PROSPECT POWER: Islanders LOCK IN Kashawn Aitcheson—Will His Impact TRANSFORM the Team’s Defense?

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2025 first round draft.

Pick a Sean H.S.M.

As signed an entry-level contract with the New York Islanders.

We'll talk about his potential impact on the future of the team.

Coming up next.

You're Lockdown Islanders.

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Happy St. Patrick's Day, everybody.

And welcome to this special bonus episode of the Lockdown Islanders Podcast.

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I'm Gil Martin.

I've been covering the New York Islanders for two decades.

And I wrote the book Ice Wars on the history of the Islanders rivalry with the Rangers from 1972 till the modern era.

So glad you could join us today to talk a little Islanders hockey.

And we have got a lot to get to on this special bonus episode is the Islanders have signed Cushion H.

And one of their three number one picks in the 2025 draft to a three year entry level contract.

We'll talk about H.

And his skill set.

What he brings to the table.

Why he can help the Islanders and when he may be able to play for the New York Islanders.

We'll also have the latest line combinations line up moves and injury updates from the morning skate on Tuesday.

Let's get started with Cushion H.

And the Islanders selected him with their second of three first round picks in this past years draft.

And he now has signed a three year entry level contract.

And let's get this much straight right away.

The three years will not include this season.

The three years will start with the 2026 2027 season unless he plays 10 or more regular season games for the New York Islanders.

And that is extremely unlikely to happen.

Now, H.

Son is 19 years old.

He has been playing this season for the Barry Colts of the Ontario hockey league juniors.

In 54 games, he has 28 goals, 70 points, 86 penalty minutes, and is a plus 45.

And just to give everybody an idea.

He leads all OHL defenseman and goals 15 of those 28 goals have come on the power play.

He leads all OHL defenseman in points in plus minus.

And that plus minus is second in the league, the power play goal rating fourth in the entire OHL.

H.

Son is also a leader.

He is the captain of the Barry Colts, which is indeed important.

And he gives you size six foot to 203 pounds, a player who has a good shot,

who is projected in the NHL eventually as a second pair defenseman, but he is physical.

He likes to hit.

He has the ability to run the power play at least at the junior level.

And he obviously has some offensive upside.

It is not like he is a player who is not going to give you any offensive productivity.

And look, he's going to finish out the Barry Colts season and post season.

So the big issue for him this year, it depends how deep Barry goes in the playoffs.

And, you know, if they get all the way to the Memorial Cup final, obviously,

that would delay him joining any pro team and the likely projection with H.

Son for this year.

If the Bridgeport Islanders are still playing after Barry's season and playoffs are over,

it is very likely that H. Son will sign, you know, an amateur tryout and join Bridgeport for the rest of this season.

And I think that would give him some very valuable pro experience.

It would be taking his game to the next level.

It's always an adjustment period.

And even if he just plays three or four games with Bridgeport, who hopefully will make the playoffs,

even if he's just playing a handful of games in the NHL,

or if Bridgeport gets on a hot streak and goes deep into the playoffs, even better,

but bottom line is he's going to gain experience.

He's going to get firsthand exposure to the size and speed of the players in the NHL,

to the pace of the game in the NHL.

And, you know, again, it's one of those things in every day or snow I've talked about this on occasion.

Things that you can do in juniors, if they work 80% of the time against, you know, teenagers in juniors,

maybe they work 50% of the time in the NHL and 20% of the time in the NHL.

And I'm making those numbers up there estimates on my part.

But the point is that you need to figure out what works and what doesn't at the next level.

And it will be very helpful to Cachon, Acheson.

Now, Acheson would fill a lot of needs for the New York Islanders, but he's not coming this year to the NHL.

And ultimately, he is a left shot defenseman.

The likely outcome with Acheson is this.

He heads to training camp in the fall in September with the Islanders.

He probably gets a long look.

Let me last year we knew almost certainly he was going back to Bridgeport.

So that was not going to be an issue.

I mean, excuse me, that he was going back to juniors, so that was not going to be an issue.

But this year, I think he gets a long preseason look, a long look at training camp.

Barring a spectacular performance though in training camp and in the preseason.

He likely starts the season in the NHL.

Whether that's in Bridgeport or Hamilton, we still don't know.

But he likely starts with the Islanders top affiliate in the NHL.

And then at some point in the season.

And it could be as quickly as, you know, we saw Cal Richie start the season in Bridgeport this year.

And he was up with what, you know, four or five games a week into the season.

Or it could be halfway through the season toward the end of the season.

Or it may take more than one year.

This kid doesn't turn 20 until September.

Or defensemen usually take a little longer than forwards to make the adjustment to the pro game.

But once he gets here.

He checks a lot of boxes that the Islanders need.

Physicality.

And, and the ability to protect Matthew Schaeffer and some of the other skilled players on this team.

Absolutely.

He's got the size to do it.

The ability to help on the power play.

Again, it may not happen right away.

That may not be something he's able to do when he first gets to the NHL.

But the skill set is there.

And he could very well do that.

And.

Be a better skater than maybe some of the defensemen, the Islanders have add a little more speed to the mix.

Not that he's a very fast skater.

Faster than some of the guys they have right now.

And.

Again, you want to temper your enthusiasm.

I'm happy that he signed all three of those 20, 25 first round picks.

Schaeffer, Eklund and L. H.

Asin are under contract for the New York Islanders.

And that is a definite positive.

And I expect.

And again, anything can happen at any point.

But I expect that by January of 2027.

H. Asin will at least have played.

One or more NHL games with the New York Islanders.

And this is a very exciting development.

You know.

We've talked about the prospect pool being refilled under Matthew Darsh.

And I was very glad that Darsh did not part with H. Asin, Eklund, Iserman or any of the Islanders top prospects.

I was not thrilled with the cost to get Braden Shen at this trade deadline.

But at least Darsh held on to those fundamental picks.

And now a bright potential player who can help the Islanders get to that next level in that.

Next era has signed an ELC with the Islanders.

So really looking forward to seeing what Cushion H. Asin can do.

And I hope he does get to play a few games for Bridgeport, whether it's in the regular season or the playoffs this year.

I hope that Barry has a good long run in the playoffs and that he plays well there.

He has always stepped up.

He did well at the world juniors this year.

Playing for Canada had one goal and four points in seven games was a plus two.

And again, you just want to see the kid get more opportunities to play against better competition and raise his game on the biggest possible stage.

So Cushion H. Asin going to join the New York Islanders organization.

And we have taken the next step forward in this retool that the Islanders so badly needed after Lulamorello left them with an aging and roster that needed a lot of help.

We have got more to get to on today's show.

We'll have the latest injury updates news from the morning skate and the lying combinations for tonight's game.

All that and more next on today's locked on Islanders podcast.

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So the islanders were out there on the ice preparing for tonight's game in Toronto against pajama boy and the Toronto Maple Leafs and a little bit of good news actually max Shabanov did skate with the islanders in the morning skate.

Now he had missed practice yesterday with a lower body injury he will not play tonight according to Patrick law but at least he is making progress.

Now we also know that Ilja Sirokin will be the expected starter for the islanders tonight in Toronto.

So Sirokin 6 and 5 in 11 career games against Toronto it's got a 9 19 save percentage then a goals against average of 2.74.

He has lost his last two games against Toronto but only allowed two goals in both of those games so obviously the offense was lacking.

The line combinations at the morning skate and it's very very similar to what we saw Saturday and Calgary.

Bo Horvat, Emil Heinemann and Matthew Barzall will be the top line Raiden Shen, Anthony Duclair and Simon Holmstrom, the second line J.G. Pajot, Anders Lee and Cal Richie make up the third line with Richie staying on the wing.

Casey Sezekis, Kyle McLean and Andre Palat are the fourth line, the defensive pairings Matthew Schaeffer in the big homecoming game with Ryan Pollock, Adam Pelic and Tony D'Angelo, Carson Sussi and Scott Mayfield are the defense pair so obviously no Shabanov, no Mark Gatgem and no Adam Boquist and those are the line combinations and keep in mind Bo and Barzall are back together.

Together again as we enter this game and obviously an important game for the New York Islanders there are two points behind Pittsburgh for second place in the Metro.

They are tied with Boston for the second wild card Columbus two points behind the Islanders but they have a game in hand Ottawa has a game in hand they are four points behind the Islanders Philadelphia is seven points back and has a game in hand so that's what we're looking as far as the playoff race is concerned.

We've talked about this before the New York Islanders pretty much need to get four points on this three game Canada road trip Eastern Canada I want to see four points but included in those four points I want to see a regulation win over Ottawa on Thursday Toronto's not in the playoff picture.

Montreal is in the playoff picture but the key is if you want to clinch a playoff earth you've got to get yourself comfortably ahead of Ottawa who is right on the outside looking in and you don't want to blow that game and let Ottawa it's a four point swing potentially you've got to be on the plus side of that swing.

And even a regular an overtime or shootout win would be not as good as a regulation win but I would take it any step of the way and look the Islanders are not getting a lot of help Pittsburgh beat Colorado.

So, handily last night so ultimately you know with 15 games left on the schedule I estimate the Islanders will need at least 20 maybe 22 points to make the playoffs out of a possible 30 you have your you have your destiny in your own hands the Islanders control their own destiny.

Now if you want to be a playoff team prove that you're worthy you know people are saying the Islanders are playing with house money and I think to a large extent they are right now but you want to prove your worthy of making the playoffs these are the 15 games you have to do it and let's hope that the Islanders can get the job done.

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Join the every day or club now use code March and you'll get your first month free and if you sign up before the NCAA tournament tips off on Thursday you can compete in our men's and women's bracket pools on discord the winner in each will get a $100 locked in merch you'll win $100 and locked on merch and that's always great plus the rest of us will commiserate in the members only chats on discord as our brackets blow up.

As a member of the club you'll get locked on islanders add free and again it's free for a month with code March so go to locked on islanders dot supercast dot com or check out the link in our show notes for more information.

If you have a question a comment maybe a topic you'd like us to discuss on a future episode email us at locked on islanders at gmail dot com.

If you leave your first name and where you from we're happy to mention you on the show when we discuss whatever's on your mind you could follow the show on X at locked on aisles you could follow me Gil Martin on X at ice wars NYR vs NYI will keep you up to date on all things islanders all year long and I am live tweeting during nearly every islanders home and road game so join me for a little instant insight analysis and it's great to talk islanders hockey with you game time.

Or any time every day is we are back with a regular episode at it'll premiere at midnight eastern time on YouTube and shortly thereafter on all your audio podcast will have our key takeaways from tonight's game against Toronto more on the adjacent signing and of course our weekly farm and prospects report which we do every Wednesday during the season until then have a great day everybody enjoy Saint Patrick's day and of course let's go.

Hey everyone this is Ross Jackson one of the hosts of the locked on podcast network if your group chats been a little quiet lately I want to invite you to come and join ours if you sign up for the every day or club you get access to the members only group chats for your favorite teams plus national chats for every sport personally I love watching folks talk a little smack in the NFC South trash talk chat.

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