Islanders prospects daily: Arnaud Durandeau still red hot

BOISBRIAND, QC - OCTOBER 20: Arnaud Durandeau #21 of the Halifax Mooseheads skates against the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada during the QMJHL game at Centre d'Excellence Sports Rousseau on October 20, 2017 in Boisbriand, Quebec, Canada. The Halifax Mooseheads defeated the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada 4-2. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
BOISBRIAND, QC - OCTOBER 20: Arnaud Durandeau #21 of the Halifax Mooseheads skates against the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada during the QMJHL game at Centre d'Excellence Sports Rousseau on October 20, 2017 in Boisbriand, Quebec, Canada. The Halifax Mooseheads defeated the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada 4-2. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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Here’s you’re daily New York Islanders prospects report. You’ll find out who played yesterday (and how they did), who’s playing today (and what to look for), and every few updates I’ll tell you how these prospects have moved up (or down) in my prospects rankings.

Prospects in action yesterday (20/4/21)

Only defenseman Ville Lajunen had more ice time for TPS than Ruslan Iskhakov in yesterday’s 2-0 win. Think back to the start of the year when Iskhakov was a healthy scratch, now he’s one of the more important players for the Finnish side.

He didn’t get on the scoresheet, but his team won and that’s all that matters for the undersized but hyper-talented center.

With two points yesterday, Durandeau now has six points in his last four games. After being sent to the ECHL last year and being a healthy scratch for a lot of this season, Durandeau has come to life for the Sound Tigers.

His strong run is being rewarded, Thompson is using him alongside offense-first teammates like Dmytro Timashov and Otto Koivula. And it’s working. The trio combined for four points last night as Bridgeport picked up its second win in a row, the first time they’ve done so since December 27, 2019.

After a strong final year in the juniors, Islanders fans were hoping to see this version of Arnaud Durandeau as he turned pro. Hopefully, he’s found that gear we were all sure he could find.

New York Islanders prospects in action today

  • Henrik Tikkanen (IPK)*

The Islanders seventh-round pick from 2020 is the backup for IPK today. As he’s been through his Mestis side’s playoff run. IPK lost their semi-final series and is now going for the bronze medal in the Mestis.

Tikkanen won’t likely have a say in the proceedings but he’s proven to his club (KalPa) that he’s ready for the next level.

(*I wanted to add rankings to this post but I’ve run into some Excel issues. I’ll probably do a post separate to this once my Excel starts cooperating.)