Islanders Prospect Report: Jan. 12, 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.

KVASNICKA EARNS WHL ROOKIE TWO WEEKS IN A ROW

Jacob Kvasnicka earned WHL Rookie of the Week in back-to-back weeks after he put up 10 points (5G, 5A) in four games last week for the Penticton Vees of the Western Hockey League (WHL) and extended his season-long point streak to nine games.

Kvasnicka’s week started with a two-goal outing and the second star of the game in Vees’ 5-2 win over the Prince George Cougars on Tuesday.

The Vees forward finished that night with four shots and a plus-two rating, earning WHL’s top performer of the night.

The next day, Kvasnicka notched two assists in a 3-2 comeback victory over the Cougars.

Kvasnicka buried an empty net goal in the Vees’ 4-2 win against the Kamloops Blazers on Friday after recording an assist on Penticton’s opening goal on the power-play goal 11:54 into the game.

The Islanders’ 2025 seventh-rounder (202^nd overall) ended the week with his second four-point (2G, 2A) performance of the season in Penticton’s 5-4 overtime victory against the Kamloops Blazers on Saturday. Kvasnicka earned his 50^th career WHL point with an assist on the Vees’ opening goal at the 19:07 mark of the first period.

The 18-year-old roofed a penalty shot to give Penticton a 4-3 lead with under 10 minutes to be played in the third period. Kvasnicka netted the overtime winner just 29 seconds into the extra frame.

Kvasnicka's point streak is up to a season-long nine games with 20 points (9G, 11A) over that span.

The 18-year-old forward leads the Vees with 53 points (22G, 31A) and ranks second among WHL rookies in scoring.

AITCHESON’S POINT STREAK SINCE RETURNING FROM THE WORLD JUNIORS

Kashawn Aitcheson tallied at least a point in each of his last three games since returning to the Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) following a bronze medal performance with Team Canada at his first career World Juniors appearance.

Aitcheson’s week began as he potted a pair of goals and was named the OHL's second star of the night in the 6-3 win against the Guelph Storm on Friday.

The 19-year-old defenseman ripped his first tally on a powerful wrist shot from the slot to put the Colts ahead 2-1 at the 10:24 mark in the opening period.

Just 2:03 later, Aitcheson, the Islanders 2025 first-round pick (17^th overall), doubled down on goals with a sharp angle shot as he zipped around a defender and drove to the net and extended the Colts’ lead to 3-1 12:27 into the first period.

Aitcheson also notched a helper in both games over the weekend as Barrie went a perfect 3-0-0 since he returned to the lineup.

FINLEY SCORES SHORTHANDED GAME-WINNER

Quinn Finley came up big for Wisconsin, scoring twice in a 3-2 win over Alaska Anchorage, including a shorthanded goal that held as the game-winner on Saturday.

Finley opened the scoring against Alaska on the powerplay, marking his third multi-point game in his last four outings.

The 21-year-old foward totaled five points (3G, 2A) in three games for Wisconsin this week. He ranks second on the team in scoring with 19 points (10G, 9A) in 18 games his junior season.

Finley was selected in the third round (78^th overall) of the 2022 NHL Draft by the Islanders.

GIDLOF EARNS SECOND SHUTOUT IN TWO WEEKS

Marcus Gidlof stopped all 19 of Linköping HC’s shots in Leksands IF’s 3-0 victory on Jan. 8 and earned his second shutout in two weeks. A lot of credit is given to the Leskands IF defense as Gidlof didn’t have to make more than eight saves in a single period on Thursday.

The 20-year-old goaltender is tied for third with the pair of shutouts in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). He is 6-8-0 with a 2.79 GAA, a .900 SV% and two shutouts in 14 games this season.

The Islanders drafted Gidlof in the fifth round (147^th overall) of the 2025 NHL Draft.

STATS

CHL

Kashawn Aitcheson (Barrie) OHL | 30GP, 21G, 15A, 36P, 43PIM

Luca Romano (Kitchener) OHL | 38GP, 9G, 14A, 23P, 12PIM

Burke Hood (Vancouver) WHL | 28GP, 15-9-2, 3.75 GAA, .891 SV%, 0 SO

Jacob Kvasnicka (Penticton) WHL | 38GP, 22G, 31A, 53P, 12PIM

Jesse Nurmi (London) OHL | 5GP, 2G, 2A, 4P, 0PIM

Tomas Poletín (Kelowna) WHL | 27GP, 15G, 11A, 26P, 21PIM

KHL

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

Daniil Prokhorov | Dynamo St. Petersburg (VHL) | 13GP, 5G, 5A, 10P, 10PIM

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

Dmitry Gamzin | CSKA Moscow (KHL) | 26GP, 14-6-0, 1.71 GAA, .933 SV%, 3 SO

SWEDEN

Victor Eklund | Djurgårdens IF (SHL) | 26GP, 1G, 11A, 12P, 10PIM

Marcus Gidlof | Leksands IF (SHL) | 14GP, 6-8-0, 2.79 GAA, .900 SV%, 2 SO

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

Dennis Good Bogg | Karlskrona HK (HockeyEttan) | 16GP, 0G, 0A, 0P, 33PIM

NCAA

Sam Laurila | North Dakota (NCHC) | 18GP, 0G, 4A, 4P, 21PIM

Quinn Finley | Wisconsin (Big Ten) | 18GP, 10G, 9A, 19P, 6PIM

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

Danny Nelson | Notre Dame (Big Ten) | 19GP, 7G, 5A, 12P, 20PIM

Tomas Machu | Providence College (Hockey East) | 19GP, 0G, 1A, 1P, 14PIM

Cole Eiserman | Boston Univ. (Hockey East) | 16GP, 8G, 4A, 12P, 2PIM

Kamil Bednarik | Boston Univ. (Hockey East) | 19GP, 5G, 4A, 9P, 16PIM

Xavier Veilleux | Cornell (ECAC) | 16GP, 4G, 8A, 12P, 2PIM