Islanders sign pair of prospects to entry-level contracts

The Islanders have inked left wing Alex Jefferies and goaltender Henrik Tikkanen to two-year entry-level contracts, per a team release. The deals begin in the 2024-25 season. Financial terms were not disclosed.

A fourth-round pick by the Isles in 2020, Jefferies spent the last four seasons in collegiate hockey with Merrimack. He leaves the program as its highest-scoring player of the decade thus far, posting 41 goals, 56 assists, 97 points and a -1 rating in 105 games played. Jefferies signed an ATO with AHL Bridgeport to finish the season last month, faring well with three goals and three assists in 10 games on a bottom-feeder club. The baby Isles still have two games left on their regular-season schedule.

The 22-year-old is unlikely to contend for a roster spot next season, but back-to-back point-per-game campaigns at Merrimack suggest he could receive an NHL call-up before his ELC expires in 2026. The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler ranked him as the sixth-best prospect in the Islanders’ league-worst pool earlier this year, praising his quick release, skating ability and overall offensive IQ.

Tikkanen, 23, was selected three rounds after Jefferies in 2020. The 6’7″ netminder came to North America before last season, signing a minor-league contract with Bridgeport. He didn’t suit up for the top-level affiliate in 2022-23, though, spending the entire season on assignment to ECHL Worcester, where he had a .914 SV%, 3.02 GAA and two shutouts in 38 appearances. It was the same story last summer – Bridgeport re-upped him but sent him to Worcester to begin the campaign. He got off to a mediocre start there but was recalled to Bridgeport in late December, where he broke out with a .927 SV% and 2.17 GAA in 16 showings behind the worst team in the AHL.

Bridgeport sent him back to the ECHL last month, where his overall numbers on the season have actually been quite disappointing (.892 SV%, 3.22 GAA in 20 GP). The Isles are hoping Tikkanen’s ceiling is more reflective of the form he flashed with Bridgeport mid-season. With an NHL contract in hand, he joins the organization’s top goalie prospect Tristan Lennox and underwhelming farmhand Jakub Skarek as recall options behind Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov next season. Veteran Bridgeport netminder Kenneth Appleby was signed to an NHL contract this season but is a pending UFA.