That's a wrap for the 2024 draft. When we didn't have a selection until the 3rd round it proved to be a pretty uneventful draft. Jim had mentioned in a pre-draft interview that he didn't expect any 2024 selections to be part of the 24-25 team, so all the guys picked yesterday are guys we have an eye on for future versions of the Islanders. The "draft and follow" model is very characteristic of how Hulton has run this team in his term as GM.
I'm hopeful we see something from the team with a video with Taylor Stewart and Jim or Corey Arsenault or someone like that to provide a bit more info about the players we've picked. For those of us who don't scout, there's not much we can know about these kids beyond their stats and sizes.
Our first pick at #42 (round 3) was Emile-Alexandro Lemieux-Goupil. He's a defenceman who is listed at 6'1" and 174 lb. He was playing U17 with a team in Barrie, Ontario where he scored 1-12-13 in 31 games. That's three years in a row we went with defence for our first pick (Conrad and Kearsey the previous two years). Lemieux-Goupil was not ranked in the first 5 rounds by the CSR
Pick to follow were:
-at #78 (round 5) we took LW Charles-Albert Pouliot from the Levis U18 program. In 40 games he scored 13-10-23. Albert is 6'0" and 172 lb. Pouliot was ranked by CSR as a 4th round selection
-at #108 (round 6) we took LHC Rowan Walsh from the Charlottetown Knights U18. Walsh is 6'2" and 174 lb and scored 34-7-8-15. Walsh was ranked by the CSR as a 3rd round selection.
-at #116 (round 7) we took LW Benedetto-Antonio Masi from the Montreal-Laval U18 program. Masi was ranked by CSR as a 3rd round selection. In 40 games he scored 10-7-17. He's listed as 5'10" and 166 lb.
-at #132 (round 8) we took forward Gavin Smith from the Rothesay-Netherwood program. Smith is listed as 6'0" and 161 lb. He is the brother of Gabe Smith of the Moncton Wildcats. In 50 games, Smith scored 10-6-16. Smith was not ranked in the top 5 rounds by the CSR.
-at #137 (round 8) we took LHD Theo Lebrun of the College Notre-Dame U18 program. Lebrun is listed at 6'0" and 138 lb. He scored 0-2-2 in 39 games this season and was not ranked in the top 5 rounds by the CSR.
-at #139 (round 8) we took RHC Jude Herron. He is from Massachussets and played with South Kent prep this season. Herron scored 24-29-53 in 45 games and is listed at 5'10" and 165 lb.
-at #181 (round 10) we took goaltender William Morgan from the East Coast U18 in Newfoundland. Morgan is listed at 5'10" and 154 lb and had a 3.48 GAA and .890 save percentage in 20 games. Morgan was not listed in the top 5 rounds by CSR.
-at #186 (round 11) we took RHD Sullivan Martin from Vermont. He played last season with Seacoasts prep and scored 10-32-42 in 67 games. Martin is listed as 6'3" and 229 lb.
-at #204 (round 12) we took forward Will Clark from the Saint John Vito's U18 team. Clark is listed as 6'0" and 202 lb. He scored 33-11-8-19 and was not ranked in the top 5 rounds by CSR.
-at #212 (round 12) we took LHC Kayden Robitaille from the Sydney Rush U!8 team. Robitaille is listed as 5'9" and 150 lb. He scored 6-10-16 in 36 games and was not listed in the top 5 rounds by CSR. As has been mentioned, he is the son of Louis Robitaille, the current coach of the Eagles and longtime player for the Montreal Rocket just before the team moved to PEI.
-at #222 (round 13) we took RW Malix Chenier-Meunier who played U17 with Outaouais. He scored 31-8-9-17 and is listed as 5'11" and 147 lb. Chenier-Meunier was long listed by the CSR.
-at #240 (round 14) we took forward Isaiah Rogerson of the Saint John Vito's U18 program. Rogerson scored 34-14-10-24 and is listed at 5'10" and 178 lb. Rogerson was listed by CSR as a 4th round selection.
In addition to the selections, we made a trade where we picked up 06 RW Brett Yuzik from Shawinigan for a 6th round pick. Yuzik is a big player, listed at 6'4" and 179 lb. Last year he scored 6-2-8 in 59 games. Maybe he will be a modern version of Pascal Aquin, who also came to us via Shawinigan later in his junior career.
It is interesting to see the selection of the two American players. That is the most aggressive we have been with US based players since Grant Sonier took Frankie Sullivan in the 4th round of the 2014 draft. I'm expecting this is just a dart throw right now, but team are probably looking to what might happen with NCAA eligibility in the next couple of years. Maybe in a couple of years the rules end up being such that major junior if an attractive step for guys transition between high school/prep and the NCAA.
Also, considering that Kearsey was not dealt prior to the draft (really not much smoke there) I expect him to be part of our team at least until Christmas and then depending on how the standings look he could end up on the trade block where we go looking for high 2025 draft picks in exchange for him as an 18 y/o player.
