Islanders prospects update: Tikkanen injury, Covid cancellations, more

After a break in the action for New York Islanders prospects, here’s a quick update as to where we are as players return to the ice.

Being the middle of November and no New York Islanders hockey to watch for nearly two months is a very strange feeling. So I’ve focused a lot of my attention on what’s been going on with some of the Islanders prospects, either overseas or in North America.

Typically I provide a weekly update on how those prospects are doing. But with an off week for some national team business in some of the big leagues, there wasn’t much to report. But with teams back on the ice this week I wanted to give you an update on where we are to start the week.

This won’t be a full recap like I do every week. You’ll get a full recap on Monday with updates to stats and the like. For now, I just wanted to provide you with any worthwhile news on some of the Islanders prospects.

Ruslan Iskhakov (TPS | Liiga | Finland)

After being a healthy scratch for a few games leading up to the break the Islanders second-round pick from 2018 is back in the lineup for TPS to start the week. There was no official statement as to why Iskhakov was dropped, but his individual performances and the team’s performance had been lacking leading up to the Russian forward being scratched. We’ll see if being on the sidelines for a week changes things for him or not.

Henrik Tikkanen (IPK | Mestis | Finland)

He wasn’t on the team sheet (or listed as the backup) for IPK on Wednesday. After reaching out to the team, they’ve indicated to me that Tikkanen (Isles seventh-round pick in 2020) has a slight injury that will force him off the ice for the week. He should be back on the ice next week.

Oliver Wahlstrom (AIK | Allsvenskan | Sweden)

I was originally told that Wahlstrom could be sidelined between 1-2 weeks after his nasty spill into the boards on October 21. After I checked in with the team two weeks later, an AIK spokesman told me that the injury would take another two weeks to heal.

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Simon Holmstrom (Vita Hasten | Allsvenskan | Sweden)

Vita Hasten had to cancel its game on Wednesday due to the fear of a COVID-19 outbreak. According to a team release, there are seven suspected cases of COVID on the team. When Vita Hasten and Holmstrom get back to the ice is up in the air until we know if these suspected cases are in fact true cases. For now, though, hockey takes a back seat and hopefully, everyone is virus-free or recovers well if they aren’t.

William Dufour (Voltigeurs | QMJHL | Canada)

The QMJHL indicated that they are likely going to allow its Quebec division to play in a bubble between November 17 to November 27. William Dufour’s (Isles fifth-round pick in 2020) Drummondville Voltigeurs will be one of six teams playing in this bubble.