Malte Gustafsson’s first week as an Islander was the kind that can change the way a young player sees the road ahead.
The 2026 first-round pick landed on Long Island only days after hearing his name called 13th overall at the NHL Draft, then jumped straight into New York Islanders Development Camp. It was a crash course in the organization, with on-ice work, team-building activities, and a quick introduction to what life around the Islanders looks like.
“It’s been great, I learned a lot,” Gustafsson said. “On the ice and off the ice. It was a great week.”
By the time camp wrapped up, his teammates were seeing a player who looked more comfortable by the day. Gustafsson, 18, moved with more pop in practice and seemed to gain confidence as the week went on.
“He definitely adjusted quickly and saw I thought he got even better throughout camp,” Danny Nelson said on Thursday. “Especially today, he was flying around, had a few goals, and definitely is an aggressive skater. He’s going to be a really good player.”
Gustafsson says he’s naturally reserved, but that didn’t last long once the group got together. Kashawn Aitcheson said the locker-room back-and-forth came easy.
“We kind of hit it off, he likes to laugh and have fun,” Kashawn Aitcheson, the 17 th overall pick in 2025, said. “We had a lot of back and forth, a lot of chirping and joking around. Super pumped that we got him, and yeah, just excited for his future.”
A familiar face helped ease the transition. Victor Eklund, the Islanders’ 2025 16 th overall pick, already knew Gustafsson from the Swedish Hockey League, and the two spent camp getting better acquainted.
“He’s been great,” Gustafsson said of Eklund. “He’s been showing me around and keeping an eye on me.”
The off-ice side of camp mattered too. Gustafsson, a big baseball fan, got a trip to Yankees Stadium on Monday, then got another memorable moment when he was formally introduced to fans at Wednesday’s Blue and White Scrimmage.
“It’s amazing to have them here,” Gustafsson said about fans attending the scrimmage. “I felt a bit nervous coming out to the game yesterday and playing in front of the fans, but it felt amazing.”
As the scrimmage unfolded, that nervousness faded. Pete DeBoer said the first-rounder looked more and more settled as the game went on.
“I thought he came as advertised," DeBoer said. "He's a big cat, covers a lot of ice.
He's got a great disposition when you talk to him and he's mature beyond his years. In the game yesterday, I thought he got better as it went on.
In the second period you started to see him get more confident.”
The adjustment to North America was part of the week too. Gustafsson, who has played his junior and professional hockey in Sweden until now, got his first feel for a smaller rink and had to get used to tighter space.
“I had to adapt, I went right into the boards in practice earlier this week,” Gustafsson said. “The rink feels tighter, just tighter spaces [where] it’s easier to close in on people. Easier to play my game.”
At 6’4” and 203 lbs., the left-shot defenseman brings size and mobility together in a way that stands out. He’s coming off his first SHL season with HV71, where he had three assists in 27 games, and his new teammates saw the defensive tools right away.
“You see his size and he's a really good skater with all that size, which is rare,” Aitcheson said. “Playing against him in the scrimmage, he was really good defensively, really good stick.”
Gustafsson also made it clear after the draft that being a nuisance is part of his identity. His teammates didn’t sound surprised.
“He seems like he's a pest to play against,” Aitcheson said. “He’ll be a lot for some forwards to handle in years to come.”
After a busy first week with the Islanders, Gustafsson heads back to Sweden with a sharper sense of what comes next.
“I just want to keep working and put on some muscles,” Gustafsson said. “Just take the things I’ve learned here and keep working.”
In Other News...
Islanders Suddenly Have A Shot At The Blue Line Help They Need
The Islanders are still searching for a blue-line upgrade, and Thomas Harley has the kind of profile that makes sense on paper. He put together a strong season with useful defensive numbers, steady puck-moving ability and the skating range that can help a defense survive against faster opponents, which is exactly the sort of skill set New York has been trying to add around its core.
There is still a catch, of course, because the fit on the ice is easier to see than the fit on the cap sheet. Harleys size, mobility and all-around game would give the Islanders another option for the middle of the defense and potentially reshape how the pairings are built, but any real pursuit would have to clear a financial hurdle that makes the idea more complicated than the player himself. [Read more 🡒]
Islanders May Have One Risky Answer To Their Scoring Problem
The Islanders are still searching for more punch up front, and one name that has started to surface in that conversation is a familiar one for anyone who follows goal scorers around the league. As an unrestricted free agent, Patrik Laine brings the kind of finishing ability that can change the look of an offense in a hurry, which is why some around the NHL see him as a possible fit for a club trying to upgrade its attack and give its power play a jolt.
There is plenty of hesitation built into that idea, though, and it goes well beyond simple fit. Laines recent injury history and uneven production have made him a tricky player to project, and any move would almost certainly have to make sense on the contract side before it ever becomes real. For now, the Islanders are only in the stage of weighing whether the upside is worth the risk, which leaves this as one of those offseason possibilities worth watching rather than something close to done. [Read more 🡒]