In Challenging Draft, Islanders Have 'Good Day'

The 2020-21 season was a topsy-turvy one for prospects and prospect evaluators alike.
As leagues and countries navigated the COVID-19 pandemic, players had their seasons shortened, cancelled, or were forced to play in new leagues during a key year of their on-ice development. Scouts could not attend games in person due to COVID-19 restrictions and had to do evaluations via streams.

It was a hard year on both sides, but despite all of the challenges of projecting prospects in a pandemic, Islanders President and General Manager was pleased with the work of his scouting staff after the picks were in.
"Our scouts had a very difficult year," Lamoriello said. "They couldn't see a lot of players, so a lot went off what was seen the previous year. Whatever they couldn't see live, they've been seeing on film, constant zoom meetings, interviews and so forth. They deserve a tremendous amount of credit."

Evaluating off of the 2019-20 season made sense given some of the Islanders picks on Saturday, like goaltender Tristan Lennox. The Saginaw Spirit goaltender, who stands 6'4, 190 lbs., went 20-8-3 in the 2019-20 season, giving a glimpse of his future potential. Lennox was unable to play this season as the Ontario Hockey League did not play games in 2020-21, though he was able to train with the Toronto Marlies. As the third-ranked North American goalie prospect in this year's draft, Lennox should benefit from working with the Islanders esteemed goaltending department.

Lennox was the only Islanders selection who didn't see game action in the last year as the Islanders drafted heavily out of Europe, selecting three Finns: Aatu Räty (52nd overall), Eetu Liukas (157th) and Aleksi Malinen (189th), as well as Czech blueliner in Tomas Machu (221st).
Lamoriello said that was partially due to the fact that the Europeans saw more game action, but also that without a first-round pick, most of the top North American players were off the board by the time the Islanders were on the clock. Lamoriello said he felt the Islanders were taking the best players available - either overall or at their position - when picking.

"It plays a role, but not to the extent that it might appear," Lamoriello said of the Europeans seeing game action. "If you look where we haven't had a first-round pick the last two years and the top players from this area weren't available. The best players available to us were the players from Europe for different reasons. We have to take the best players, also positional at certain times, but the best and also the characteristics that fit into the type of team we try and field."
Perhaps the best value was Räty, projected as a top pick over a year ago, but whose draft stock had fallen during a down year in 2020-21. Still, Räty was the third-ranked European skater by NHL Central Scouting and could be one of the steals of the draft.
"We were surprised that he was where he was at," Lamoriello said of Räty. "We're extremely pleased with that pick."
Both Räty and Liukas are on Team Finland for the World Junior Summer Showcase in Plymouth and Räty scored a hat trick hours after being drafted in the first game of the tournament. The three Finns add to an Isles prospect group that already includes fellow countrymen in Otto Koivula, Robin Salo and Matias Rajaniemi, the latter of which is also playing in the summer showcase.

Lamoriello was also pleased with the diversity in his draft class. He's got a highly-skilled, high-upside center in Räty, a big goaltender in Lennox, the seventh-leading scorer in the USHL in Cameron Berg, a big-bodied winger (6'2, 207 lbs.) in Liukas, a smooth-skating defensemen, according to the NHL Network analysts, in Malinen and a good sized (6'4, 189 lbs.) d-man in Machu.
"The diversity that we have following [Räty] with reference to taking a goaltender, a couple of defensemen and two other forwards beside Räty," Lamoriello said. "In our minds, we had a good day, but every team feels that way when the draft is over and until we see them."