Prospect Info: 2023-24 Prospect Thread

[xECK29x]

This season I'll just update the first post each Monday instead of a copy/paste of a table each time.

+ = on IR or just hurt
# = season complete

PLAYER	POS	ACQUIRED	HFB RANK	TEAM	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM	+/-
William Dufour	RW	2020 round 5 #152	1	Bridgeport Islanders	52	15	10	25	29	-12
Samuel Bolduc	D	2019 round 2 #57	2	New York Islanders	33	1	2	3	6	-5
				Bridgeport Islanders	5	1	0	1	2	2
Matthew Maggio	RW	2022 round 5 #142	3	Bridgeport Islanders	58	16	9	25	20	-2
Simon Holmstrom	RW/LW	2019 round 1 #23	4	New York Islanders	72	14	9	23	14	-1
Danny Nelson #	C	2023 round 2 #49	5	Univ. of Notre Dame	30	9	14	23	32	5
				USA U20	7	1	1	2	0	4
Ruslan Iskhakov	C/LW	2018 round 2 #43	6	Bridgeport Islanders	67	17	31	48	30	-16
Tyce Thompson	RW	Trade		Utica Comets	15	0	5	5	12	4
				Bridgeport Islanders	47	3	10	13	54	-19
Calle Odelius	D	2022 round 2 #65	8	Djugardens IF	10	0	4	4	2	0
				Djugardens IF (Playoffs)	2	0	1	1	2	0
				Sweden U20	8	0	1	1	8	-
Robin Salo	D	2017 round 2 #46	9	Bridgeport Islanders	64	5	18	23	22	-12
Isaiah George	D	2022 round 4 #98	10	London Knights	68	6	24	30	54	26
				London (Playoffs)	4	1	2	3	0	5
Alex Jefferies	LW	2020 round 4 #121	11	Merrimack College	22	13	10	23	19	1
				Bridgeport Islanders	8	3	1	4	0	-1
Eetu Liukas	LW	2021 round 5 #157	12	Bridgeport Islanders	45	3	4	7	34	-13
Quinn Finley #	LW	2022 round 3 #78	13	Univ. of Wisconsin	35	9	6	15	16	4
				USA U20	7	1	1	2	0	2
Jesse Nurmi #	LW	2023 round 4 #113	14	KooKoo	19	0	2	2	2	-7
				KooKoo U20	6	4	4	8	0	-2
				Finland U20	6	0	2	2	0	-
Aleksi Malinen #	D	2021 round 6 #189	15T	JYP	15	0	2	2	0	-3
Zach Schulz #	D	2023 round 6 #177	HM1	Univ. of Wisconsin	33	2	4	6	6	4
Cameron Berg #	C	2021 round 4 #125	HM2	Univ. of North Dakota	40	20	17	37	8	7
Daylan Kuefler	LW	2022 round 6 #174	HM3	Worcester Railers	17	5	3	8	9	-4
				Bridgeport Islanders	19	3	3	6	37	-1
Aidan Fulp	D	UFA		Bridgeport Islanders	47	1	4	5	14	-19
Justin Gill	C	2023 round 5 #145		Baie-Comeau Drakkar	65	40	58	98	66	57
				Baie-Comeau (Playoffs)	4	3	4	7	2	4
Dennis Good Bogg #	D	2023 round 7 #209		AIK J20	18	1	4	5	45	-5
				AIK	10	0	1	1	0	1
				Vallentuna Hockey	7	0	1	1	10	-1
				Brodernas/Vasby	4	0	0	0	2	-2
				Östersunds IK	8	0	1	1	6	-4
				Östersunds IK (Playoffs)	1	0	0	0	0	0
Alexander Ljungkrantz #	LW/RW	2020 round 3 #90		Almtuna IS	44	20	12	32	8	-7
				Farjestad BK	8	0	0	0	0	-1
Travis Mitchell	D	UFA		Bridgeport Islanders	34	1	3	4	36	-6
Reece Newkirk	C	2019 round 5 #147		Bridgeport Islanders	15	1	2	3	2	1
				Worcester Railers	10	5	4	9	2	4
Matias Rajaniemi	D	2020 round 6 #183		SaiPa	53	0	8	8	18	-24
				Bridgeport Islanders	0	0	0	0	0	0
GOALIES					GP	GAA	SV%	SO	W-L-T
Tristan Lennox	G	2021 round 3 #93	15T	Worcester Railers	13	2.94	.909	0	5-6-1
Jakub Skarek	G	2018 round 3 #72		Bridgeport Islanders	34	3.15	.890	0	7-21-5
Henrik Tikkanen	G	2020 round 7 #214	Currently UFA	Bridgeport Islanders	16	2.17	.927	0	7-5-2
				Worcester Railers	18	3.25	.890	0	10-6-1

Click to read more...

 

[NC 1972]

I think he'll be what we thought of Wahlstrom at first.

I don’t think so , I believe most view Finley as a speedster, forechecker , pest , energy player right now and Wahlstrom was viewed as a goal scorer not someone who could drive play, solely a finisher .

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

I don’t think so , I believe most view Finley as a speedster, forechecker , pest , energy player right now and Wahlstrom was viewed as a goal scorer not someone who could drive play, solely a finisher .

I keep wondering what would have been if Wahlstrom didn't fall in our lap and we instead had taken Farabee, who was likely a kid the Isles were looking at should their picks have been a spot or two later?

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

Zach Schulz just scored his 2nd goal of the season for Wisconsin. They've got a 4-1 lead over Notre Dame after 1.

Naturally, neither Finley nor Nelson are in the line-up.

 

[saintunspecified]

oh yea totally, he had a great WJC for his role

I think Nelson, Finley, and even Jefferies are all better prospects than the likes of Maggio and Dufour simply because they appear to me to be better athletes who aren't top-6 or bust type players. But I think Nelson, in particular, could turn out to be a monster. Kid is already huge, and I doubt he's gotten his man strength yet.

I think NYI have a bit of lot of 'drafting athletes' in the mid-later rounds the last few years (Nelson, Finley, George, Lennox, Jefferies), and I hope they do more of it.

 

[doublechili]

Has anyone here seen Berg play? He's putting up some nice numbers with N Dakota.

Salo was drafted in 2017. After this season he'll be an RFA and it will be 7 years since he was drafted. You wonder if he's still in the team's plans and whether he even wants to stay in NA next year if he's not likely to be in the NHL?

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

Has anyone here seen Berg play? He's putting up some nice numbers with N Dakota.

I'd call his game "unassuming".

UND is fairly loaded this year, so he has good players to work with. But he is getting PP time and his goals seem to be coming every way imaginable. There have been a few one-timers from the Ovechkin spot on the other side.

Very hard to watch him play and think "Definite NHLer". Still feels a ways off.

Salo was drafted in 2017. After this season he'll be an RFA and it will be 7 years since he was drafted. You wonder if he's still in the team's plans and whether he even wants to stay in NA next year if he's not likely to be in the NHL?

As you're surely aware, he's making a big push in the AHL right now.

He kind of fell off the planet last season and I guess we all think it had something to do with him making the team out of camp, having a 2-goal game against Anaheim(?), then not looking good and ultimately being banished for the rest of the season to the AHL.

I think he's the type of guy who'll get a shot with another team once he hits free agency. Whether he gets another shot with the Isles this year depends entirely on how the situation with LHDs looks on the Island at any given time.

He's obviously behind Pelech, Romanov, Reilly, Aho, and Bolduc at the moment.

But with our luck, it's always possible that 3 of these guys could be out at the same time.

If he's resigned for organizational depth, he'd surely be waiver-eligible, if he isn't already.

 

[The Real JT]

It’s hard to call Aho a prospect but this seems like the best thread to post this on.

Can we all agree that the Aho experiment is over and is unquestionably a failure? He has one goal and four assists in 30 games while logging nearly 16 minutes of ice time. if you subtract two PowerPlay assists, then he has three points in 30 games. All this for a supposedly offensive defenseman? I haven’t even touched on his deficiencies, purely on the defensive side. That’s like shooting fish in a barrel.

 

[Strummergas]

It’s hard to call Aho a prospect but this seems like the best thread to post this on.

Can we all agree that the Aho experiment is over and is unquestionably a failure? He has one goal and four assists in 30 games while logging nearly 16 minutes of ice time. if you subtract two PowerPlay assists, then he has three points in 30 games. All this for a supposedly offensive defenseman? I haven’t even touched on his deficiencies, purely on the defensive side. That’s like shooting fish in a barrel.

I've felt this for a long time, but apparently he's playing over Bolduc tonight, so what do I know?

 

[Glory Days]

It’s hard to call Aho a prospect but this seems like the best thread to post this on.

Can we all agree that the Aho experiment is over and is unquestionably a failure? He has one goal and four assists in 30 games while logging nearly 16 minutes of ice time. if you subtract two PowerPlay assists, then he has three points in 30 games. All this for a supposedly offensive defenseman? I haven’t even touched on his deficiencies, purely on the defensive side. That’s like shooting fish in a barrel.

I doubt Aho gets claimed if waived. I would give Salo a chance . Salo can’t possibly be any worse than Aho.

 

[leeroggy]

I've felt this for a long time, but apparently he's playing over Bolduc tonight, so what do I know?

Someone has to play the right side, Aho has been doing that. Reilly and Bolduc do not.

I doubt Aho gets claimed if waived. I would give Salo a chance . Salo can’t possibly be any worse than Aho.

He would definitely get claimed for the salary he carries, can be buried or waived again. Plenty of teams would take him as a spare defender.

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

Someone has to play the right side, Aho has been doing that. Reilly and Bolduc do not.



He would definitely get claimed for the salary he carries, can be buried or waived again. Plenty of teams would take him as a spare defender.

I tend to agree with this.

And I had been thinking that Aho has realy learned how to avoid being roughted up, improving incredibly in the timing and phsicality departments. He's definitely learned a lot more about how to engage in battle with both his stick and body.

Yes, that he's been soooo quiet offensively is a bummer, but when there have been offensive assignments to spare the past few weeks, it's been Reilly and Bolduc getting them.

Aho is still making a lot of good first passes, unlike one of our bigger, lankier righty shot Dmen.

But for certain, he's upgradable and if we ever get Pelech and Pulock back into the line-up, I'm thinking Aho is one of the odd men out.

 

[Potvottier]

Agree.

Aho will probably be replaced next season, when he becomes a UFA. We can probably get one of the cellar dwellers to give us a 7th for him at the TDL, but we should keep him for depth, for this year.

Hopefully we can improve on him and Reilly over the course of the summer. Get some big-bodied vet to play with Mayfield, and have Bolduc as the 7th.

Although, with respect to Bolduc, I feel that he has been better as of late. Not flashy, but just stronger on the puck, and making better decisions. Better 1st passes. He has the pedigree, so let's see if he can pick it up a notch or two. I think the third pairing LD is scheduled to be his next year, with the only hole in his game that I can see, is his inexperience.

Pelech worries me with his injury history. We may be forced to indoctrinate Bolduc and Salo quickly, if Pelly becomes fragile. Or, as I stated earlier, we pick up a big-bodied vet (a la Dillon, UFA 2024).

I believe that I am with the consensus that we should go get Hanafin, but I don't see it in the near future. Unless Pelly goes on LTIR.

 

[seafoam]

Finley with a hat trick in his first game back from the WJC. Wisconsin beat up on a bad Lindonwood team 5-0 but it was Finley who led the charge with three tucks.

 

[seafoam]

Nelson with one goal in a 2-3 loss against Ohio State in his first game back.

 

[Skip To My Lou]

Nice to see the boys buzzin'.

 

[Bill Herlyn]

Alex Jeffries a goal and assist last night as well for Merrimack. Not a bad night for the top 3 Islanders college prospects!!

 

[seafoam]

Alex Jeffries a goal and assist last night as well for Merrimack. Not a bad night for the top 3 Islanders college prospects!!

Lets just hope they sign them all!

On an unrelated note, Collin Graf from Quinnipiac (my alma mater) is likely to be the top college UFA this year. Point producing right shot RW, would be a great get for NYI as he would for any team.

 

[Arsenalogist24]

A lot of goals this week in the report keep it coming

 

[leeroggy]

Islanders Prospect Report: Jan. 16, 2024 | New York Islanders

Finley completes first career NCAA hat trick, Ljungkrantz adds to team lead and more in this week’s Hi Energy Report presented by National Grid

www.nhl.com

 

[SI90]

Danny Nelson has come back home from winning the gold and he’s been producing

https://x.com/tlomitch/status/1748886640548864223?s=46&t=F-gQrVWvDqQEq4MYhtIb-A

 

[leeroggy]

Islanders Prospect Report: Jan. 22, 2024 | New York Islanders

Nelson records his first multi-goal game and George extends point streak in this week’s Hi Energy Report presented by National Grid

www.nhl.com

 

[The Winter Soldier]

How's Isles drafting lately? D, C, B, A-

Just scanning the Isles last 4 drafts. No real stand outs, though also no 1sts so you have to factor that in. A plus for them is Holmstrom is having a decent sophomore year. He's actually out goaling Tomasino and McMichael. So maybe scouts got that one right.

 

[MJF]

How's Isles drafting lately? D, C, B, A-

Just scanning the Isles last 4 drafts. No real stand outs, though also no 1sts so you have to factor that in. A plus for them is Holmstrom is having a decent sophomore year. He's actually out goaling Tomasino and McMichael. So maybe scouts got that one right.

C. It’s tough to draft well when you have no 1st round picks.

 

[ekill08x]

C. It’s tough to draft well when you have no 1st round picks.

That has to change ASAP. They need a major influx of young talent in the system. Its the worst system we have had in 25 years. This wont be a playoff team this year and we would be wise to try and maximize the few assets we have so we have a chance to retool this current group, otherwise we are wasting Barzal Horvat and potentially Dobson. We needed so badly for Wahlstrom to not be a bust. That one hurt. Even the Bellows pick too. If either of them were middle 6 forwards right now on decent deals this entire group would be in completely different shape. Both were massive swings and misses.

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

That has to change ASAP. They need a major influx of young talent in the system. Its the worst system we have had in 25 years. This wont be a playoff team this year and we would be wise to try and maximize the few assets we have so we have a chance to retool this current group, otherwise we are wasting Barzal Horvat and potentially Dobson. We needed so badly for Wahlstrom to not be a bust. That one hurt. Even the Bellows pick too. If either of them were middle 6 forwards right now on decent deals this entire group would be in completely different shape. Both were massive swings and misses.

This will be unpopular, but you don't have to have a strong prospect system. People love 'em and there's an appeal to having shiny toys in the cupboard to get excited about.

But if you've got your 2-3 top guns and you're stud Dman and a goalie you think you can win with at the NHL level, then the rest of the job is adding pieces bit by bit at the pro level.

The big advantage of having any prospects for the Isles right now would be in having trading pieces.

But draft picks are trading pieces too, and we know that Lou sees them as such.

The team in no way is reliant on good young talent from within. It helps to have depth in case of injuries, but if an upgrade is desired, it'll be acquired elsewhere.

This said, the Isles clearly look for late round gems every summer in their average of 4.5 picks per draft, like every team should. But it's clearly open as to whether any of those guys are being seen as future Islanders.

Another thing is that plenty of other teams pick and pick and pick, but do so knowing they won't be able to sign half of these players down the line. Sure, they too can use them as trade currency, but ultimately, almost all of them have to let guys walk because they just don't have the contract space. So, almost every draft is conducted knowing that plenty of those guys are gonna be first time free agents within 3 years.

Not like the Isles are out there constantly adding such players. But the option is there.