Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
The NHL trade deadline came March 6. A week later brought the AHL’s own trade/loan deadline.
But AHL teams continue to bulk up their rosters as the regular season ticks toward its final month and the Calder Cup Playoffs loom. As NCAA, Canadian Hockey League and European clubs wrap up their seasons, prospects are having a chance to extend their playing time in the AHL.
Last week the New York Islanders sent 2024 first-round pick Cole Eiserman to the Bridgeport Islanders after he elected to leave Boston University as a sophomore. The 19-year-old forward has already logged three games with Bridgeport with two more contests on the team’s slate this weekend. Then came Hobey Baker Award finalist James Hagens out of Boston College. Chosen seventh overall by the Boston Bruins in last June’s NHL Draft, he went to the Providence Bruins this week on an amateur tryout agreement. Also 19, the forward’s pro debut came Wednesday night in the league-leading P-Bruins’ 2-1 victory at Springfield.
Now there’s more, and that starts with Bridgeport again. Forward Victor Eklund has joined Bridgeport after the NHL parent team sent him there for further playing time. Taken 16th overall in the 2025 NHL Draft, the 19-year-old forward already has high-end pro experience after a season in the Swedish Hockey League with Djurgårdens; he finished with 24 points (six goals, 18 assists) in 43 games following the team’s promotion to Sweden’s top tier. He also won a goal medal at the IIHF World Junior Championship this past January, contributing eight points (two goals, six assists) in seven games for Sweden. It’s a similar path that his older brother, William, took with the San Jose Sharks; after going to the Sharks seventh overall in the 2021 NHL Draft, the elder Eklund spent a season with the San Jose Barracuda before graduating to full-time NHL duty.
Eklund is another significant pick-up for Bridgeport, a team fighting for a trip to the Calder Cup Playoffs. After finishing last in the AHL with 37 points in 2024-25, the revamped Islanders have already registered a 25-point improvement with 10 games still to go. With a crucial 3-2 home win against Charlotte on Wednesday, they have moved to within one point of fourth-place Hershey in the Atlantic Division. A team that has missed the Calder Cup Playoffs three seasons in a row has a chance to not only qualify, but potentially to earn home-ice advantage this postseason.
And that is exactly the experience that general manager Mathieu Darche wants for Eiserman, Eklund and the rest of the organization’s prospects. The NHL team is in its own battle for a playoff spot, holding the second wild-card spot in the NHL’s Eastern Conference by just one point following Thursday night’s 2-1 win against the Dallas Stars. Rather than trying to drop a pair of 19-year-olds into the heat of an NHL playoff race, Bridgeport is the ideal alternative for them both to develop and to compete in the night-to-night pressure of the AHL stretch drive.
They’ll get top competition, too. The North Division-leading Laval Rocket visit Total Mortgage Arena on Friday night. A night later brings a trip to Providence to face the powerhouse Bruins.
New York has been busy lately beyond its already-drafted talent. This week they signed goaltender Josh Kotai two-year entry-level contract and sent him to Bridgeport on an ATO. Undrafted out of Augustana University, the 23-year-old Kotai fashioned a standout junior season with a 20-11-4 record, 1.99 goals-against average and a .938 save percentage in 35 games to earn MVP and top goaltender honors from the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. He was also named a Mike Richter Award finalist as college hockey’s top goaltender for the second consecutive season. While it remains to be seen whether he will get playing time, the chance alone to go to Bridgeport and at the very least to face pro competition in practice is another significant development opportunity.
One of the teams that Bridgeport is trying to push aside is the Springfield Thunderbirds, who got their own boost this week when the St. Louis Blues sent them forward Felix Trudeau. The 23-year-old, who signed a two-year entry-level contract, tied for sixth in NCAA scoring with 48 points (25 goals, 23 assists) in 39 games for Sacred Heart University.
In net, the Tucson Roadrunners now have goaltender Michael Hrabal, Hockey East’s player of the year after a dominant performance at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Chosen in the second round in 2023, he signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Utah Mammoth. In 29 games for UMass this season, he finished with a 19-9-1 record, 1.95 GAA, and .937 save percentage. Like Kotai, he is also a Mike Richter Award finalist. Hrabal, 21, is joining a hot Tucson team that has climbed to within three points of a playoff spot in the Pacific Division.
The Manitoba Moose also picked up some scoring help as University of St. Thomas forward Lucas Wahlin joined the team on a tryout. Wahlin had 39 points (21 goals, 18 points in 36 games and was named the CCHA conference’s top defensive forward while earning a spot on the All-CCHA First Team. The Winnipeg Jets landed him with a one-year deal.
Expect a further influx of talent, too. The NCAA tournament is underway, the CHL postseason has started and European leagues are into playoff play as well. NHL teams seek to get their young talent high-level pro experience, and late-season AHL play and the Calder Cup Playoffs provide that.
On the American Hockey League beat for two decades, TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2016.
