The Islanders didn’t picture their season ending after 82 games on Tuesday, but the finale did at least come with a glimpse of the future.
Victor Eklund, the 16th pick in last summer’s draft, was called up to make his NHL debut in the otherwise meaningless 2-1 loss to the Hurricanes.
“I found out last night, just called my mom, my dad, my brother,” Eklund said. “Super excited. Feels like a dream come true. Just crazy to see, for example, [Mat] Barzal and [Bo] Horvat on the ice. Kind of unreal, to be honest. Enjoy the moment.”
His parents, who caught a flight from Sweden to be there in time for the game, got to watch their son record his first NHL point: a secondary assist on a tic-tac-toe passing sequence ending in Bo Horvat’s goal.
It was Horvat’s 300th NHL goal, a milestone that would usually warrant keeping the puck. He would have none of it.
“You’ll never forget your first NHL game and let alone your first NHL point,” Horvat said. “He’s gotta have that. I already told the trainers.”
Eklund skated 15:30 in total, and was put on the top line with Horvat and Simon Holmstrom. His energy was notable, albeit in a game where everyone was going at less than full tilt, and he seemed more than willing to get into puck battles.
“He’s got a great motor,” coach Pete DeBoer said. “Relentless. Reminds me a little bit of [Logan] Stankoven who I had in Dallas for a year. He’s got a bright future. Great to get him in his first game and for him to get a point.”
Eklund will need to put on some muscle in the offseason. But he is ahead of schedule, and there is a very real chance he will compete for an NHL job in training camp.
“I think that was the importance of him playing tonight,” DeBoer said. “He can go home now for four months with it in his mind, hey, I can play at that level with those guys. Until you actually do it like he did tonight, you don’t really know. So he knows that now and that should fuel him going forward.”
Semyon Varlamov was assigned to AHL Bridgeport on an LTIR conditioning loan.
That opens the possibility that Varlamov, who has undergone two knee replacements since he last played an NHL game on Black Friday in 2024, could make his long-awaited return to the ice with the AHL club.
Bridgeport’s next game is Wednesday night in Hartford.
Isaiah George told The Post he is expecting to play playoff games with Bridgeport.
Kyle MacLean, Marc Gatcomb and Ryan Pulock came out of the lineup on Tuesday to make room for Eklund, Liam Foudy and George.
Pulock, per the Islanders, “has been battling through several injuries.”
Matthew Schaefer, Anders Lee, Emil Heineman and Adam Pelech all finished the season with 82 games played, the first time doing so for all of them except Lee.
Pelech played all 56 games in the shortened 2021 COVID season.
