Andrew Gross: Will Cole Eiserman be an NHL player for the Islanders this season?
Cole Eiserman of the Islanders handles the puck during the first day of rookie camp on Friday in East Meadow. Credit: Dawn McCormick
Cole Eiserman has been 20 years old for only two weeks, and Friday’s first on-ice session of the Islanders’ rookie camp marked the official beginning of his first full professional season.
In other words, the sharpshooting wing still is very much a kid in the big picture of life and hockey.
But listening to the first-round draft pick speak about his game and the self-awareness of the defensive strides he still needs to take to become an NHL player — as compared to two years ago, when the Islanders selected him 20th overall and he said of himself, “I definitely see the game differently than a lot of people” — denoted his obvious maturation.
That alone won’t be enough for Eiserman to reach his goal and for the Islanders to be able to dress a potentially game-changing offensive threat. But it can only help.
“Just playing away from the puck, I’m trying to always be on the puck, be alert at all times,” Eiserman told Newsday at Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow in a private chat sandwiched between two group interview sessions. “Little stuff you can do in practice just by listening to your coach. You can train your brain to always be dialed in out there, and that’s what I’m trying to do.
“I’m trying to be very open-minded and listen to people that care about me and really just do anything I can to be a hockey player and play for the New York Islanders. I’d do anything. I don’t necessarily need to score as many goals. Obviously, I love scoring goals. It’s what I do best, I think. But I’ll do anything to stay and be an NHL player.”
It’s a mature attitude. It’s the right attitude. It’s the only attitude Eiserman can have to achieve his childhood dream.
For context, though, here’s what Eiserman said on June 28, 2024, in Las Vegas when he slipped to the Islanders and their former president/general manager, Lou Lamoriello, most likely because he was labeled a one-dimensional player, albeit one with a hellacious wrist shot and talent for scoring:
“It takes a different mindset, I think, to understand how I think and how I play the game,” Eiserman said then. “So I was very comfortable and super-excited to be with [the Islanders]. I definitely see the game differently than a lot of people. Whether you like it or not, it’s something that I’m going to bring. And they like it.”
Eiserman, from Newburyport, Massachusetts, spent the last two seasons compiling 43 goals and 21 assists in 71 games for Boston University. He then joined the Islanders’ AHL affiliate, formerly located in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to notch two goals and seven assists in 12 games and also play in two postseason matches.
Eiserman, one of three first-rounders participating in rookie camp along with fellow wing Victor Eklund and defenseman Kashawn Aitcheson, will have a chance to force his way onto the Islanders’ roster in training camp, which starts on Thursday.
Most likely, though, the prudent course will be for Eiserman to get more seasoning in the AHL.
A true test of Eiserman’s maturity will be whether he can show patience through the process. He acknowledged that it can be hard to have that.
“Yeah, it takes a little bit,” he said. “You’ve got to mature a little bit. I feel like I’ve matured. You’ve got to be able to listen and adapt. I’m not afraid to listen to criticism or listen to stuff that I need to work on. At the end of the day, if I want to play in the NHL, I’ve got to do the stuff that the coach and the system wants me to do.”
That coach likely will be Jay McKee, in his first season running the Islanders’ AHL affiliate, now located in Hamilton, Ontario. McKee also is running the on-ice sessions at rookie camp.
“He’s a skilled forward,” McKee said. “What I like about him is in one of my first conversations, he acknowledged the things that he needs to improve on, and that’s a step of maturity right there. A lot of young guys won’t address those issues. They’ll just talk about the things they’re good at and will want to work on those things.”
McKee added that a good indicator of whether a player is truly starting to understand what he needs to do comes through the video sessions.
“When you implement systems and you see guys that can pick it up right away and other guys, it takes a little more time,” McKee said.
And only time will tell if Eiserman can meld his growing maturity and innate talent to become an NHL player.
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.
