NY Islanders' prospect Cole Eiserman has been replaced on Team USA's power play and is playing limited minutes

At the 2025 World Junior Championship, NY Islanders' prospect Cole Eiserman spent most of his time as the 13th forward, deployed mostly on the power play for his lethal shot. He'd excel in that role, scoring three times and adding four assists in seven games on his way to a Gold Medal.

This year, Eiserman was expected to play a more crucial role for the Americans as one of the more experienced players on the team, as the USA looks to three-peat.

But that hasn't been the case for Eiserman through three games. Recording just one point, a goal against Germany in a 6-3 victory, Eiserman is now seeing limited minutes in his last two games, which have been more closely contested.

Eiserman is struggling to earn ice time with team USA

Questions have always surrounded Eiserman as to how much he can contribute when he wasn't scoring goals, but it appears now as if USA Head Coach Bob Motzko has replaced him on the power play unit despite his elite shot.

In a game, the USA found themselves down 2-0 and 3-1, Eiserman was stapled to the bench on the man-advantage.

In his three games in the tournament thusfar, Eiserman has recorded 13:56, 12:41, and 9:42 of ice time, respectively, as his TOI in today's 6-5 victory over Slovakia was a team low aside from fellow Islanders prospect Kamil Bednarik, who went into the game as the 13th forward.

Eiserman still has the potential to change the outcome of a game with a single shot, but he'll need to prove he deserves the ice-time to do so.