NY Islanders recall William Dufour and Dennis Cholowski from Bridgeport

NY Islanders prospect William Dufour was seemingly making headlines every night during the 2021-22 season. It was justified, too, as he brought home plenty of hardware including the Memorial Cup, the Michel Brière Trophy as the QMJHL's Most Valuable Player, U20 World Junior Championship gold, and was even named a QMJHL All-Star leading the league in goals with 56. It earned Dufour a three-year entry level contract with the Islanders this summer and after impressing general manager Lou Lamoriello and hed coach Lane Lambert at training camp in September, he's been playing in the AHL with the Bridgeport Islanders ever since and has been playing well. As of Wednesday morning, Dufour has earned himself a callup to the varsity squad with teammate Dennis Cholowski.

Dufour was seen at Islanders morning skate on the first line with Mathew Barzal and Josh Bailey.

The Islanders have dropped six of their last eight games and surely lack a scoring punch. Dufour's bread and butter is his scoring ability, something he showed scoring 56 goals in the QMJHL last season, three goals and seven points in the World Junior Classic, and in 37 games with Bridgeport this season, he's totaled 13 goals and 12 assists. Quite simply, the Islanders are searching for goals and Dufour just might be able to provide.

Cholowski was signed by Lamoriello late last summer. He's a former first round draft pick in 2016 by the Detroit Red Wings that has also made stops in Washington and Seattle. Lamoriello signed the defenseman for two-years and is hoping to get his offensive side to come out of him that saw him drafted 16th overall. In 35 games with Bridgeport, Cholowski hasn't registered a goal, but he has 17 helpers, trailing just Samuel Bolduc (18) in assists among defenseman. Cholowski has 115 games of NHL experience between Detroit, Wahsington, and Seattle. He's scored 10 goals and 20 assists for 30 points in that span. At morning skate, he was seen lined up next to Ryan Pulock during rushes.

It appears Cholowski will make his Islanders debut tonight and as for Dufour, it looks like he'll make his NHL debut. The two are up for a tough challenge against the NHL's best Boston Bruins. Coming out of the lineup appears to be Simon Holmstrom and Parker Wotherspoon.