EP Rinkside 2021-22 Prospect Pool Rankings: No. 31-ranked New York Islanders
The graduation of several key players in recent years isn't really helping matters in this regard either. Noah Dobson took the leap to full-time NHLer in the 2019-20 season, and Ilya Sorokin, Kieffer Bellows, Oliver Wahlstrom, and Anatoli Golyshev (the Islanders No. 1, 2, 3, and 9-ranked prospects in their system when we last checked in) all graduated for one reason or another.
If we ranked the league's best player pools from 24-years-old and younger, I suspect the Isles would show more favourably. Islanders fans can take some solace in that fact.
Even so, for a capped-out team like the Islanders, a system this weak has to be concerning. There aren't many reinforcements on the way to provide young, cost-controlled support on the margins of their lineup, and that's exactly what teams with legitimate aspirations of Stanley Cup contention need to keep their window pried open.
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