The New York Islanders may have gotten a lot more than a fifth-round pick in Vladimir Dravecky.
That’s the read from Guelph Storm associate coach and former Islanders defenseman Ron Davison, who offered a strikingly upbeat assessment of the 2026 NHL Draft selection in a Q&A with Chris Botta. Davison didn’t sound like someone talking about a late-round flier. He sounded like a coach who’s watched a young defenseman keep forcing his way into bigger responsibilities.
“I don't see any reason, if he continues to emerge, why he can't play in one of your top-two pairings," Davison said. "He'll be able to run a power play and he'll be able to take regular shifts."
That’s a big projection for a player taken in the fifth round.
Dravecky has already become one of Guelph’s most important pieces, handling 23-24 minutes a night while getting work on the power play, killing penalties and taking on just about every assignment available to him. With Guelph locked into a Memorial Cup berth as the host city, he’ll also have a chance to put that growth on display on one of junior hockey’s biggest stages.
Davison believes the offense starts with something special at the puck. In his view, Dravecky can drive a possession and create chances almost by himself, the kind of trait that separates him from most OHL defensemen.
"I'm not comparing him to Quinn Hughes, but what he does for us in the OHL is what Quinn Hughes does in the NHL, where he can be a one-man breakout machine," Davison explained.
The comparison came with a clear caution, and Davison also pointed to the parts of Dravecky’s game that still need polishing. He needs to get stronger, clean up his defensive positioning and get more comfortable against bigger players. Davison and former Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi are both working with him on those areas.
But the most revealing part of Davison’s praise had nothing to do with skill.
He said Dravecky is the kind of player who always wants more ice, keeps working and barely paused after signing his Islanders contract before turning right back to the grind. If anything, the challenge is getting him to ease off before he burns himself out.
"We have to slow him down a bit because he'll be exhausted by the weekend," Davison said. "I'm sure the Islanders saw that too in training camp.
He's been a pleasure to work with so far. In junior hockey, the sky's the limit for him."
For a fifth-round pick, that’s about as promising as it gets. Dravecky still has plenty left to prove before he’s anything close to an NHL regular, but the early signs are hard to ignore. When the coach seeing him every day is talking about top-two potential and saying the sky's the limit, that’s enough to make the Islanders’ find look awfully interesting.
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