Islanders sign Quinn Finley to two-year, entry-level contract

The New York Islanders bolstered their young talents on Wednesday, signing left winger Quinn Finley to a two-year, entry-level contract out of the University of Wisconsin Badgers. 

Selected 78th overall in the third round of the 2022 NHL Draft by the Islanders, Finley inks his first professional contract at 21 years old, after scoring 17 goals and 16 assists for 33 points in 37 games with the Badgers over the 2025-26 NCAA season. 

That output saw him lead the Badgers in goals and stand second in points, while ranking fifth in shots on goal and eighth in goals among all skaters in the Big Ten conference. 

After debuting with the Badgers in 2023-24, Finley played 110 games in the NCAA, scoring a near-even stat line of 47 goals and 42 assists for 89 points. Most recently, he scored two goals and three assists in the 2025-26 NCAA tournament,  helping Wisconsin reach the Frozen Four Championship Game, where they fell to the University of Denver Pioneers. 

Finley also brings international experience to the Islanders, having been one of 25 NCAA student-athletes selected for the U.S. Collegiate Selects at the invitation-only 2025 Spengler Cup, where they beat Swiss professional team HC Davos and Czechia’s Sparta Praha, before falling to Davos in the tournament’s championship game. 

Outside of that USA experience, he also finally represented his nation at the 2024 IIHF World Juniors, where he won a gold medal with the USA, scoring one goal and an assist over seven games, beating Sweden in the gold medal showdown. 

The Islanders have not indicated the next steps for Finley after signing his professional contract, but he will aim to make the NHL team out of camp for 2026-27, after the franchise missed the playoffs and lost the last three games of the 2025-26 regular season.