BU advances to Frozen Four, Pulkkinen makes the jump to North American hockey and more in this week’s Hi Energy Report presented by National Grid
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.
Cole Eiserman and Kamil Bednarik are headed to the Frozen Four.
BU defeated Cornell 3-2 in overtime on Saturday in the NCAA Regional Final to advance to the Frozen Four, where four teams are in the hunt for the NCAA Men’s Hockey Division I Championship.
Eiserman, who was selected 20th overall in the 2024 NHL Draft, recorded two shots in the win while Bednarik, who the Islanders drafted 61st overall in 2024, won eight of 15 faceoffs in the win and recorded one shot on goal.
HE CAN SCORE FROM ANYWHERE FOLKS!!#SCTop10 x ESPNUpic.twitter.com/X97rbLQ7Wo
Preceding Saturday’s big win, Eiserman was the hero with two goals in Thursday’s 8-3 win over Ohio State in the NCAA Regional semifinals. The 18-year-old got the Terriers on the board 1-1 when he scored in the slot off the draw to make it 1-1 in the second period. He scored again in the third period to make it 6-3, recording his fifth multi-goal game of the season and 23rd goal overall, which ties for the team lead. Eiserman is riding a five-game point streak in an important time of the year, with 10 points (7G, 3A) in his last five outings.
Eiserman’s impressive efforts earned him Hockey East Rookie of the week, the team announced on Monday.
BU is vying for its sixth title as they head to the Frozen Four for the third consecutive year and 25th Frozen Four appearance in program history. BU will take on Penn State in the semifinals on Apr. 10.
Have to say @hockey_east made some good choices this week! pic.twitter.com/BxIZ0YA1xT
Calum Ritchie was productive in the first two games of the postseason with three assists for the Oshawa Generals, who are knotted at one game apiece with the Brampton Steelheads in the OHL playoffs.
Ritchie contributed two assists – both on the power play – in Friday’s 7-4 win in Game One including a primary helper on the game-winning goal. The 20-year-old center recorded an assist on the General’s lone goal in a 3-1 loss in Game Two on Sunday.
This marks Ritchie’s fourth career playoff run in juniors. He posted a career-high 30 points (8G, 22A) through 21 playoff games last season when the Generals were swept in the OHL finals.
Jesse Nurmi recorded an assist for the London Knights in a 6-1 win over the Owen Sound Attack in Game Two of Round One of the OHL playoffs on Friday.
Nurmi’s assist marked his first career playoff point in the Canadian Hockey League. The Islanders’ 2023 fourth-round pick (113th overall) completed his first season in the OHL with 31 points (9G, 22A) for the Knights through 58 games of the regular season.
The Knights are no strangers to going deep in the postseason, as they reached the Memorial Cup Final last year. London followed that up with a dominant regular season with 112 points and a record of 55-11-2-0 (W-L-OTL-SOL).
Defenseman Jesse Pulkkinen took the next step in his hockey career, coming over to North America for the first time after being assigned to the Bridgeport Islanders after six seasons in the JYP system in Finland.
Congratulations to Gleb Veremyev on making his professional debut and to Jesse Pulkkinen on his AHL debut tonight at home! 👏 pic.twitter.com/6JJjUPmyAG
The Islanders’ 2024 second-round pick (54th overall) played his first two games in Bridgeport after he racked up eight points (3G, 5A) through 38 games with JYP of Liiga, Finland’s top league. The 20-year-old defenseman recorded three shots in his first three games in the AHL.
CHL:
Jesse Nurmi | London (OHL) | 58GP, 9G, 22A, 31P, 10PIM
Jesse Nurmi | London (Playoffs) | 2GP, 0G, 1A, 1P, 0PIM
Calum Ritchie | Oshawa (OHL) | 47GP, 15G, 55A, 70P, 50PIM
Calum Ritchie | Oshawa (Playoffs) | 2GP, 0G, 3A, 3P, 2PIM
Finland:
Jesse Pulkkinen | JYP (Liiga) | 38GP, 3G, 5A, 8P, 26PIM
Sweden:
Dennis Good Bogg | Ostersunds IK (Allsvenskan) | 15GP, 0G, 0A, 0P, 9PIM
Dennis Good Bogg | Mariestad BoIS (HockeyEttan) | 20GP, 1G, 2A, 3P, 25PIM
Marcus Gidlöf | Leksands IF J20 (J20 Nationell) | 9-2-0, 1.73 GAA, .924 SV%, 3 SO
Marcus Gidlöf | Leksands IF (SHL) | 11-6-0, 2.33 GAA, .908 SV%, 1 SO
KHL/VHL:
Dmitry Gamzin | CSKA Moskva (KHL) | 7-8-6, 2.24 GAA, .928 SV%, 2SO
Dmitry Gamzin | Zvezda Moskva (VHL) | 6-1-1, 3.31 GAA, .894% SV% 0SO
USHL:
Xavier Veilleux | Muskegon Lumberjacks | 55GP, 6G, 32A, 38P, 18PIM
NCAA:
Cameron Berg | North Dakota (NCHC) | 26GP, 12G, 10A, 22P, 16PIM
Quinn Finley | Wisconsin (Big Ten) | 37GP, 20G, 20A, 40P, 31PIM
Zachary Schulz | Wisconsin (Big Ten) | 28GP, 2G, 9A, 11P, 10PIM
Danny Nelson | Notre Dame (Big Ten) | 36GP, 13G, 13A, 26P, 35PIM
Tomas Machu | Providence College (Hockey East) | 30GP, 2G, 4A, 6P, 27PIM
Cole Eiserman | Boston Univ. (Hockey East) | 37GP, 23G, 11A, 34P, 27PIM
Kamil Bednarik | Boston Univ. (Hockey East) | 38GP, 2G, 16A, 18P, 28PIM

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