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Islanders prospects daily: Otto Koivula was a healthy scratch

By Michel Anderson |
Otto Koivula #21 of the New York Islanders (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Otto Koivula #21 of the New York Islanders (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
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BRIDGEPORT, CT – NOVEMBER 11: New York Islanders prospect Otto Koivula #12 of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. (Photo by Gregory Vasil/Getty Images)
BRIDGEPORT, CT – NOVEMBER 11: New York Islanders prospect Otto Koivula #12 of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. (Photo by Gregory Vasil/Getty Images) /

Here’s your daily recap of yesterday’s games, updates, and rankings for New York Islanders prospects and players within the system.

This is the third post of what has been a daily update on New York Islanders prospects and players within the system.

Prospect Update from Yesterday

  • Henrik Tikkanen (KalPa)
  • Anatoly Golyshev (Avtomobilist)
  • All of Bridgeport Sound Tigers

Tikkanen didn’t play yesterday. I thought he’d get a chance to shine against the top team in Finland, but clearly, I was wrong. KalPa played well enough but still fell 3-1 to Lukko at the end of the day. KalPa has a back-to-back weekend with games against Assat (11th OVR) and Lahti (8th OVR), I’m sure he’ll get a chance to play then.

Golyshev also didn’t play, but he was out due to injury. An injury that enraged Avtomobilist so much their Director Maxim Ryabkov came out to speak about it:

I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the referees did not react in any way at the moment when Anatoly received a painful blow. An unscrupulous fight in front of the goal, especially when it entails injury to a hockey player, should not escape the judges.

Now with Avtomobilist out of the Gagarin Cup playoffs, we’ll see if he’ll come to North America like he said he would not too long ago.

The Sound Tigers lost again. Their record on the year is 2-6-0-0 after the 3-0 loss to Providence yesterday. Otto Koivula, who should be their top player, didn’t play yesterday after Brent Thompson scratched him in order for the 2016 fourth-round pick to correct his play.

CHICAGO, IL – JUNE 24: Robin Salo poses for a portrait after being selected 46th overall by the New York Islanders during the 2017 NHL Draft at the United Center on June 24, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, IL – JUNE 24: Robin Salo poses for a portrait after being selected 46th overall by the New York Islanders during the 2017 NHL Draft at the United Center on June 24, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

Prospects (and players in the system) in Action Today

  • Josh Ho-Sang (Linkoping)
  • Robin Salo (Orebro)

I know there might be some Josh Ho-Sang fatigue going on out there, and I get it, but with a one-year contract with the Isles, I’m still going to follow him around. This is likely the last year though, once this deal expires, Josh can become a group-six UFA and go his own way. Both sides needed this to happen last year.

We’ll see if Ho-Sang is back in the lineup today for Linkoping. I imagine he will. The message should be quite clear to him by now. Linkoping may no longer be in the SHL’s relegation zone right now, but they aren’t out of the woods just yet so they could use a motivated Josh Ho-Sang to help them stay in the SHL.

With 56 points on the season, Linkoping is seven points above the drop, but the team’s bellow then have four to five games in hand on them, and with wins counting for three points in Sweden, that cushion could evaporate quickly.

Things are quite different for Robin Salo and Orebro. They didn’t play on Monday due to a confirmed COVID infection within the Malmo team, so the break will certainly do Salo and his teammates some good as they march down the stretch and into the playoffs.

Orebro is fifth in the SHL with 78 points from 46 games. They’re five points back of third where a CHL (Championship Hockey League) spot is up for grabs. Orebro would certainly like to have that for the 2021-22 season.

DALLAS, TX – JUNE 23: Bode Wilde reacts after being selected 41st overall by the New York Islanders during the 2018 NHL Draft at American Airlines Center on June 23, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
DALLAS, TX – JUNE 23: Bode Wilde reacts after being selected 41st overall by the New York Islanders during the 2018 NHL Draft at American Airlines Center on June 23, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Prospect Rankings and Movement

As Josh Ho-Sang is over 24 he doesn’t count in my rankings (if he did he’d be at the top by a considerable distance). Robin Salo does count and you should already know that he ranks fifth in the Islanders system. Soon that will rise as Oliver Wahlstrom and Noah Dobson (1st and 3rd) fall off the list due to reaching the 65 games played threshold.

So let’s talk about some movement (sorta) in the rankings.

I say “sorta” because no one actually moved up or down a spot, but some of the players had their numbers go up or down and that merits some ink to be spilled so to speak. I won’t bore you with the details of my math but here’s some movement I want to talk about:

  • Bode Wilde ↓ – Ruslan Iskhakov ↑: Wilde’s play with Bridgeport hasn’t been great this year while Iskhakov is only getting better in Finland. I’ve linked these two because Wilde is no.7 in my rankings while Iskhakov is no.9 and the gap is narrowing quickly.
  • Noah Dobson ↓ : Just like Wilde, Dobson’s play hasn’t been great over the last few games which is certainly why Trotz had him play 15:21 vs Buffalo and 15:41 vs Boston. That won’t last, it’s clearly a momentary lapse from the young man who will certainly bounce back soon.
  • Oliver Wahlstrom ↓ : Wahlstrom had a tough game the other night two borderline penalties were given to him for playing physically. This isn’t something you see every day from a guy who’s got a shot like his. He’s gone a little quiet on the scoresheet since that point streak, but he’ll be back scoring points soon, no doubt.
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