DEFT DRAFT
Call the 2023 NHL Draft three yards and a cloud of dust for the Islanders.
They had no first-round pick, made no giant swing and did nothing that will send jerseys flying off the shelves. Rather, the Islanders methodically made all five of their picks as scheduled on Thursday, with center Danny Nelson the biggest name, at 49th overall, while their only trade was to deal Josh Bailey’s $5 million cap hit, which required sending a 2026 second-rounder to Chicago.
“Everybody feels good,” general manager Lou Lamoriello said after the seventh round wrapped up in Nashville, Tenn. “When your scouts feel good, you feel good because they see [the prospects]. And the consensus was that they’re happy with how the day went.”
Nelson, a Notre Dame commit who played last year with the U.S. National Team Development Program, has Islanders ties, not only with Anders Lee and Kyle Palmieri, who played for the Fighting Irish, but also in whom he tries to learn from.
“I’d say Brock Nelson is the guy that I really try to model [my game] after,” Danny Nelson said. “I feel like he’s a big guy, gets in front of the net and of course, [scores] a lot of goals from there. He’s also responsible on the back end, so one of the guys I watched.”
He added that using Brock Nelson’s name was not just fluff: He used the same comparison in meetings with multiple teams at the combine.
Playing with the under-18 national team, Nelson scored 21 points with 26 assists last season. Thanks to a stretch playing defenseman in high school, his instincts in the defensive zone are well-developed, and he projects as a penalty-killer at the next level.
“I felt like it gave me a great perspective, being able to see both sides of the ice and see the game in a different way,” Nelson said. “It helped me playing center in the D-zone and in the O-zone, knowing areas to get open and that kind of thing.”
The player who might get in the organization soonest is not Nelson, however, but center Justin Gill, who was selected in the fifth round from the QMJHL’s Sherbrooke Phoenix. A 20-year-old, Gill recovered from being undrafted last season to post 93 points with Sherbrooke in 2022-23. He told reporters he wants to make the roster with AHL Bridgeport next season.
“I’m a big, strong power forward that can bring a lot of skills, with also a very good IQ ,” Gill said. “I also like to take care of my D-zone first and then step up in the offensive zone.”
The Islanders bolstered their blue line with a pair of defensemen: Zachary Schulz in the sixth round and Dennis Good Bogg in the seventh. Schulz, another USNTDP product, is set to join 2022 draftee Quinn Finley at Wisconsin in the fall, while Good Bogg will play with AIK in the Swedish second division.
Finnish left wing Jesse Nurmi was also selected in the fourth round. He notched 50 points with KooKoo’s under-20 club last season. He told reporters that he plans to attend development camp, but is under contract in Finland for the next couple of seasons.
“Our scouts are really excited about our second[-round] pick. They feel he’s a real good prospect,” Lamoriello said. “And what we were able to get, two different types of defensemen. One, [Schulz], a stay-home, another offensive[-minded]. And the forwards all have speed, which is what we wanted to accomplish.”
Three yards and a cloud of dust.