Islanders draft Swedish defenseman Malte Gustafsson, 17, in first round
Malte Gustafsson, center, stands with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, left, and Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer after being drafted by the Islanders during the NHL Draft on Friday in Buffalo Credit: AP/Adrian Kraus
It was a day of defensemen for the Islanders.
They picked Swedish lefthanded shot Malte Gustafsson with the 13th overall selection in the NHL Draft on Friday night at KeyBank Center in Buffalo. Earlier in the day, they re-signed one of their unrestricted free agents in right-shooting Tony DeAngelo.
DeAngelo’s two-year, $9 million extension seemingly makes captain Anders Lee’s potential exit via free agency — the market opens at noon on Wednesday — even more likely.
Lee is represented by Neil Sheehy. “I talked to the agent [Thursday],” Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche said after the first round Friday. “We’ll see what happens in the next few days.”
Lee, 35, the Islanders’ captain since 2018, is coming off a seven-year, $49 million deal.
The 6-4, 203-pound Gustafsson had three assists in 27 games for HV71 Jonkoping in Sweden’s top league as he earned consistent ice time as a 17-year-old. He is considered a strong skater with poise and power-play potential, and Darche said it was a matter of drafting the best available talent.
“A very strong skater for his size,” he said of Gustafsson, who will participate in the Islanders’ development camp at Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow from Monday through Thursday. “He moves the puck. He plays physical. Hard to play against. You can never have enough good defensemen. I debated with a few of our scouts about some of the big forwards [available]. They were all saying Malte is the guy that stops those guys.”
But it’s unlikely that Gustafsson can make the immediate jump to the NHL the way last year’s No. 1 pick, Matthew Schaefer, did from Canadian junior hockey. Schaefer, the unanimous pick for the Calder Trophy as the rookie of the year, attended the draft, interviewing this year’s No. 1 pick, Penn State’s Gavin McKenna, for the ESPN broadcast after the Maple Leafs selected him. Schaefer also took to the stage to announce Gustafsson’s selection.
Darche said he tried to trade up in the draft more than once, but no deal could be reached.
The Islanders still own picks in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh rounds on Saturday.
After re-signing DeAngelo, 30, the Islanders have approximately $6.2 million in salary cap space under the $104 million cap ceiling for 2026-27.
The offensive-minded DeAngelo, who quarterbacks the second power-play unit, notched five goals and 30 assists in 76 games on a one-year, $1.75 million deal in his first full season with the Islanders after joining them midway through 2024-25 following a stint in the Russian KHL.
He missed a little more than two weeks late in the season with a lower-body injury as the Islanders spiraled out of a playoff spot, leading to coach Patrick Roy’s firing with four games remaining in favor of Pete DeBoer.
“We saw at the end of the year when we lost him, you’ve got to be able to move the puck out, and he’s a real good puck-mover,” Darche said. “The price is relative. If you look at all the signings around the league, I think Tony is priced extremely well. The way Pete wants to play is moving the puck and getting up on the rush. It’s tough to find puck-moving defensemen, never mind right-shot, puck-moving defensemen.”
DeAngelo was a member of the Islanders’ first power-play unit before Schaefer took that role. “Tony moves the puck,” Darche said on breakup day. “I’ve been very happy with Tony this year. Never was he, because he was on a one-year deal, ‘I want my power play.’ He embraced and said, ‘The kid is a special player.’ ”
With DeAngelo re-signed and Alexander Romanov returning from a shoulder injury that kept him sidelined since November, the Islanders may well start with the same top six defensemen — including Adam Pelech, Ryan Pulock and Scott Mayfield on long-term deals — with little chance for lefthanded Isaiah George, 22, to crack the initial lineup. Kashawn Aitcheson, also a lefty, was selected 17th overall last year and is expected to start this season with the Islanders’ AHL affiliate in Hamilton, Ontario.
Gustafsson, then, definitely seems like a down-the-road candidate. But he has the credentials to go with his impressive size.
He was the seventh-ranked European skater on the NHL Central Scouting Bureau’s final rankings after three seasons in the HV71 system. He also had four goals and eight assists in 19 games for HV71-Junior this season.
“It’s just amazing,” Gustafsson told the media in Buffalo about being drafted. “I’m a big two-way defender. I like to use my size, my length, and I play physical. Being annoying is part of my game.”
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
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