If this were a preview of what Daniil Prokhorov’s first season in North America will look like, then the Islanders AHL club will be worth the price of admission in its first year based in Hamilton, Ontario.
Yes, that is certainly where Prokhorov will spend this season.
The 2025 second-rounder is too raw and too unrefined for the NHL to be in the short-term future. But you look at him and see the vision, and you watch him and see clay that’s only just starting to be molded.
“You kinda know his personality without even hearing him, to be honest. He’s so upbeat,” Cole Eiserman said after he scored the overtime winner and Prokhorov scored twice as the Islanders prospects beat the Devils 5-4 at The Rock on Sunday. “You enjoy talking to him even if it’s just a few words, but he’s super funny. Very passionate on the ice. You can joke around with him.
“He’s like a big teddy bear, to be honest. He might be a grizzly bear on the ice, but a teddy bear off it.”
At 6-foot-6 and 234 pounds, the question is how Prokhorov can leverage his size and work around its limitations.
Just 10 forwards over 6-foot-6 played 50 or more games in the NHL last year. But that group includes Tage Thompson and Aliaksei Protas, who scored 65 goals between them. Get his development right and Prokhorov’s ceiling is as intriguing as can be.
Sunday, he got to the net for both his goals and skated well enough. There were moments where he was outmaneuvered by smaller opponents on the walls, but as a whole, it was much more good than bad.
“I kinda just throw the puck to that side of the ice, I know he’s coming with speed,” Gleb Veremyev, Prokhorov’s linemate and fellow Russian speaker, told The Post. “He’s like a locomotive. It’s hard to stop him. He gets to the net.”
That’s a quality the Islanders have lacked as a team for years and which figures to continue being problematic now with the departure of Anders Lee in free agency. A big Russian freight train might help with that down the line — and especially once the 19-year-old better learns to leverage his size.
“He’s still young. He’s got a big body he’s still growing into,” Veremyev said. “Once he gets adjusted to the North American style and everything that comes with it, I’m sure he’s gonna be a heck of a player.”
Hamilton coach Jay McKee, who has been running development camp, was left impressed by how well Prokhorov moves for someone of his size. That comes after Prokhorov spent the summer training with strength coach Ben Prentiss’ group in Stamford, along with a group of NHLers.
“Love playing with him,” Eiserman said. “Super passionate on the bench. It’s fun. He loves the game. You can tell he’s a goal scorer. He’s gonna play for a long time.”
Quinn Finley (shoulder) didn’t dress for the scrimmage, nor did Isaiah George, who was rested.
It’s too early to say whether Finley, who has been in a red noncontact jersey so far in camp, will play in the return leg on Long Island on Tuesday, but McKee said George would likely participate.
“These kinds of games, he doesn’t necessarily have to play, but I think it’s good to get his timing,” McKee said.
