Islanders prospects daily: Matias Rajaniemi in and out of lineup

Welcome to your daily recap for New York Islanders prospects! You’ll find an update on stats from prospects in action yesterday, a round-up of who’s playing today, and I’ll tell you how some of those prospects in action yesterday are doing in my prospects rankings.

Prospects update from yesterday

• Ruslan Iskhakov (TPS)
  • Stats: 1G, 1A, 4SOG, 14:46TOI
  • Season stats: 49GP, 10G, 25A, 35Pts, 15:25 ATOI
• Matias Rajaniemi (Pelicans)
  • Stats: +1, 1SOG, 13:06TOI
  • Season stats: 45GP, 3G, 6A, 9Pts, 15:33ATOI

  TPS and Lahti squared off yesterday with Rajaniemi’s side coming out on top with an overtime 4-3. Rajaniemi didn’t put up any points (he did get a shot on goal though). The fact that he played 13 minutes of ice-time shows his exclusion from the squad was due to squad rotation.

  His ice-time has trended down since the start of March when he was getting around 20 minutes a night to 13-15 now.

  Iskhakov on the other hand had a productive day with a goal and an assist.

  Nice wrister from Iskhakov yesterday for his 37th point on the year.
  
  He's now 20th in Liiga scoring, 3 points back from the top 10.#Isles pic.twitter.com/cnBZJhxYka

  — Michel Anderson (@TLOMitch) April 2, 2021

  New York Islanders prospects in action today

  • Matias Rajaniemi (Pelicans)
  • Bridgeport Sound Tigers

  Rajaniemi comes out of the lineup for the Pelicans after playing a few minutes the other night against TPS. More squad rotation I imagine as Lahti tries to push their way into the top six. With an OT win yesterday they’re closing in on that goal.

  Another win today could get them much closer. Rajaniemi is going to have to watch from the sidelines. The 19-year-old is clearly a secondary option for the Pelicans. The 19-year-old still has some things to learn before he’s a staple in the side, next season, he should be given more responsibility. We’ll have to wait and see what he does with it.

  The Sound Tigers, coming off an OT loss in a more complete game, are looking to continue their strong play. A few prospects stood out in the loss.

  Otto Koivula has bounced back since his healthy scratch a little while ago.

  Mitchell Vande Sompel is starting to string together performances after missing out on 19-20 through injury. I doubt he makes the Islanders NHL squad but he could be an interesting trade chip for teams looking for a bottom-end defenseman with some offensive skills.