The New York Islanders made a quiet but potentially smart move Saturday, picking up the signing rights to defenseman Ryan Healey from the Minnesota Wild for future considerations.
Healey, 22, is a right-shot defenseman from Chicago who just wrapped up four years at Harvard. The Wild drafted him in the fourth round back in 2022. Now he’s ready to turn pro, and the Isles made sure they got first crack at signing him before an August 15 deadline. If they don’t get a deal done by then, he walks as an unrestricted free agent.
This isn’t a splashy headline move. It’s the kind of depth play teams make when they see a guy who might slip through the cracks. Healey put up 12 points in 34 games this season — four goals, eight assists — and finished second among Harvard defensemen in scoring. More interesting: he posted a plus-one rating, the first positive plus-minus of his NCAA career. Not a huge number, but for a defenseman, finally showing you can be a net positive matters.
Healey’s best season came in 2023-24 when he piled up 22 points in 29 games. That year he made the All-Ivy League First Team. In his freshman season he’d already earned a spot on the ECAC All-Rookie Team. So the kid has a track record of getting better.
Over 130 games at Harvard, Healey finished with 19 goals and 55 total points. Before college he played in the USHL with Sioux Falls, put up 21 points in his draft year, and represented the U.S. at the 2021 Hlinka Gretzky Cup. That’s a solid hockey resume for a fourth-round pick who still has room to grow.
The Islanders now get to bring him to development camp this summer, see what he looks like up close, and decide whether to offer an entry-level contract. If they sign him, he’ll likely start next season with AHL Hamilton, adding some organizational depth on the blue line.
It’s a low-risk bet on a kid who played four years in a tough conference, got smarter about his own end, and now gets a shot at the next level. Worst case? They let him walk. Best case? They found a late-blooming defenseman who can help the farm system and maybe even push for a call-up down the road.
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