Defenseman Kashawn Aitcheson shakes off scare in NY Islanders preseason debut

For a moment on Sunday night, UBS Arena went silent as young defenseman Kashawn Aitcheson crumpled to the ice after a center-ice collision with Flyers defenseman Noah Juulsen. The 19-year-old immediately grabbed at his leg and needed help off the ice, putting no weight on it—a frightening scene for fans in his first preseason game.

Fortunately, the injury wasn’t as serious as it appeared. After the game, Aitcheson admitted it hurt badly at first but eased once he got to the room and spoke with team doctors. “Like, it just hurt. So you just kind of say, ‘Ow.’ But everything looked good. It was good,” he said with a smile.

Aicheson confirmed the hit was knee-on-knee, but downplayed it. “Yeah, I guess so. Just caught my knee and hurt it a bit. But we’re good now.”

One moment that stood out came right after the collision, when linemate Anthony Duclair had words for Juulsen and stood up for the rookie. “That just shows his character,” Aicheson said. “He’s the kind of guy that’ll do anything for his teammates and whatever it takes to win.”

Despite the scare, Aitcheson said he learned a lot about the NHL pace in his debut. “The level just keeps getting ramped up—faster, quicker, stronger. You’ve just got to keep leveling up your game to it.” The Long Island crowd gave him a warm welcome throughout, something he didn’t take for granted. “Going through warmups and seeing everyone on the glass, it was super fun,” he said.

Day-to-day with a lower-body injury, Aicheson’s focus is on recovery and building from the experience. “It was a good start, but there’s a lot of work to put into my game." Tuesday night may be the last time Islanders fans see the defenseman with the big club before the next round of cuts.