Cole Eiserman is a sniper.
The left wing from Newburyport, who scored 127 goals to break Cole Caufield’s USNTDP (National Team Development Program) scoring record last year, was picked 20th overall by the New York Islanders in the first round of the NHL Draft on Friday.
Eiserman turns 18 in August and will be a freshman at Boston University in the fall. NHL teams retain a player’s draft rights throughout his college career.
Islanders captain Anders Lee announced the pick.
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“He eats, breathes, lives scoring,” USNTDP head coach Nick Fohr told the Athletic. “That’s all he wants to do. And he understands that there’s more to the game than that. But he has always been able to get by on just scoring regardless. And in fact, he still does that here. As he starts to look bigger picture and to the NHL level, he understands that he’s going to have to be better in those areas away from the puck. And he’s working on it.”
A year ago, Eiserman broke the record for the most goals in a single season in the history of the NTDP. But that’s not all the forward says he has to offer.
“I think I have a pretty well-rounded game, it just gets overlooked because of how much I score,” Eiserman told the Athletic. “It’s almost one of those things where the scoring rates work against you. Obviously the No. 1 thing I do is score, but I think I pass the puck very well and that’s a big part of my game. And my 200-foot game from last year has gotten really good. My coaches are saying that it’s definitely not a problem anymore and it’s perfect.”
Many scouts, however, still have doubts about Eiserman’s ability beyond scoring.
“Whether it’s fair or not, he’s been labeled as a one-dimensional player but it’s a very important dimension,” NHL Central Scouting director Dan Marr told NHL.com. “In the National Hockey League, scoring is one of the best parts of the game. That’s what he’s going to bring to the table with the team. When I look down the road, I can see him impacting an NHL club like a Chris Kreider. A guy that can score goals on a consistent basis, score timely goals, help teams win games. I think he just needs to be coached up a bit and he’ll get that in college hockey. That just comes with experience and maturity.”
Eiserman follows Macklin Celebrini, who was taken first overall, and could help replace his production for Boston University starting in October. The pair played together at Shattuck-St. Mary’s, a college prep school in Minnesota that has produced huge numbers of college stars and NHL players. Celebrini hasn’t announced whether he’ll return to BU after winning the Hobey Baker Award as a freshman and told ESPN he hasn’t actually made a decision yet.
The physical, left-handed goal scorer initially committed to play at Minnesota, but changed his mind to sign with the Terriers to be closer to his dad, Bill, a former UMass Lowell hockey player and retired Massachusetts state trooper, who is now in remission after a battle with cancer.
“It was all family,” Eiserman told the Athletic. “It wasn’t a hockey decision at all … he’s my No. 1 person and he’s going to be able to come out to BU and watch me there. And he was coming out a lot before his surgery, and I always play better when he’s there, just playing for him and playing relaxed knowing that he’s going through something that’s a lot harder than I’ll ever go through.”
