Islanders prospects report: Adams wins another title, Robin Salo, Iskhakov

There won’t be a singular focus for this week’s prospects report. This week I’ll just give you the latest update on prospects in the New York Islanders system.

I’ll start this week with three major updates from some of the top prospects in the system and then provide a few more not as big updates from a few more prospects in the Isles system.

(This one is a lot shorter than last week’s five-slide monster update.)

Big updates from around the New York Islanders system

Collin Adams (UND)
Season stats: 22GP, 9G, 13A, 23pts

On Saturday UND beat Omaha by a score of 7-1, which cemented their status as the number one team in the NCHC conference. Adams played top-line minutes for the fighting hawks and put up a goal and two helpers in the route. The win also handed UND back-to-back Primrose Cups.

Adams is in his fourth and final year of college hockey. He’s become a top player at the college level and has developed well since the Islanders drafted him in the sixth round of the 2016 draft.

Robin Salo (Orebro)
Season Stats: 21GP, 5G, 23A, 28pts, 21:29 ATOI

Salo is finally signed to an NHL deal. Last week, the second-round pick from 2017 agreed to a two-year deal with the club. With 28 points in 41 games, the Finnish defenseman has not only become a top prospect in the Islanders system but a top player in the SHL.

I caught up with him on Monday to talk about the contract and what it’s going to be like playing for an organization like the Islanders who seem to know how to develop defensive prospects into players and his answer was well here’s a portion of it:

"Nothing comes for free. It’s up to me to put in the work and do my best."

I’ll have more on our chat later today.

Ruslan Iskhakov (TPS)
Season stats: 34GP, 4G, 18A, 22pts

The 2018 second-rounder is finally becoming that offensive force Liiga side TPS was hoping he could be when they signed him to a one-year deal. Since the calendar flipped to 2021, Iskhakov has scored 14 of his 22 points on the year.

Playing on the second line is certainly helping Iskhakov put up more points, but it’s an assignment that the young forward earned by developing a more rounded defensive game. When I spoke to his coach (former Islander Raimo Helminen) recently, Helminen told me that he has “complete faith” in Ruslan in the defensive zone.

Smaller updates

Josh Ho-Sang (Linkoping | SHL): He still hasn’t played for Linkoping. The last time I spoke with GM Niklas Persson, he told me that paperwork issues are keeping him out of the squad and that they were hoping to have those issues sorted out soon.

Alexander Ljungkrantz (Brynas)
Season stats:
J20 – 16GP, 8G, 7A, 15pts
SHL – 15GP, 0pts, 2:21ATOI
Hockeyettan – 9GP, 6G, 3A, 9pts

He’s been getting a few more reps with Brynas at the SHL level. Recently he played over ten-minutes for his SHL club. His time is low but from everyone I’ve spoken to that will surely not be the case in 2021-22, expect him to play a lot more next season.

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Here’s the rest of the prospect pool for the Islanders:

Christian Krygier (Michigan State): 21GP, 1G, 2A, 3pts
Anatoly Golyshev (Avtomobilist): 50GP, 12G, 15A, 27pts
Jacob Pivonka (Notre Dame): 24GP, 1G, 4A, 5pts
Ben Mirageas (Providence): 19GP, 1G, 8A, 9pts
Logan Cockerill (Boston University): 7GP, 4G, 4A, 8pts
Reece Newkirk (Melville Millionaires): 6GP, 4G, 8A, 12pts
Alex Jefferies (Merrimack College): 11GP, 4G, 6A, 10pts
Matias Rajaniemi (Pelicans): 33GP, 2G, 5A, 7pts, 15:12ATOI