The New York Islanders made two call-ups on Wednesday morning, only a few hours ahead of a tilt on home ice with the best team in hockey in, the Boston Bruins.
Forward William DuFour and defenseman Dennis Cholowski have been recalled from the Bridgeport Islanders of the American Hockey League (AHL), per the team’s Twitter account. They are both set to make their Islanders debuts on Wednesday night at UBS Arena, while DuFour will make his NHL debut.
DuFour, 20, was a fifth-round selection of the Islanders (152nd overall) back in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. In 37 AHL games this season, he sits second on the team in goals with 13 (trailing only Andy Andreoff) and fifth in points with 25. This is also DuFour’s first season playing professional hockey, as he is fresh off a calendar year of 2022 that saw him win gold at the World Junior Hockey Championship with Team Canada, the Michel Briére Memorial Trophy as MVP of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), the Ed Chynoweth Trophy as the top scorer of the Memorial Cup and the Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy as Memorial Cup Playoff MVP. DuFour signed his entry-level contract with New York in April 2022.
Cholowski was the 20th overall pick back in the 2016 NHL Draft by the Detroit Red Wings and has since spent brief stints with the Washington Capitals and Seattle Kraken last season. Cholowski, 24, has 17 points through 35 games with the Baby Isles this season (17 assists), which is second amongst Bridgeport blueliners behind Samuel Bolduc. He has ten goals and 30 points in 115 career games in the NHL.
It also looks like neither will have to wait to see NHL action either, as Ethan Sears of the New York Post points out below.
Holmstrom, 20, and Wotherspoon, 25, have been with the big club since being recalled from Bridgeport back on Dec. 27. Through their time with the team this season, Holmstrom has two goals in seven contests, while Wotherspoon has a lone assist through 11 games.
Per Stefen Rosner of NYI Hockey Now, here are the lines for morning skate on Wednesday (huge thank yous for both Ethan and Stefen, both of them are outstanding reporters for the Isles, highly suggest you check them out).
These moves come off a 4-3 overtime loss to the Washington Capitals at home on Monday night, a game in which the Isles let a 3-0 lead slip away. The Islanders have now lost five of its last six games dating back to Jan. 3 (1-3-2 record in that span) and scored nine goals in that run.
