NHL Prospect Watch: New York Islanders

Ahead of the 2025-26 hockey season, we’re diving into the WHL prospect pool for each of the NHL’s 32 teams. This series will highlight current and former WHLers who are signed to an NHL contract, have recently been drafted by an NHL team, or meet the NHL’s definition of a rookie.

Today, we check in on a young crop of New York Islanders hopefuls.

Burke Hood

It’s all good in the Hood. Vancouver Giants netminder Burke Hood is one of the newest members of the Islanders organization after being selected with the 170th overall pick in the sixth round of the 2025 NHL Draft. The 18-year-old went 19-13-6-0 with a 3.13 goals-against average, a .910 save percentage and three shutouts in his first WHL campaign after making the jump from the MJHL. After an up-and-down start to the season, Hood found his footing and became a force in the second half. The 6-foot-4, 203-pound netminder was a staggering 13-8-3-0 after January 1, 2025, with a sparkling 2.58 GAA, a .929 save percentage and his three clean sheets. Hood snagged WHL Goaltender of the Week honours twice, highlighted by back-to-back shutouts with a combined 71 saves against Wenatchee and Kelowna in early January. Hood, from Brandon, Man., was named to Team Canada as a backup at the 2025 IIHF U18 World Championship, and while he didn’t see game action, the youngster earned valuable international experience- and a gold medal.

🎥SAVE OF THE NIGHT🎥

There's 500+ horsepower under Burke's Hood!🏎️@RealCdnSS | @WHLGiants | #SaveoftheNight pic.twitter.com/wKbl3f1xaB

— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) January 27, 2025

Daylan Kuefler 

An undisclosed long-term injury forced 23-year-old Daylan Kuefler to miss 60 games with the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders, but the scrappy forward showed plenty of motor when he was in the lineup. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound winger snagged a pair of assists and 11 penalty minutes in 16 contests in his second season of professional hockey. Kuefler, from Stettler, Alta., put up back-to-back 30-plus goal seasons in his last two WHL campaigns, amassing 77 goals and 67 assists for 144 points in 184 regular-season games over four seasons with the Kamloops Blazers. He also scored at a nearly point-per-game clip in the postseason with 24 points (13G-11A) in 30 playoff games. Kuefler added a goal and three assists in four games when Kamloops hosted the 2023 Memorial Cup.

YEAH KUEFLER #SupremePort | Presented by @flooranddecor pic.twitter.com/Vfevq0406c

— Bridgeport Islanders (@AHLIslanders) April 6, 2024

Tomas Poletin

Czech winger Tomas Poletin has had the rare honour of getting drafted twice in one week this summer. Just days after being chosen by the Islanders with the 106th overall pick in the fourth round of the 2025 NHL Draft, the Kelowna Rockets selected Poletin with the first overall pick in the 2025 CHL Import Draft. The highly-touted 6-foot-1, 205-pound forward spent the 2024-25 season in Finland with the Pelicans organization. Poletin tallied 13 goals and seven assists for 20 points in 25 games with the U20 side and was called up for 15 appearances with the pros in Liiga and the Champions Hockey League. He captained Czechia at the 2025 IIHF U18 World Championship, adding two goals in five games, and represented his homeland at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, posting three goals and an assist in five games to earn a silver medal. He’s set to represent Czechia at the 2025 U-20 Five Nations Tournament from August 27-31 in Chomutov, Cze., before making tracks for the Okanagan for his first season of North American hockey. *Czech* out Poletin and the Rockets as Kelowna gears up to host the 2026 Memorial Cup.

Second times the charm for Tomas Poletin! 🙌@czehockey #IIHF #U18MensWorlds #CZEGER pic.twitter.com/yPZk0o1YqB

— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) April 24, 2025