Islanders 2018 second-round pick Ruslan Iskhakov could receive his first NHL recall in the coming days as injuries continue to affect the team’s forwards, speculates Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News. He notes the team may prefer a more dynamic replacement at the top of the lineup for winger Pierre Engvall, who missed Tuesday’s 4-2 loss to the Jets with an upper-body injury.
Engvall is listed as day-to-day and remains on the active roster, but head coach Lane Lambert told reporters yesterday that he has no indication when the 27-year-old will resume skating (via Newsday’s Andrew Gross). The Swedish winger has disappointed with 5-9–14 in 41 games this season, the first of his seven-year, $21MM contract, and has been a healthy scratch twice.
28-year-old Hudson Fasching slotted into Engvall’s normal second-line role alongside Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri for the Winnipeg game and is projected to do so again tonight against the Blackhawks. However, the career AHLer/bottom-six depth piece isn’t a sustainable placeholder on a scoring line for a team maintaining playoff aspirations.
Iskhakov, 23, is undersized at 5-foot-8 and 165 lbs., but he’s adjusted well to the North American pro game since joining AHL Bridgeport in 2022. He’s been their best player this season by a wide margin, posting 13-19–32 in 36 games, leading the team in all major offensive categories. If Engvall’s absence from the lineup is long enough to warrant a stint on injured reserve, it would be prudent to give Iskhakov a brief NHL look in the final season of his entry-level contract.
More from the NHL as teams convene for Friday morning practices:
- Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov’s meteoric season continued last night, recording three assists against the Wild to reach 500 in his career. He remains third among active Russian players in the stat, trailing future Hall-of-Famers Evgeni Malkin and Alex Ovechkin by a significant margin. While the Lightning’s .567 points percentage would have them out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, Kucherov has been pulling his weight and then some this season. His 28 goals are fourth in the NHL, his 47 assists are second, and his 75 points in 44 games give him a slim lead on Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon for the lead in the Art Ross Trophy race.
- Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov was absent from morning skate today as he continues to rehab a lower-body injury, said the AP’s Colby Guy. Head coach Paul Maurice is expected to issue an update on Barkov’s status later Friday. The 28-year-old missed Wednesday’s overtime loss to the Red Wings, his fourth absence of the season. He missed a late October tilt against the Sharks with illness, while a knee injury kept him out of two games in November. His 35 assists in 40 games lead the Panthers.