Islanders Sign 2024 First-Round Pick Eiserman to Three-Year Entry-Level Deal

Cole Eiserman, the New York Islanders' 20th-overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, signed a three-year entry-level contract with the organization Wednesday and will join the AHL's Bridgeport Islanders on an amateur tryout contract for the remainder of this season. The ELC takes effect starting in 2026-27 and runs through the 2028-29 season, with the ATO giving Bridgeport immediate access to one of the prospect pool's most prolific scorers.

The 19-year-old from Newburyport, Massachusetts, wrapped up his second season at Boston University with 18 goals and 10 assists in 32 games before the Terriers were eliminated from the Hockey East tournament on March 14, falling 5-3 to UConn. Over two college seasons, the 6-foot winger posted 43 goals and 64 points in 71 career NCAA games.

The numbers Eiserman put up before ever arriving at BU made him one of the most watched forwards in the 2024 draft class. Playing for the U.S. National Team Development Program, he scored 127 goals in 119 games, overtaking Montreal Canadiens forward Cole Caufield as the program's all-time leading goal scorer in 2024. His 193 career points at the USNTDP rank second in program history, behind only New Jersey Devils center Jack Hughes, who accumulated 228.

At the international level, Eiserman collected gold medals at the Under-17 World Hockey Challenge in 2022 and the Under-18 World Hockey Championship in 2023. He represented the United States twice at the World Juniors, scoring five goals and 10 points in 12 games during the 2024-25 tournament as Team USA won gold, then finishing fifth with the squad in 2026.

The Islanders' front office tracked Eiserman closely throughout his college tenure. He spoke last November after playing at Madison Square Garden, a game that members of the organization attended, about balancing the defensive expectations that came with serious question marks on that side of the puck entering his draft year. "It's been there the last two years I think," Eiserman said of the focus on defensive play. "Still getting better at it but they let me play my game as well. I can't have my mindset fully on defense or else I might lose some of my offense."

That tension between offensive instinct and defensive development figures to follow him into Bridgeport, where the Islanders are expected to pair him with an established playmaker rather than ask him to drive a line independently. He carries what evaluators have described as one of the heaviest shots and quickest releases for his age, but the organization views his time in the AHL as a chance to work with specialty coaches and round out a game that has always been built around goal-scoring first.

The timing puts Eiserman with a Bridgeport team in transition. Coach Rocky Thompson, in his first season behind the Islanders' AHL bench, has the club holding down a playoff spot, and Eiserman's arrival gives the organization an added weapon for a potential postseason push.

Eiserman was the second Islander prospect to sign an ELC this week. Defense prospect Kashawn Aitcheson put pen to paper on his entry-level deal Tuesday. Aitcheson, who turns 20 on Sept. 21, will be AHL-eligible next season. Eiserman turns 20 on Aug. 29 and is expected to audition for a spot on the NHL roster when training camp opens in September.