If the New York Islanders want to activate defenseman Noah Dobson out of long-term injured reserve before their game against the New York Rangers, they need to have a roster spot available.

But the Islanders chose not to waive anyone when the clock struck 2 PM ET on Monday afternoon.

So, does that mean Dobson, who missed his mandatory 10th game when the Islanders fell 4-3 to the Dallas Stars on Sunday night, has no way of playing on Tuesday?

There is a way. 

Per a conversation with CBA guru Jean-Francois C, the Islanders can request a Waiver Non-Roster from the league.

This means that a player on the active roster gets removed while on waivers.

Here's the caveat. While the player is no longer on the roster, opening up a spot, his cap hit still counts against the books.

With regular waivers, a player doesn't come off the books until 24 hours have passed, but if that player does clear, his cap hit or $1.15 million of his cap hit gets buried in the minors. 

And because of the cap hit with the Waivers Non-Roster, that's why we don't seem to use them that often. It's only helpful to teams that are carrying 23 players and need an opening, like the Islanders. 

Noah Dobson Eligible To Be Activated, Creative Lineup Route Islanders Can Go <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/">New York Islanders</a> defenseman <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/latest-news/islanders-noah-dobson-practices-on-saturday-for-first-time-since-injury">Noah Dobson</a> missed his 10th straight game on Sunday night when his teammates battled the <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/dallas-stars">Dallas Stars</a>, falling 4-3.

You may be thinking, "Why didn't the Islanders just waive Hudson Fasching or some other player? What's the advantage?"

There is no immediate benefit to the Islanders. General manager Lou Lamoriello decided not to waive anyone on Monday because he didn't want to waive anyone on Monday.

Jean-Francois brought up a great point about Pittsburgh Penguins forward Bryan Rust. He was supposed to be activated off IR but got sick. 

So, it makes more sense for the Islanders to take the Waivers Non-Roster route rather than potentially lose someone they may need.

Outside of Waivers Non-Roster, the Islanders would need to transfer Mathew Barzal ($9.15 M) from injured reserve to long-term injured reserve to clear the necessary cap space needed to fit Dobson's $4 million on the books.  

This is not to say that the Islanders will go this route with Dobson or that Dobson is, in fact, healthy enough to return to game action by Tuesday night.

We are just outlining an option for the Islanders to go for Dobson to get in the lineup after not going the waiver route on Monday. 

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