Islanders Draft Target: Kevin Korchinski
The New York Islanders hold the 13th overall selection in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, the highest they will choose since 2018, when they took Oliver Wahlstrom at 11 and Noah Dobson at 12. It is also the first time they have picked in the first round since 2019. Over the next few weeks, we will be taking a look at some of the players that the Islanders could draft with that pick. So far, we have looked at Brad Lambert, Conor Geekie, and Marco Kasper. This week, we will look at our first defenseman in the series in Kevin Korchinski.
Korchinski, 17, was born on June 21, 2004 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. The 6’2″, 185-pound left-shot defenseman played for the Saskatoon Flyers during his youth. He made his debut with the Saskatoon Generals U15 AA (SAAHL U15) in the 2016-17 season, playing one game. In 2017-18, Korchinski played 30 regular-season games for the Saskatoon Stallions U15 AA (SAAHL U15), scoring eight goals and 23 points. He also added one goal and three points in five playoff games that season.
The 2018-19 season saw Kevin Korchinski play on two different clubs—the aforementioned Saskatoon Generals U15 AA, where he wore the “C”, and the Saskatoon Contacts U18 AAA (SMAAAHL). He scored 10 goals and 47 points in 31 regular-season contests with the Generals along with five goals and 10 points in five playoff games, and he was held off the scoresheet in four games for the Contacts.
On May 2, 2019, the day of the 2019 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft, the Seattle Thunderbirds made a trade with the Kelowna Rockets to acquire the 10th overall selection. With that selection, the Thunderbirds, selected Kevin Korchinski. 22 days later on May 24, 2019, the Thunderbirds announced that they signed Korchinski to a WHL Standard Player Agreement.
Despite signing the Standard Player Agreement, Korchinski spent the majority of the season with the Contacts, scoring seven goals and 26 points in 41 regular-season games. He did not record a point in six playoff games. He did make his Thunderbirds debut on Nov. 16, 2019, not registering a point. His 2020-21 season resulted in almost the opposite, only playing four games with the Contacts, scoring a goal in four games. He spent the majority of the season with the Thunderbirds, recording 10 assists in 23 games.
This year was Kevin Korchinski’s best year yet. In 67 regular-season games, he scored at almost a point-per-game pace with four goals and 61 assists for 65 points. Through Game 2 of the WHL Championship, Korchinski has scored six goals and 18 points in 21 playoff games, continuing to score at the almost point-per-game pace that he was at in the regular season.
Once again, I reached out to Will Scouch to ask for an opinion on Korchinski and how he is as a player. Scouch is a McKeen’s Hockey contributor and founder of Scouching, where he takes both aspects of the “eye test” and advanced analytics to give a different perspective on the game to fans. He contributed to my “Digging Into the Islanders’ 2021 NHL Draft Class” series, and also added to the other articles in this series. I would like to thank Will for adding his insight and make sure to check him out on Twitter, Youtube, on his website, and maybe even consider supporting him on Patreon!
Check back in next week for another look at a potential draft target for the New York Islanders.
All statistics are prior to Game 3 of the WHL Championships on June 7, 2022.
