THE NEW YORK ISLANDERS HAVE A SECRET WEAPON (Isaiah George)

THE NEW YORK ISLANDERS HAVE A SECRET WEAPON (Isaiah George)

So, I think it’s fair to say that Islanders fans and NHL fans are very excited for the first overall pick from the 2025 NHL draft, Matthew Schaefer, to make his debut and to make his impact known with the Islanders. We honestly don’t know 100% if that’s actually going to be the case. I don’t discredit the idea that Schaefer can get a nine-game sample with the Isles and then maybe go back to the OHL. Who really knows? He missed out on a lot of time last year. So, I honestly do think that anything is possible. But if he is good enough to stick around in Long Island for the entirety of 2526, I think that’s pretty reasonable as well. However, Islanders fans probably are interested in not just Schaefer when it comes to young left-handed defenseman that can make an impact on this team. And because for me, I cover a lot of teams in the NHL. And I’d say that the majority of the fan bases that watch these videos are not Islanders fans. I wanted to shine the spotlight on one of the other young left-handed D that the Isisles have in their system that is probably going to start cooking next year. Folks, I wanted to turn your attention to arguably the biggest Islander steel in the system right now. Ladies and gentlemen, today we are talking about Isaiah George. Yeah, that’s right. An old classic Lego Rocks 999 style commentary talking about a prospect that very few people actually know about outside of the fan base of the team that drafted him. But Isaiah George is a name that you need to be paying attention to because over the next few years, this guy could become a very, very solid top four defenseman. George is 21 years old, 61, 196B left-handed defenseman from Oakville, Ontario, Canada, and he was drafted by the Islanders in the fourth round, 98th overall in the 2022 draft. Here’s the thing about that draft season. If you go over to the draft rankings, you’ll see that most of these outlets had him a lot higher than 98th. Elite Prospects had him at 35. Future considerations had him at 64, McKeen’s at 61, Bob McKenzie had him at number 69, but he ultimately slipped all the way down there to 98. Elite prospects themselves were super high on this guy, despite the fact that in 21-22, Isaiah George only had 23 points in 67 games. This is because this guy’s bread and butter wasn’t really point production. If you go over to the Elite Prospects draft guide that they posted about Isaiah George in that time frame, they said that he had the third best four-way mobility in the draft and he was the fifth best neutral zone defender, not to mention being the fourth best defensive defenseman in the 2022 draft class. The scouting report back in this time frame read, “At his best, the London Knights defenseman Isaiah George is an effortless puck carrier, darting past four checkers with agility and power to create exits and entries, often on the same rush. His nearly form, perfect mechanical forward stride is a real asset in this regard. Those same skills translate to neutral zone defensive sequences where Isaiah George gaps up early, takes away the middle of the ice with a strong defensive stick, and closes with urgency and force at the right moment to end possession or force an uncontrolled play. All the scouting reports at the time talked about how Isaiah George was a really really strong defensive defenseman. And that continued into his London Knights development in 2223 and 23-24. Last season in 23-24, he had half a point a game with the A on his sweater for London. Also posting up 12 points in 18 playoff games, an unexpected surge of offense out of the Young Islanders prospect. This season, however, this guy ended up making such an impression that he ended up getting 33 games with the New York Islanders. And don’t get me wrong, I’m going to go out there and vouch for this guy, but it’s not like he got the call up right away because, oh, they thought he was ready. It was mostly because they had no option. All of the gosh darn Islanders defenseman got injured at the start of the year in November. It was a disaster. For someone like me who had a bunch of a isles on my fantasy hockey team because they can block shots, it was really, really bad. And Isaiah George was forced to fill in. This is what he did in those minutes. Yes, he only scored five points, but if you take a look at the impact that this guy had to open up the year, I mean, in November 5th, Tuesday, 2024, he made his NHL debut. 15 minutes there against the Penguins. Okay. But the next two games, he gets almost 24 minutes in a regulation win against the Ottawa Senators. And then he gets another 24-minute game in an overtime loss against the Devils. Lo and behold, Isaiah George, at the ripe old age of just 20 years old, was already getting tasked with near 20 minute plus production throughout the course of the Islanders November and December period. And for the most part, you can say he stood tall. No, he wasn’t getting many points, but that’s not really what you look at this guy for. At the same time, you can say that as the Islanders D got healthy and as Isaiah George’s presence on the Islanders was not necessarily as important anymore, the guy started to show some wear and tear towards the end of his New York Islander stint. You could tell that he wasn’t really as effective as the beginning, but it’s kind of okay. The guy was 20. He was still a brand new NHL face who was thrusted into that position out of nowhere. So considering the circumstances, even despite the disappointing end, I think he did just fine. Then he went back over to Bridgeport, wrapped up that season, had 14 points in 33 games over there, and the rest is history. And to help us out with how he performed, let’s dive into some commentary from Islanders fans and writers about Isaiah George and what he showed off with the Isisles. Isles Den went out there and tweeted this at the start of free agency in July. I don’t think it would be wise to bet against Isaiah George. He held his own in a disastrous situation last year with the Bridgeport Islanders and most of his brief NHL stint in very tough circumstances for a developing prospect and he is still standing out. He’s a great piece of the Islanders future. But then you have some analysis done by Matt Islanders takes on Twitter. There’s a really long write up as to why this guy deserves an A grade for what he did with the Islanders this season. Dead last on the big club in his 33 games played with a point8 expected goals. Bottom three in on ice goal percentage. Let’s get the bad out of the way here first. Our last memories of Isaiah George in a New York sweater were the images of a young kid struggling with the bigger, faster NHL game. A lot of you are going to remember that. see these numbers and once again I pop at the grade of an A. It’s going to feel sentimental and I get it. But hear me out. There is absolutely no doubt that I have favored Isaiah George as a prospect since his draft day. Repeatedly I said everywhere and to anyone who would or wouldn’t have listened that this kid should not have gone so late. He was arguably a top three technical skater in the 2022 draft and one of the most physically impressive kids available. No, he isn’t towering, but he’s a freak athlete with a tremendous work ethic. All the character bites you like to see in a defenseman exist, and he takes the job seriously because he loves the job. Sealing guys off, challenging the puck, controlling the gaps, retrieving the puck, and getting it out under pressure. These are all things against his peer group that he excelled at. The offense never wowed consistently. And while that was slash is a valid knock on his game, I have been extremely vocal that the development there would become obvious once he was taken off a pairing with known puck dominant partners like Bonk and had to step it up. The writeup talks about how he had four games of pro experience when he was forced to play with the main Islander squad and he absolutely showed out. He also made some mistakes, turnovers in particular coming out of the zone that we couldn’t handwave over. Towards the end of his time with the Islanders after he got hit by Max Doy, which was really, really dirty by the way, he still had himself a negative0.8 on ice expected goal differential, which is fourth best for the Islanders all season long with defenders playing at least 300 minutes. That’s pretty bonkers for an at the time 20-year-old kid with almost no NHL experience. The future is incredibly bright here and was made even more obviously bright when George proceeded to absolutely smash his minutes on the top pair in Bridgeport which was awful where he was leading their only serviceable D pairing all season long to the tune of.5 points per game often leading their power play and being a staple on the PK. The grade of A is really down to the fact that he wasn’t ever supposed to be an NHL player and was largely extremely effective with almost no experience, no time to practice as a firstear pro. Isaiah George is a top four defender that will anchor the blue line for a decade at least. But his floor right now is very clearly NHL regular. Just outstanding stuff. One of the brightest spots for an Islanders club that desperately needed bright spots last year. This is a very good writeup. I’ll give it a like myself from my Twitter account here, but Isaiah George, the fact that this guy was a 98th overall pick warrants him as a steal. The fact that he can provide NHL value from that draft position is amazing. And I want you to let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. How do you feel about this Islanders prospect and his progression from junior hockey to the NHL? Where do you see him next year? And how good do you think he’s going to be? Let me know in the comments all your opinions. I hope you enjoyed this Freddy Ash roll and bye.

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We’re going over New York Islanders young d-man Isaiah George, and how he could be the secret weapon for the team behind Matthew Schaefer.

This video is taking place after the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, and after the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The 2025 NHL Draft 1st Round went as follows:

1st) New York Islanders, Matthew Schaefer
2nd) San Jose Sharks, Michael Misa
3rd) Chicago Blackhawks, Anton Frondell
4th) Utah Mammoth, Caleb Desnoyers
5th) Nashville Predators, Brady Martin
6th) Philadelphia Flyers, Porter Martone
7th) Boston Bruins, James Hagens
8th) Seattle Kraken, Jake O’Brien
9th) Buffalo Sabres, Radim Mrtka
10th) Anaheim Ducks, Roger McQueen
11th) Pittsburgh Penguins, Benjamin Kindel
12th) Philadelphia Flyers (from New York Rangers via Vancouver Canucks and Pittsburgh Penguins), Jack Nesbitt
13th) Detroit Red Wings, Carter Bear
14th) Columbus Blue Jackets, Jackson Smith
15th) Vancouver Canucks, Braeden Cootes
16th) New York Islanders (from Calgary Flames via Montreal Canadiens), Victor Eklund
17th) New York Islanders (from Montreal Canadiens), Kashawn Aitcheson
18th) Calgary Flames (from New Jersey Devils), Cole Reschny
19th) St. Louis Blues, Justin Carbonneau
20th) Columbus Blue Jackets (from Minnesota Wild), Pyotr Andreyanov
21st) Nashville Predators (from Ottawa Senators), Cameron Reid
22nd) Pittsburgh Penguins (from Colorado Avalanche via Philadelphia Flyers), Bill Zonnon
23rd) Ottawa Senators (from Tampa Bay Lightning via Nashville Predators), Logan Hensler
24th) Pittsburgh Penguins (from Los Angeles Kings), Will Horcoff
25th) Chicago Blackhawks (from Toronto Maple Leafs), Vaclav Nestrasil
26th) Nashville Predators (from Vegas Golden Knights via San Jose Sharks), Ryker Lee
27th) Washington Capitals, Lynden Lakovic
28th) Winnipeg Jets, Sascha Boumedienne
29th) Chicago Blackhawks (from Carolina Hurricanes), Mason West
30th) San Jose Sharks (from Dallas Stars), Joshua Ravensbergen
31st) Los Angeles Kings (from Edmonton Oilers via Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins), Henry Brzustewicz
32nd) Calgary Flames (from Florida Panthers), Cullen Potter

This video is also taking place after 2025 NHL Season, and after the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, where the Florida Panthers defeated the Edmonton Oilers in the Finals.

Isaiah George was one of the top NHL prospects at the 2022 NHL Entry Draft.

The 2022 NHL Entry Draft saw many top NHL prospects get selected by a variety of teams. The first round of the draft went as follows:

1st) Montreal Canadiens, Juraj Slafkovsky
2nd) New Jersey Devils, Simon Nemec
3rd) Arizona Coyotes, Logan Cooley
4th) Seattle Kraken, Shane Wright
5th) Philadelphia Flyers, Cutter Gauthier
6th) Columbus Blue Jackets (from Chicago Blackhawks), David Jiricek
7th) Chicago Blackhawks (from Ottawa Senators), Kevin Korchinski
8th) Detroit Red Wings, Marco Kasper
9th) Buffalo Sabres, Matthew Savoie
10th) Anaheim Ducks, Pavel Mintyukov
11th) Arizona Coyotes (from San Jose Sharks), Conor Geekie
12th) Columbus Blue Jackets, Denton Mateychuk
13th) Chicago Blackhawks (from New York Islanders), Frank Nazar
14th) Winnipeg Jets, Rutger McGroarty
15th) Vancouver Canucks, Jonathan Lekkerimaki
16th) Buffalo Sabres (Vegas Golden Knights), Noah Ostlund
17th) Nashville Predators, Joakim Kemell
18th) Dallas Stars, Lian Bichsel
19th) Minnesota Wild (from LA Kings), Liam Ohgren
20th) Washington Capitals, Ivan Miroshnichenko
21st) Pittsburgh Penguins, Owen Pickering
22nd) Anaheim Ducks (from Boston Bruins), Nathan Gaucher
23rd) St. Louis Blues, Jimmy Snuggerud
24th) Minnesota Wild, Danila Yurov
25th) Chicago Blackhawks (from Toronto Maple Leafs), Sam Rinzel
26th) Montreal Canadiens (from Calgary Flames), Filip Mesar
27th) San Jose Sharks (from Carolina Hurricanes via Arizona Coyotes and Montreal Canadiens), Filip Bystedt
28th) Buffalo Sabres (from Florida Panthers), Jiri Kulich
29th) Arizona Coyotes (from Edmonton Oilers), Maveric Lamoureux
30th) Winnipeg Jets (from New York Rangers), Brad Lambert
31st) Tampa Bay Lightning, Isaac Howard
32nd) Edmonton Oilers (from Colorado Avalanche via Coyotes), Reid Schaefer

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Hi. I’m “Gio Palermo”, also known as “legorocks99” (“legorocks99Gaming”, “LR99Gaming”, or “LR99”). I post video game commentaries on YouTube revolving around “hockey”, with a primary focus on “Vancouver Canucks”, “Montreal Canadiens”, “Detroit Red Wings”, and top “NHL prospects” topics. These videos are uploaded with “NHL 25” gameplay in the background. I enjoy making these videos and I hope that you enjoy watching them!

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