upside swing in 2024, graded by some as first-round talent, but the size-and-skill package has not translated to the pro game, and the same blue-line logjam has narrowed his path.

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Likely to See NHL Action

The best bet is Eklund, who made his NHL debut in the season finale, put up a point per game in a short AHL run, and comes to camp with a real shot at a roster spot off a strong Swedish season and World Junior gold.

Isaiah George has close to 40 NHL games and pushes for steady depth minutes on the blue line. Eiserman is the other name to watch if his shot travels.

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Top 20 Prospects

This section is intended to paint a picture of the New York Islanders prospects whose current trajectory projects them making the most positive fantasy impact at the time that they reach the NHL. Arrival date and NHL certainty have been taken into consideration; however, potential upside is the most important factor in determining this list.

1. Cole Eiserman
2. Victor Eklund
3. Kashawn Aitcheson
4. Malte Gustafsson
5. Dmitry Gamzin
6. Daniil Prokhorov
7. Danny Nelson
8. Jacob Kvasnicka
9. Kamil Bednarik
10. Quinn Finley
11. Calle Odelius
12. Jesse Pulkkinen
13. Sam Laurila
14. Luca Romano
15. Isaiah George
16. Lincoln Kuehne
17. Artyom Matyuk
18. Vladimir Dravecky
19. Bobby Cowan
20. Tomas Poletin

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Make sure to check out the New York Islanders team page here: https://dobberprospects.com/team/new-york-islanders/

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Final Thoughts

The top of this system can play, and that is new on Long Island. Eiserman, Eklund, and Aitcheson all belong on a dynasty roster, and the first three could push for NHL time inside a season, with Hamilton as the proving ground. The blue line is the strength, the center depth is the hole, and Schaefer is the reason the whole thing has a direction. For the coming season, the names to track are Eklund and Eiserman, both fighting to turn a strong camp into real NHL minutes under Peter DeBoer.

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Thanks for reading. You can find me on X @epps_andrew.