Islanders can’t stop getting lucky at NHL draft

DALLAS — Somehow, the Islanders got another bit of good luck.

Following a week of nothing but things breaking right for them, the Islanders had first-round talent Bode Wilde fall to them in the second round, and they took the right-handed defenseman with the 41st pick on Saturday afternoon.

“Yeah, a little surprised, but it is what it is,” Wilde said about his precipitous fall, not being the only highly touted prospect to drop below their assumed position in an unpredictable first two rounds. “We’ll see what happens. It was exciting, it’s obviously a pretty incredible organization with some great history. It’s an incredible opportunity.”

The 18-year-old Wilde was born in Montreal, but moved to the United States as a 12-year-old and has played the past two years in the U.S. Development Program. He had committed to playing next season at Michigan, but recently reneged. He said his plan is to play in the OHL next season, but he wasn’t sure for what team.

One thing he was happy about was joining an Islanders team that already had two big pieces fall to them in the first round in Oliver Wahlstrom and Noah Dobson at Nos. 11 and 12, respectively. Along with some good young players already in the system and the new leadership of team president Lou Lamoriello and coach Barry Trotz, Wilde sounded excited about what could come with the new-look Isles.

“I think the future is very bright for the New York Islanders,” Wilde said. “I’m just fortunate to be part of that. I’m just really looking forward to what the future holds.”

It was announced that this was the last draft for Jim Gregory, the longtime NHL scouting director who made the announcements of picks and trades since 1980.

Despite speculation the Islanders might trade some of their picks for roster players, Lamoriello ended up keeping them, taking Russian center Ruslan Iskhakov with their second pick in the second round, No. 43. Their third-round choice was Czech goalie Jakub Skarek (No. 72), the fourth-rounder was American center Jacob Pivonka (No. 103), the fifth-rounder was American winger Blade Jenkins (No. 134).

With no sixth-rounder, the Isles finished off the draft by taking American defenseman Christian Krygier in the seventh round at No. 196.

The Devils were pretty happy with getting defenseman Ty Smith in the first round (No. 17), but they did not make any moves to get back into the second or third round on Saturday after trading away those picks over the past season.

In the fourth round, they took defenseman Xavier Bernard from the QMJHL. They had two picks in the fifth round, and took Czech goalie Akira Schmid (No. 134 overall) followed by center Yegor Sharangovich from Belarus at No. 141.

In the sixth round, the Devils took Canadian center Mitchell Hoelscher (No. 172), and in the seventh they finished things off with Eetu Pakkila (No. 203).