Islanders GM Mathieu Darche shares insights on prospect Cole Eiserman's goal-scoring prowess and development, even after a recent injury scare.
On Saturday night, New York Islanders prospect and Boston University forward Cole Eiserman and Kamil Bednarik battled fellow prospect Xavier Veilleiux and Cornell at Madison Square Garden.
General manager Mathieu Darche was in attendance for the collegiate battle and the BU boys showed up.
Eiserman fed Bednarik on the power play at 6:17 to give BU a 1-0 lead:
Eiserman scored the eventual game-winning goal at 5:24 of the third:
On Friday morning, Darche was asked about his prospects, highlighting that he was headed to MSG for this big tilt. Here's what he had to say:
"We watch [our prospects] online, but it's different than watching them in person, and it's just to show them that, hey, we're watching," Darche said. "They're college players. They could decide to play four years and go somewhere else. So you build a relationship with them. So I try to see almost everyone, especially in North America, almost every one of our drafted prospects, at least once. So I time it during our trips. I've been to Barrie this year. I've been to Notre Dame. Saturday, we have three of our prospects playing at MSG with Cornell and BU, so I'll be there, and it's just to get a feel of how they play.
"You talk to their coach after, you talk to them, you build a relationship with them, which is great, so you get a better sense of what's coming. So when you plan your team for next year… when you see what's coming and you get an idea of what you feel they are in their development. Are they ready to step in? Do they need time in the AHL? So you try to watch them multiple times. Rely on our player development people and our scouts, but it's good to be there in person.”
When it comes to Eiserman, here's what Darche said, starting with injury concerns.
“Well, I was told that he's doing fine," Darche said. "When we played in Boston, he came to the game with his agent, so we chatted with him after. He had an injury that seemed to be healed right now, as he played last weekend. The first weekend is always a challenge when you come back, but I'm looking forward to seeing him on Saturday. We know Cole...he's a goal scorer. That's something you can't teach. Like any player, there are things everybody needs to work on, but he's got a skill that's tough to teach, and that's scoring goals. So we're excited to have him.”
Eiserman told us at the 2024 NHL Draft that he's different. He's a goal scorer and he's confident that he has what it takes.
“Every young kid, when they come in, like even Matthew, when he came in, there are things he had to learn, and there are things everybody… when you're 30 years old, there are still things you're learning. I always use the line my mom used to say: The day you stop trying to improve is the day you start regressing, right?
"At the end of the day, you know, when you guys asked me before the season what my expectations were for Matthew Schaefer, I said his play will dictate where he plays. And it's the same thing with Cole when he comes in, and he plays pro games. We can project how we feel they're going to play pro, but until they actually play, you never know. Some adjust way better than you thought, and some of them, well, you know, it's a longer learning curve. So we'll see when he turns pro, how he adapts to the pro game.”
Eiserman has 10 points (seven goals, three assists) in 11 games this season for BU.