Tonight’s the night.
In the post-dynasty era of the New York Islanders, there have been two 1st-overall draft moments before today.
One was engineered in the nadir of the Milbury era by a GM who always outsmarted himself, trading a (future Hall of Fame) asset he already had to make room for what would prove to be a lesser, and eventually injury-cursed version.
The second followed a teardown, rebuild last-place finish in the injury-riddled, goalie-go-round season that followed the pivotal 2008 draft. That night in 2009, Lighthouse Hockey was a couple years old and had maybe 10 regular commenters, but damn if we didn’t go crazy when Garth Snow and the Isles didn’t do anything stupid with the 1st overall pick.
And now, 2025, it should be…normal? Competent? Comfortably logical? That’s the expectation, as the Isles scored some overdue karma by winning the draft lottery and have a new GM who will not chase headlines but will, we think/hope, make efforts to improve upon the status quo.
The widespread betting is they make Matthew Schaefer their guy when they make the first announcement tonight a little after 7 p.m. EDT. The outside moonshot hope is they somehow couple that with a move for another first-rounder in Long Island-born James Hagens. (Don’t hold your breath.)
And then there is scuttlebutt that RFA Noah Dobson, looking for a major payday to sign through his UFA years yet still not firmly demonstrating who he is as a player, could be leveraged for a comparable offensive asset: that’s also not very likely, but unlike the teams holding picks 5-9 parting with them, you could at least see the logic from potential trade partners.
UPDATE: The Athletic reports that Dobson may be headed to the Canadiens or the Blue Jackets, pending agreement on a long-term extension.
On Noah Dobson: have heard this morning his preference is to stay in the Eastern Conference.
So keep that in mind as talks around him continue
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) June 27, 2025
Islanders News
- More of the same, but Mathieu Darche on excitement to make the #1 pick. [Sportsnet]
- Darche and Schaefer say all the right things about each other. [Newsday]
- Rocky’s Sound Tigers: “We’re not going to be the punching bags anymore.” And how. [Newsday | THN]
- Confirming Lou hire Jacques Lemaire is no longer with the Isles, and also some more quotes from Darche on the assistant coaches and on hiring Thompson for Bridgeport. [THN]
- The Blues (who have top scorer Jordan Kyrou’s no-trade clause kicking in on July 1) and Canadiens are among the teams that have supposedly checked on Dobson. [TSN | Athletic | THN]
Elsewhere
- The CBA isn’t agreed to yet, but it sounds like there is consensus on reducing the max contract term (8/7 to 7/6), reducing preseason while adding two games for an 84-game regular season, addressing LTIR, and reducing how much can be in signing bonuses. [TSN | ESPN]
- Jamie Benn stays in Dallas for another year. [NHL]
- Various minor trades are happening, all tracked here. [NHL]
- Rasmus Andersson wants out of Calgary, but Craig Conroy is in no rush to make that happen. [Sportsnet]
- Marc-Edouard Vlasic is going to be bought out after over 1,400 games with the Sharks. [ESPN]