NHL Prospect Watch: New York Islanders

Ahead of the 2024-25 hockey season, we’re diving into the WHL prospect pool for each of the NHL’s 32 teams. Throughout the series, we’ll highlight WHLers who have been signed to an NHL contract, were recently drafted, or are included in the NHL’s definition of a rookie.

Up today, a quick check-in with the New York Islanders. 

Daylan Kuefler

Former Kamloops Blazers alternate captain Daylan Kuefler made his professional debut in 2023-24. The Islanders’ sixth-round pick from the 2022 NHL Entry Draft began the campaign on Season-Opening Injured Reserve and kicked things off with the ECHL’s Worcester Railers, scoring his first two professional goals against the Maine Mariners on December 23. Kuefler, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound winger, would bounce between the AHL and ECHL throughout the season, adding three goals and four assists for seven points in 22 appearances with the Bridgeport Islanders. He netted his first AHL goal late in a match against the Hartford Wolf Pack to force overtime on February 17 and finished tied for second in points among Islanders rookies. At the ECHL level, the Stettler, Alta. product added another five goals and three assists in 17 matches. Kuefler, who turned 22 in February, graduated from the WHL with 77 goals and 67 assists for 144 points in 184 games over four seasons with Kamloops, highlighted by back-to-back 30-plus goal seasons and a four-point (one goal, three assists) effort at the 2023 Memorial Cup.

FIRST AHL GOAL FOR DAYLAN KUEFLER! 🤩#SupremePort | #Isles pic.twitter.com/xrDJwUX56x

— Bridgeport Islanders (@AHLIslanders) February 18, 2024