List of New York Islanders draft picks


The New York Islanders are a professional ice hockey team based on Long Island. They are members of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League. The franchise has been a part of the NHL since their inception in 1972, which is also the first year they participated in the annual NHL Entry Draft, where participating teams select newly eligible players in a predetermined order. They have chosen 459 players over 52 drafts, including the nine Supplemental Drafts, which took place in the NHL from 1986 to 1994 for players in American colleges.
The NHL Entry Draft eligibility requires players to have turned 18 years old by September 15 in the year the draft is held, excluding players older than 20 years old before December 31 of that same year, the latter not applying to non-North American players. The draft order is determined by the previous season's order of finish: non-playoff teams draft first in order of placement in the standings, followed by teams that competed in the post-season whose order is determined by the Stanley Cup playoffs results. Once the regular season is over, a weighted lottery is held for the 14 teams who miss the playoffs, giving teams the opportunity to move up to a higher pick including the first overall selection. From 1995 to 2012, a team that won the lottery could only move up a maximum of four picks, preventing some teams from winning the top selection regardless of winning the lottery. During that time, the Islanders won the lottery twice, receiving the top selection both times. The team finished last in the league standings in the 2000–01 season, but picked second in the draft after the Atlanta Thrashers won the lottery.
The Islanders have selected first overall five times, including their first season participating in the draft when they selected Billy Harris, as well as 1973, 2000, 2009, and 2025. Harris played with the Islanders for eight seasons before being traded to the Los Angeles Kings, while Potvin and DiPietro spent their entire NHL careers with the Islanders. Tavares was with the team from 2009 when he was drafted and served as their team captain until 2018 when he signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs during Unrestricted Free Agency. Currently Anders Lee serves as the captain. Only three players, Potvin, Bryan Trottier and Josh Bailey, have played over 1000 games with the Islanders, though eight others have played at least 1000 games in the NHL. Five draft picks have gone on to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame: Potvin, Clark Gillies, Trottier, Mike Bossy, and Pat LaFontaine. All, except LaFontaine, have had their uniform number retired by the team.

Key

Spent entire NHL career with the Islanders
Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame
Number retired by the Islanders
Term or abbreviationDefinition
DraftThe year that the player was selected
RoundThe round of the draft in which the player was selected
PickThe overall position in the draft at which the player was selected
SSupplemental draft selection

AbbreviationDefinition
PosPosition
GPGames played
GGoals
AAssists
PtsPoints
PIMPenalties in minutes
WWins
LLosses
TTies
OTOvertime/shootout losses
GAAGoals against average
—Does not apply

Draft picks

Statistics are complete as of the 2024–25 NHL season and show each player's career regular season totals in the NHL. Wins, losses, ties, overtime losses and goals against average apply to goaltenders and are used only for players at that position.
<
DraftRoundPickPlayerNationalityPosGPGAPtsPIMWLTOTGAA
1972Canada
1972Canada
1972Sweden
1972Canada
1972Canada
1972Canada
1972Canada3.85
1972Canada
1972Canada
1972Canada
1972Canada
1972Canada
1972Canada
1972Canada
1973Canada
1973Canada
1973Canada
1973Canada
1973Canada
1973Canada3.57
1973Canada
1973Canada
1973Canada
1973Canada
1974Canada
1974Canada
1974Canada
1974Canada
1974Canada
1974United States
1974Canada
1974Canada
1974Canada
1974Canada
1974Canada
1974Canada
1974Sweden
1974United States
1974Canada
1974United States
1974Canada
1974Finland
1974Canada
1975Canada
1975Canada
1975Canada
1975Canada
1975Canada
1975Canada
1975United States
1975Canada
1975Canada
1975Canada
1975Canada
1975Finland
1976Canada
1976Canada
1976Canada
1976United States
1976Canada
1976Canada
1977Canada
1977Canada
1977Canada
1977Canada
1977Canada
1977Finland4.00
1977United States
1977Sweden
1978Canada
1978Canada
1978Canada
1978United States
1978Canada
1978Canada
1978Canada
1978United States
1978Canada
1978Sweden
1978Sweden
1979Canada
1979Sweden
1979Canada
1979Canada3.44
1979Canada
1979Canada
1979Canada
1980Canada
1980Canada3.43
1980Canada
1980United States
1980Canada
1980United States
1980Canada
1980United States
1980Canada
1980Canada
1980Canada
1981Canada
1981Canada
1981Canada
1981Canada
1981Canada
1981Canada
1981Canada
1981Finland
1981Canada
1981Canada
1981Canada
1982Canada
1982Canada
1982Canada
1982Canada
1982Canada
1982Canada
1982United States
1982United States
1982Canada
1982Canada
1982United States
1982Canada
1983United States
1983Canada
1983Canada
1983Canada
1983Finland
1983United States
1983Canada
1983United States
1983United States
1983Canada
1983Canada
1983Canada
1983United States
1983United States
1984Canada
1984Canada
1984United States
1984United States
1984Finland
1984Canada
1984United States
1984Canada
1984Canada
1984United Kingdom
1984Czechoslovakia
1984United States
1984Canada
1985Canada
1985Canada
1985Canada
1985Canada
1985Canada
1985Sweden
1985Canada
1985Canada
1985Canada
1985Canada
1985Canada
1985Canada
1985Canada
1985Canada
1986United States
1986United States
1986Canada
1986Canada
1986Canada
1986Canada
1986Canada
1986Canada
1986Canada
1986United States
1986United States
1986Canada
1986United States
1986Canada
1986SUnited States
1987Canada
1987Canada2.90
1987Canada
1987Canada6.43
1987Czechoslovakia
1987Canada
1987Norway
1987United States
1987United States
1987United States
1987United States
1987United States
1987SUnited States
1988Canada
1988Canada
1988Canada
1988Canada4.20
1988Canada
1988Canada
1988Czechoslovakia
1988United States
1988Canada
1988United States
1988United States
1988United States
1988United States
1988United States
1988United States
1988SCanada
1989Canada
1989Canada
1989United States
1989Canada
1989United States
1989Canada
1989United States
1989United States
1989United States
1989Canada
1989United States
1989Soviet Union
1989Canada
1989Canada
1989SCanada
1989SUnited States
1990Canada
1990Canada
1990United States
1990United States
1990Finland
1990United States
1990Canada
1990United States
1990Canada
1990Canada
1990United States
1990SUnited States
1991United States
1991Czechoslovakia
1991Canada2.68
1991Czechoslovakia3.48
1991Canada
1991United States
1991Sweden
1991Canada
1991Canada
1991United States
1991Sweden
1991United States
1991SUnited States
1991SUnited States
1992Lithuania
1992Canada
1992Czechoslovakia
1992Canada
1992Canada
1992Russia
1992Canada
1992Canada
1992Canada
1992United States
1992Russia
1992SCanada
1993Canada
1993Canada
1993Russia
1993Canada
1993Sweden2.55
1993Canada
1993Canada
1993Canada