Casual hockey fans might not know who Keiffer Bellows or Anatoli Golyshev were entering the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, but hardcore fans of the New York Islanders seemed pretty pleased with the franchise’s selections.
With Islanders General Manager Garth Snow electing not to trade the team’s 19th overall pick, the team selected American left wing/center Bellows in the first round. Bellows, the son of former NHLer Brian Bellows, scored 50 goals and 31 assists with the U.S. National U18 team of the USA Hockey National Team Development Program in 62 games. Bellows has a good size as well, at 6’0″ and 196 lbs as an 18-year-old.
Out of six of the major ranking builders, only one (McKeen’s Hockey) had ranked Bellows where the Islanders selected him. NHL Central Scouting ranked him 10th among North American skaters, while TSN’s Bob McKenzie had him at 18 overall. So, it looks as if the Islanders got a bit of a steal with Bellows at 19 overall.
Bellows, according to Curtis Joe of EliteProspects.com, is:
“A skilled power forward who can dominate games. Possesses high end puckhandling ability as well as a crisp, accurate release on his shot. Proficient forechecker and loves to win puck battles, which stands out as a consistent part of his game. Strong skater who can bull through the opposition or go around them. Drives the net hard and is a decisive finisher. All-in-all, a competitor who punishes the opposition physically, as well as on the scoreboard.”
The Islanders didn’t select again until the fourth round, but they made their choice count. The team traded its No. 110 pick and a 2017 6th round pick to the Chicago Blackhawks for the No. 95 pick, also known as the fourth pick of the round. With it, the team drafted Golyshev, a Russian forward who has played three seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).
The 21-year-old Russian broke through in this past season with Yekaterinburg Automobilist, notching 25 goals and 19 assists in 56 games. For a lower-scoring league such as the KHL, that’s a big deal, especially for someone Golyshev’s age.
The most notable thing about Golyshev is that Blackhawks star Artemi Panarin, who was the NHL rookie of the year, put up similar numbers that Golyshev did in the KHL. At 21, Panarin scored 11 goals and seven assists in 43 games. As a 22-year-old, Panarin put up 20 goals and 20 assists in 51 games. As a 23-year-old, he scored 26 goals and 36 assists in 54 games. In his first NHL season, Panarin scored 30 goals and 47 assists in 80 games. If Golyshev follows the same path as the undrafted Panarin, the Isles could have a special player on their hands.
Bellows and Golyshev join an already-stacked cupboard of forwards in the Islanders prospect system. They’ll join Michael Dal Colle, Josh Ho-Sang, Mathew Barzal and Anthony Beauvillier as talented youngsters upfront in the development program. While it may take a few years for either Bellows or Golyshev to reach and make a difference at the NHL level, the Islanders made the most of the picks they had in the draft.
