Islanders Stock Exchange: Who's Rising, Falling Ahead Of Upcoming Roster Moves?

When the New York Islanders get healthy, decisions will have to be made to become salary-cap and roster-compliant. 

For certain players, these last few games have served as tryouts. It's become a bit clearer where they stand at this moment. 

So, whose stock is on the rise and whose stock has taken a dip?

Simon Holmstrom: The 23-year-old is coming off an impressive showing against the Chicago Blackhawks. His three points (one goal, two assists) was a career-high. The patience he displayed on his goal and assist on Bo Horvat's goal showed just how high is confidence is. His 10 assists through 31 games ties a career-high in 44 fewer games after reaching that mark in 75 games last year. When everyone gets healthy, Holmstrom could be a huge difference-maker by providing bottom-six offenses at a consistent rate.

Dennis Cholowski: The former 20th overall pick in 2016 is playing better now in his sixth NHL season than he ever has. And after scoring his third goal of the season against Chicago, playing alongside Noah Dobson, he may have solidified himself as the final starting left defenseman when Adam Pelech returns. He has eight points in 21 games (three goals, five assists), only eight points away from tying his career-high, which he set in 52 games in his rookie season (2018-19).

Pierre Engvall: For a player who hasn't been good for most of the season, this last game and a half has spoken volumes as to where he stands. His playing time has increased from 10:53 to 12:13 to 14:26 over the last three, going from the fourth line to the third line, evening getting power-play opportunities (Horvat hurt for a bit). Pierre doesn't have to be amazing; he has to be better than some of the other depth options. He's made his mistakes over the last few games, but his speed is just something the Islanders need. 

Oliver Wahlstrom: It looked like the 23-year-old was on the verge of turning his career around after a few strong games where he showed a keen awareness defensively, which created offensive chances at a much higher rate than we had seen. We saw a confidence boost, but after getting deked out by Kings forward Kevin Fiala on Tuesday, things have gone south quickly. He got demoted from the third line to the fourth line, and in their win over Chicago, he played just 1:36 in the second period, playing just 10:01 total, looking slow and lost. It was a tough look, and he could be the odd man out real soon.  

Isaiah George: For as good as the 20-year-old rookie has been, these last few games haven't been his best. He was benched for the final 32:22 against Los Angeles, and then we saw him drop from Dobson's side on the team's "top" pairing to Scott Mayfield's left on the bottom pair. Outside of the game in which he got benched, his 14:33 TOI against Chicago was the lowest of his career. Given the play of Cholowski and the fact that George is one of two players waiver-exempt (Maxim Tsyplakov), it's likely that he'll be heading back to Bridgeport instead of the Islanders having to expose Grant Hutton to waivers when Pelech returns. 

Casey Cizikas: It's crazy to think that the 33-year-old vet could lose a roster spot, but he has struggled mightily this season. Forget the lack of points, with one goal and one assist in 31 games. He looks like a shell of his former self. It's hard not to feel for him, as he started the season playing alongside new linemates for the first time in a decade. But it's clear that he's fighting something out there and just hasn't been effective. It's unlikely that he will come out when the team is fully healthy, but he certainly needs to step up his game and prove that he deserves to be in the lineup on a consistent basis.