Could Ruslan Iskahkov get a call-up with the Islanders missing Pierre Engvall?

The New York Islanders have dealt with the injury bug all season, and the hits keep coming. 

Already down two defensemen, Ryan Pulock (LTIR) and Robert Bortuzzo (IR), backup goaltender Semyon Varlamov (IR), and forward Casey Cizikas (IR), Pierre Engvall is the latest Islander to hit the shelf. 

The 27-year-old forward, who is in the first year of a seven-year extension worth $21 million, suffered an upper-body injury in the Islanders' 5-0 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Monday. 

He played the entirety of the game, taking the final shift in the blowout defeat, but was absent when the Islanders hit the ice for warmups 24 hours later in Winnipeg. 

The initial thought was that Engvall was a healthy scratch, something that's become a common enough theme with him, as he's already watched from above twice this season due to poor play. 

However, the team shared that he was indeed injured ahead of their 4-2 loss to the Jets. 

Islanders head coach Lane Lambert didn't have an update regarding his second-line winger after he didn't hit the ice for practice in Chicago:

Per Gross's line report, Hudson Fasching seems to be the filler alongside Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri, as we saw against Winnipeg. 

Fasching may not be a top-six player, but his ability to do the little things and get in on the forecheck allows him to play with any line. Even with Engvall's flaws and mistakes, he filled a vital role for his linemates, given his strong transitional skills.

No knock on Fasching, but that's not his game, which means that Nelson and Palmieri have to do a better job carrying the puck through the neutral zone. 

The Islanders relied heavily on the Engvall-Nelson-Palmieri line last season and early this season. However, they went cold and have struggled to find their game and help support the Islanders' elite duo of Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal.

With Cizikas being hurt, that duo was broken up, leading to more line changes that did alter the second line for a few games before the Nelson line was reunited in Minnesota

No one played well against the Wild, so it wasn't a given that the second line would remain together against Winnipeg anyway, but the Engvall injury forced Lambert's hand. 

Engvall has not been placed on Injured Reserve yet, and it's likely Lambert tries to use his NHL players before going to the AHL well, as we saw recently in the effort to fill the Cizikas hole. 

But if the NHL players can't make it work, there's a potential top-six forward waiting for a chance in Bridgeport. 

His name is Ruslan Iskhakov, a five-foot-eight speedy player with one of the best hands you will see. He was named an AHL All-Star in his first two seasons in Bridgeport and has been on a tear, currently with 13 goals and 19 assists for 32 points in 36 games.

Islanders fans have been begging for the skilled forward to get a chance after he didn't receive a call-up in 2022-23.

His game wasn't NHL-ready, as he needed to learn how to play away from the puck to even have a chance at sniffing the most talented league on the planet. 

Given Iskhakov's performance this season, fans again were begging for him to get an opportunity when Cizikas went down. 

But, an Iskhakov call-up didn't make sense, as he is not a player that can play a bottom-six role at the NHL level, hence why Kyle MacLean was recalled to fill the Cizikas void.

If Engvall is placed on Injured Reserve, that would free up a roster spot and allow for a call-up for a top-six talent, which is why Iskhakov would then fill a need and maybe spark a struggling offense. 

It's unlikely that any roster move will be made ahead of the Islander's battle with Chicago, which concludes a four-game road trip. It's more likely that the Islanders will assess Engvall's injury once they return home before making any decisions about roster adjustments. 

The focus is on Chicago, and Lambert seems to be going with Fasching alongside Nelson, hoping that his alignments will end a three-game skid against a struggling Blackhawks team that will be on the second of a back-to-back.

Then it's about beating the Dallas Stars on home ice Sunday night at UBS Arena. 

Some may say that this is Oliver Wahlstrom's chance to play a top-six role and win a job for the first time this season. He's played on the Islanders' top line in three of the last four games but has no points with seven shots. 

With Lambert likely wanting to keep Horvat and Barzal together -- which the call-up of MacLean allows for -- Julien Gauthier could be another option on the second line. 

Although Gauthier, like Fasching, is a player who gets in on the forecheck, the first-year Islanders may be the fastest straight-line skater on the team. He may do better as an Engvall replacement and allow Nelson and Palmieri to continue to do what they are good at rather than take on another role amidst their struggles. 

The Islanders have scored just three goals over their last three games; Nelson has no goals in four straight, while Palmieri hasn't lit the lamp in three straight. 

Lambert's job is to put the NHL player he sees fit on their wing to get that line to be stronger, and if he can't, the organization needs to go the same route they did with MacLean and address the need internally with Iskahkov.

For those who have watched Iskhakov play, he isn't great away from the puck, and it is something he has to seriously work on if he wants to make it as an NHL regular. But given a need in the top six now, an Iskahkov call-up could be coming if Engvall is out long-term. 

You can watch Rosner talk Islanders hockey on Hockey Night in New York with co-host Sean Cuthbert live Sunday nights at 8 PM ET during the season on Twitch, YouTube, Twitter & Facebook.

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