NY Islanders Prospect Report: Week of 11/7-11/13

The recent hot run of form for the NY Islanders AHL affiliate Bridgeport Islanders seems to have finally cooled down. The B-Isles have dropped their last three games but managed to salvage a point in both of their matchups this week against the division rival Hershey Bears, falling in overtime in both matches of the short road trip. Even with their three-game skid, the B-Isles still have recorded 17 points (7-2-3-0) in their first 12 games.

So far this season, there is a direct correlation between the team's young core of prospects and the team's results. Most of the NHL hopefuls on this team took a step back this week regarding production. We will see if the team can get back on the right foot next week or if this is more of a regression toward the mean.

We'll take a look at how the Isles prospects in Bridgeport as well as the CHL, USHL, NCAA, and internationally, performed this week.

Quinn Finley, Madison Capitols, USHL (3rd Round, 2022)

Isles third-round pick Quinn Finley has continued his scoring ways, adding another goal to his season total. The Madison Capitols played only one game over the week, traveling to take on the Chicago Steel. In the high-scoring USHL, Madison defeated Chicago by a similar 6-5 score as last week, securing victory in a shootout.

Finley received a drop pass and unleashed a wrist shot from the top of the right circle to beat the goalie giving the Capitols a 4-2 advantage. Finley has 16 points on the season with seven goals and nine assists.

Alex Jefferies, Merrimack College, NCAA (4th Round, 2020)

Alex Jefferies is leading the way for a surprise Merrimack College team currently ranked No.15 in the country at 8-3. After dropping their matchup with UMASS on October 28, the Warriors have won their last five, with Jefferies being the driving force.

Defeating the Maine Black Bears twice this week, Jefferies found the score sheet each time, helping create goals by getting the puck toward the net. On Friday, the first of the two-game series, Jefferies sent a shot towards the net from the boards, caroming off the goalie's pads and onto the stick of Matt Coponni. The goal would be the only one for either team in the Warriors' 1-0 victory. Jefferies's seven shots on goal would lead the team.

On Saturday, similar to Friday, Jefferies shot was stopped before reaching the target. The blocked shot was corralled by Copponi and fired into the open net with under two seconds remaining in the first - extending the Warriors' advantage to 3-1.

Jefferies has managed to find the score sheet in nine of the team's 11 games this season, scoring four times and adding nine helpers.

Eetu Liukas, HPK, Liiga (5th round, 2021)

As many European leagues are on a hiatus for the Karjala Cup, Eetu Liukas finds himself making his debut for the Finnish national team. Averaging just over 13 minutes per game, Liukas is the youngest player on the team, playing fourth-line minutes.

Liukas, who projects as a fourth liner, proved his worth with the national team managing to find the score sheet after a hard-working shift. His hard work was rewarded with an empty net goal in Finland's final game vs. Sweden.

The game against Sweden was Liukas' best of Finland's three games adding four shots on goal to go along with his empty netter.

Aatu Räty, Bridgeport Islanders, AHL (2nd Round, 2021)

With over 15 games under his belt now in North America, Aatu Räty is maintaining his consistent play, continuing to rack up points.

The B-Isles, unable to find the win column, salvaged a point in each of their two games. In the second of two against the Hershey Bears, Räty recorded the primary assist on Bridgeport's only goal of the contest. Räty received a pass from Simon Hölmstrom along the goal line, sending a backhanded pass to the slot, which found the tape of Vincent Sevigny (William Dufour's junior teammate and captain of the Memorial Cup-winning St. John Sea Dogs), who buried the shot to give the B-Isles the 1-0 advantage midway through the third.

Räty recorded two and three shots, respectively, in the B-Isles two games last week - numbers consistent with his output this season.

Though the Islanders were not at their sharpest, Räty does not seem out of place on the smaller North American ice surface. He still needs time to continue to develop, but his play is trending in the right direction.

Räty now has two goals and four assists through 12 games this season.

Simon Hölmstrom, Bridgeport Islanders, AHL (1st Round, 2019)

Last week, Simon Hölmstrom seemed to get back to what made the Islanders select him much higher than initially projected, which is shooting the puck.

In his first AHL season, Hölmstrom was reluctant to pull the trigger, looking for the perfect pass instead (something Islanders fans are way too familiar with). Last year, Hölmstrom had more of a score-first mentality, and it seemed to get his overall game heading in the right direction. In the B-Isle's first matchup against Hershey, though he didn't find the back of the net, Hölmstrom doubled the shot output of his next closest teammate with six shots on goal.

In the second of a back-to-back with Hershey, Hölmstrom only found the target twice but managed to pick up a secondary assist on the team's only goal. He dished a pass to Räty along the goal line, resulting in a Sevigny goal.

The helper was the second of the season for Hölmstrom, who also has three goals to go along with his season total.

Samuel Bolduc, Bridgeport Islanders, AHL (2nd round, 2019)

After his white-hot start to the season, third-year defenseman Samuel Bolduc may be beginning to cool down. Bolduc, who was at one point riding a seven-game point streak, has failed to register a point in his last three games. Coincidentally, the B-Isles have also lost each of those three games.

Realistically, there was no way for Bolduc to keep up the pace he was operating. Averaging over a point-per-game, Bolduc was bound to come back to earth at some point. Even though three games without scoring seems like a lifetime to the 21-year-old, he has still displayed his offensive capabilities during the season's early stages.

Even without his point production, Bolduc is still arguably the team's top defenseman and quarterbacks the powerplay. While he may not be impacting the game as much with the puck, he is more valuable in defending it.

Bolduc has recorded 12 points (two goals, ten assists) in Bridgeports 12 games this season and is currently in third place in AHL defenseman scoring.

Ruslan Iskhakov, Bridgeport Islanders, AHL (2nd Round, 2018)

Like Bolduc, rookie forward Ruslan Iskhakov had a down week after a torrid start to his professional career in North America. Iskhakov had likely his two worst games of the season during the B-Isles trip to Hershey.

Failing to register a single shot-on-goal in two games and leaving with a -3 rating Iskhakov was exploited defensively and unable to get going with the puck on his stick.

The Moscow native was on the ice for three of the four goals allowed by Bridgeport for what could be a wake-up call. In this league, you cannot be a one-way player. Even with his -3 rating for the week, Iskhakov is still +2 on the season, but that could be due to the incredible offensive output he was producing to even things out. It will be interesting to see for the remainder of the season how Iskhakov's play in the defensive end progresses while being stymied on offense.

Iskhakov is still top-10 in AHL points with 14 points (four goals, ten assists) in 12 games.

William Dufour, Bridgeport Islanders, AHL (5th Round, 2019)

William Dufour is a natural goal scorer, plain and simple. His power and placement with his shot have the potential to make him a big-time goal scorer at any level. The question with Dufour is how his game looks when the goals aren't coming to him so efficiently.

Like the rest of his team, Dufour struggled last week, being held scoreless in Bridgeport's two games, only registering two shots in each contest. Even when he is not scoring, B-Isles head Coach Brent Thompson wants to see him get the puck toward the net. In juniors, it wasn't rare to see Dufour put up 10+ shots per game. Now, that kind of output isn't maintainable at the professional level, but this is Dufour's bread and butter and what's likely going to get him minutes in the NHL.

Not the most prominent skater, Dufour has found ways to makeup for his lack of quickness by using his 200 lbs. frame. The hits seem to keep coming from Dufour - a good sign that his work ethic isn't lacking when not finding the score sheet.

in 12 games, Dufour sits at four goals and one assist on the season.