By Warren Kozireski — The New York Islanders opened their second round by selecting big defenseman Bode Wilde from the U.S. National Development Program. They picked right wing Oliver Wahlstrom and defenseman Noah Dobson back to back in the first round.
Wilde, a 6’2”, 198 lb. right shot and former University of Michigan commit who will now head to the Ontario Hockey League, scored 12 goals with 29 assists along with 63 penalty minutes in 59 games this past season.
“Super excited; it’s a pretty great feeling,” Wilde said in the media room. “The two years (with the Program) was huge for me. I made incredible strides in my game and I was really fortunate that I got the opportunity to play there.
“I’m a big offensive defenseman, defend hard and can bring a physical aspect to the game and play with an edge. I play with a lot of passion.
“I think this (the Islanders) is a great place for me. They have some incredible players and good group of draft picks this year and some already in the system so I think it’s going to be pretty special.”
They followed with small forward Ruslan Iskhakov, a 5’7”, 152 lb. Russian center who will play for the University of Connecticut this fall. He dished out 24 assists in 33 games for CSKA 2 in the Russian Junior League along with 11 points in 14 games for the Russian U-18 team.
6’3”, 192 lb. Czech goaltender Jakub Skarek was taken in the third round 72nd overall.
“It’s a great feeling to be here—I was a bit nervous before the draft, but I think that’s normal,” Skarek said in the media room. “It is a great honor to be a part of this great organization.
Skarek played with Jihlava in the Czech league and finished with a 2.41 goals against average and a .913 save percentage playing against player much older. He has signed to compete in Finland’s top league next year with Lahti. And he has already participated in two World Junior tournaments with another he hopes on the horizon in Vancouver in December.
“I think I need to improve every part of my game if I want to be part of (the) NHL, but I have great coaches and great players around me so I will do my best to improve those skills and be ready.
They went with an NHL pedigree in the fourth round (103rd overall) in USNDTP center Jacob Pivonka, son of former NHLer Michael Pivonka.
In the fifth round, Saginaw left wing Blade Jenkins was taken 134th overall. He is coming off a 20 goal, 44 point OHL season after leaving the USNDTP after just one season. The 6’1”, 195 lb. left wing was born in Michigan.
“Probably the aspect of just being able to produce and show what kind of player I am,” Jenkins said about his decision to transfer to the Spirit. “And the playmaking ability and goal scoring that I can have, so I think it was beneficial for me.
“For me (getting drafted) is something special. It’s something you really worked on your whole entire life and to be able to make that dream become a reality is really truly special.
And they went back to the NHL pedigree with their seventh and final selection (196th overall) with USHL defenseman Christian Krygier. He is the son of former NHLer Todd Krygier and twin of Cole, who went five picks later to Florida.
Playing for Lincoln, the 6’2”, 192 lb. registered eight assists in 48 games with 137 penalty minutes. He is committed with his brother to lay at Michigan State this fall.
“The whole draft, I don’t think we could be happier with how it turned out,” new General Manager Lou Lamoriello said on the draft floor. “We got three quality defensemen all 6’3” and all different dimensions, a goaltender who our department is excited about and four forwards all with different dimensions as far as skill, size and strength.
“So what I’ve think we’ve done is put players into our system and they are all in different areas whether it is college, junior so we can decide what the development process is.”
