Islanders Reassign Gleb Veremyev and Jesse Pulkkinen to AHL Bridgeport

The New York Islanders have reassigned forward Gleb Veremyev and defenseman Jesse Pulkkinen to the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders, an official team announcement said, adding that the moves "provide roster reinforcement for the affiliate."

Gleb Veremyev, 21, arrives in Bridgeport as a left-handed forward who scored 17 points — nine goals and eight assists — in 37 games for Colorado College in 2024-25. Veremyev was signed to an AHL contract for the remainder of the 2024-25 season and is slated to begin a two-year entry-level NHL contract in 2025-26. The combination of a late-season AHL deal and an ELC beginning in 2025-26 gives Bridgeport immediate access to a 9-goal finisher while the organization retains his longer-term rights.

Jesse Pulkkinen, 20, joins Bridgeport as a left-handed defenseman and a 2024 second-round pick (No. 54 overall) of the Islanders. Pulkkinen recorded eight points — three goals and five assists — in 38 games this season, and had been on loan with JYP in Finland’s Liiga. An Instagram caption fragment posted by the organization read, "PLAYER TRANSACTION | ➡️✈️ Forward Gleb Veremyev and defenseman Jesse Pulkinnen have been re-assigned to Bridgeport from Worcester by the New York" (caption truncated in the supplied excerpt), and an EliteProspects listing shows a transaction header linking Pulkkinen with Bridgeport and Worcester.

Transaction timing in the league logs lists both players on a wave of fall assignments. The NHL transaction timeline includes a Sept. 27, 2025 entry noting that "Tristan Lennox, Eetu Liukas, Jesse Pulkkinen, Gleb Veremyev, and Marshall Warren were assigned to Bridgeport." That dated roster movement sits alongside The Hockey News reporting of Veremyev’s AHL contract for the remainder of 2024-25 and his two-year ELC beginning 2025-26; the available materials contain both statements and do not provide a single, reconciled timeline connecting the contract language with the Sept. 27, 2025 assignment.

From a player-development and business perspective, the moves illustrate two prevailing trends in the Islanders’ pipeline: signing high-end undrafted college free agents to short-term AHL deals while tucking longer-term ELCs into the system, and cycling recent draft picks through European loans and AHL assignments to accelerate pro readiness. Veremyev brings proven goal production at the NCAA level (9 goals in 37 games) that Bridgeport can deploy immediately; Pulkkinen offers a 20-year-old left-shot blue-liner with 3 goals and 5 assists in 38 games and professional experience in Liiga.

Bridgeport’s coaching staff will now integrate a 21-year-old goal scorer and a 20-year-old defense prospect into the lineup, with the Islanders watching goal rates and point production — Veremyev’s 17 points in 37 games and Pulkkinen’s eight points in 38 games — as primary metrics for future recalls. These assignments deepen Bridgeport’s roster and underline the Islanders’ two-track approach to talent acquisition and seasoning: immediate AHL help paired with contractual control stretching into the 2025-26 NHL season.