Islanders Prospect Report: Feb. 2, 2026

Welcome to the Islanders Prospect Report, a weekly roundup of the Islanders' junior, collegiate and European prospects. Visit our In the System page for more prospect content.

NURMI EARNS FIRST OHL HAT-TRICK

Jesse Nurmi recorded his first career Ontario Hockey League hat trick with a four-point outing (3G, 1A) on Saturday, which extended his point streak to four games (5G, 5A) for the OHL London Knights.

Nurmi, who the Islanders selected in the fourth round (113^th overall) in the 2023 NHL Draft, kicked off his weekend with London’s first goal of the night in the 3-2 shootout loss to the North Bay Battalion on Friday. His tally came on the breakaway 40 seconds after North Bay took a 1-0 lead in the second period.

On the back end of a back-to-back, Nurmi found his first career hat trick in a 6-1 decision over the Erie Otters on Saturday.

Nurmi’s first goal of his hat trick eventually stood as the game-winner, which put London up 2-1 midway through the second period, and just a few minutes later he notched a helper on a power-play goal.

Nurmi has 15 points (8G, 7A) in 12 games for the London Knights this season after starting the year in the ECHL.

POLETÍN SCORES IN CONSECUTIVE GAMES

Tomas Poletín extended his point streak to three games with three goals and an assist for the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League (WHL) in his last three games.

Poletín, who was drafted by the Islanders in the fourth round (106^th overall) of the 2025 NHL Draft, began his week with an assist on an insurance goal to solidify the Rockets’ 5-3 victory over the Red Deer Rebels on Tuesday night.

Fast forward to the end of the week, Poletín scored the opening goal off a slot snipe that put Kelowna in front of the Prince Georges Cougars 1-0 in the last stages in the first period of an eventual 4-2 win

The next night, Poletín and the Rockets traveled west to face the Vancouver Giants. The 18-year-old beat fellow Islanders prospect Burke Hood on the power-play twice in Kelowna’s 9-2 win. Poletín’s first of the game came from beyond the goal line as he banked it off of Hood.

The WHL rookie is up to 33 points (19G, 12A), including nine (7G, 2A) on the man-advantage in 33 games this season.

VEILLEUX NOTCHES THREE POINTS AGAINST BROWNS

Xavier Veilleux exploded with a three-point performance (1G, 2A) as Cornell University topped Brown University 4-2 on Saturday.

Veilleux, who the Islanders drafted in the sixth round (179^th overall) of the 2024 NHL Draft, earned a primary helper on Cornell’s first goal of the game to tie things a 1-1 with 6:04 played in the opening period.

The 18-year-old tallied his second assist of the night on the eventual game-winning goal to put Cornell ahead 3-1 with 11 seconds remaining in the second frame.

Veilleux wasn’t satisfied with two points and scored from the right circle with a power-play insurance goal to make it 4-1 just over five minutes into the third.

That was the freshman’s first goal since Jan. 9. Veilleux leads all defensemen on his team with 18 points (5G, 13A) in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) this season. He was particularly strong through January, where he earned 11 (3G, 8A) of his 18 points in that month.

STATS

CHL

Kashawn Aitcheson (Barrie) OHL | 48GP, 22G, 24A, 46P, 56PIM

Luca Romano (Kitchener) OHL | 46GP, 12G, 19A, 31P, 16PIM

Burke Hood (Vancouver) WHL | 34GP, 15-14-2, 3.96 GAA, .891 SV%, 0 SO

Jacob Kvasnicka (Penticton) WHL | 46GP, 27G, 37A, 64P, 20PIM

Tomas Poletín (Kelowna) WHL | 33GP, 19G, 12A, 31P, 27PIM

Jesse Nurmi (London) OHL | 12 GP, 8G, 7A, 15P, 4PIM

KHL

Daniil Prokhorov | Dynamo Moscow (KHL) | 13GP, 1G, 0A, 1P, 0PIM

Daniil Prokhorov | Dynamo St. Petersburg (VHL) | 21GP, 9G, 9A, 18P, 12PIM

Daniil Prokhorov | MHK Dynamo Moskva (MHL) | 6GP, 2G, 3A, 5P, 0PIM

Dmitry Gamzin | CSKA Moscow (KHL) | 30GP, 16-7-0, 1.69 GAA, .934 SV%, 4 SO

SWEDEN

Victor Eklund | Djurgårdens IF (SHL) | 32GP, 2G, 12A, 14P, 10PIM

Marcus Gidlof | Leksands IF (SHL) | 19GP, 7-12-0, 2.96 GAA, .893 SV%, 3 SO

Dennis Good Bogg | Väsby IK (HockeyEttan) | 7GP, 1G, 1A, 2P, 6PIM

Dennis Good Bogg | Karlskrona HK (HockeyEttan) | 22GP, 0G, 0A, 0P, 39PIM

NCAA

Sam Laurila | North Dakota (NCHC) | 22GP, 0G, 7A, 7P, 21PIM

Quinn Finley | Wisconsin (Big Ten) | 24GP, 10G, 9A, 19P, 10PIM

Zachary Shultz | Wisconsin (Big Ten) | 12GP, 0G, 3A, 3P, 12PIM

Danny Nelson | Notre Dame (Big Ten) | 25GP, 8G, 9A, 17P, 24PIM

Tomas Machu | Providence College (Hockey East) | 24GP, 0G, 3A, 3P, 18PIM

Cole Eiserman | Boston Univ. (Hockey East) | 22GP, 10G, 6A, 16P, 4PIM

Kamil Bednarik | Boston Univ. (Hockey East) | 25GP, 5G, 6A, 11P, 16PIM

Xavier Veilleux | Cornell (ECAC) | 21GP, 5G, 13A, 18P, 6PIM