The Islanders selected proficient goal scorer Cole Eiserman with the No. 20 overall pick in the first round on Friday night. Here’s a look at the other picks they made Saturday on Day 2 of the 2024 NHL Draft:
Jesse Pulkkinen
Drafted: Second round (54th overall)
Height: 6-foot-6 | Weight: 220 pounds
Position: Defenseman | Shoots: Left
Born: Dec. 27, 2004
Country: Finland
Described himself as an offensive defenseman and said he models his game after Victor Hedman.
Made his debut for JYP in the Finnish Liiga last season, playing 29 games and scoring eight points.
Pulkkinen was unsure about his timeline for making the jump to North America or whether he will stay in Finland this season.
Kamil Bednarik
Drafted: Second round (61st overall)
Height: 6-foot | Weight: 185 pounds
Position: Center | Shoots: Left
Born: May 26, 2004
Country: United States
Like first-round pick Cole Eiserman, Bednarik is a product of the U.S. National Team Development Program and is committed to Boston University next season.
Eiserman, who was his linemate at the NTDP last season, was Bednarik’s first phone call after speaking with media Saturday.
Known as a 200-foot center, Bednarik models his game after Patrice Bergeron. He had 65 points in 61 games with the NTDP last season.
Dmitry Gamzin
Drafted: Fourth round (115th overall)
Height: 6-foot-3 | Weight: 174 pounds
Position: Goaltender | Catches: Left
Born: April 8, 2003
Country: Russia
Gamzin is the first goaltender the Islanders have drafted since 2021, when they took Tristan Lennox in the third round.
He plays for the same club, CSKA Moscow, that produced Ilya Sorokin and worked with current AHL goalie coach Sergei Naumovs last season.
Gamzin split his time between the KHL and the lower-level VHL last season, making 13 starts for CSKA Moscow with a .937 save percentage.
Marcus Gidlof
Drafted: Fifth round (147th overall)
Height: 6-foot-6 | Weight: 212 pounds
Position: Goaltender | Catches: Left
Born: Sept. 28, 2005
Country: Sweden
This marked the first draft in which the Islanders took two goaltenders since 2014, when they selected Sorokin and Linus Soderstrom in the third and fourth rounds.
Gidlof played last season with Swedish club Leksands IF’s junior team, making 26 starts with a .923 save percentage.
He made his SHL debut with the senior Leksands team last season, playing one game.
Xavier Veilleux
Drafted: Sixth round (179th overall)
Height: 6-foot | Weight: 190 pounds
Position: Defenseman | Shoots: Left
Born: May 23, 2006
Country: Canada
Veilleux said his game is modeled after Ottawa defenseman Thomas Chabot, describing himself as a two-way D-man.
He is committed to Harvard University, but plans to stay in the USHL with the Muskegon Lumberjacks next season.
Veilleux scored three goals with 29 assists last season, his first full year in the USHL.