New York Islanders prospect Vladimir Dravecky is making a loud early statement in the OHL.
The 18-year-old defenseman was named the league’s Defenseman of the Month for October after a blistering run with the Guelph Storm, and his start is turning heads far beyond junior hockey. Taken by the Islanders in the fifth round, 141st overall in the 2026 NHL Draft, Dravecky is starting to look like far more than a late-round flier.
He piled up four goals and 16 assists for 20 points in only 13 games, tops among OHL defensemen in scoring for the month. He also put together six multi-point games and enters November on an eight-game point streak.
His biggest night came Oct. 10 against Owen Sound, when he delivered two goals and three assists in a 10-5 win. That was the most points by a Guelph defenseman in a single game since March 2006.
Dravecky’s October surge is especially striking when measured against what he did last season. He finished with 28 points in 58 games for the Brantford Bulldogs, and he has nearly matched that total in less than a quarter of the games this year.
At 6-foot and 192 pounds, the right-shot defenseman has also added a plus-12 rating, a sign that the production is coming with strong all-around play attached to it.
Junior success is never a guarantee of NHL success, and Dravecky still has plenty of work ahead of him. But for an Islanders organization trying to strengthen its prospect base, this is exactly the kind of development that can change how a draft class looks in a hurry.
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Special teams did not offer much help, either, as the Islanders came up empty on four power-play chances and never put enough sustained pressure on Edmonton to change the tone. With an extended pause before their next game against the Carolina Hurricanes, the break now looms as a chance to get healthier and sort out a scoring issue that has become hard to ignore. [Read more 🡒]