The Islanders are just fine salary-cap-wise if their stud forward and shutdown defenseman are ready to go.
It was an incredibly positive sign to see Mathew Barzal (upper body), Anthony Duclair (lower body), and Adam Pelech (upper body) in regular practice jerseys at the New York Islanders' Thursday morning skate.
It was even better news when head coach Patrick Roy called all three day-to-day, especially since all three are on injured reserve.
Barzal and Ducalir are both on long-term injured reserve, while Pelec is on injured reserve.
The question is, how soon until they're back in the lineup?
It wouldn't be a shock for Duclair to be back last, just because his injury was the only one that's lower body.
Is it possible that Barzal and Pelech could make their return on Sunday afternoon against the Chicago Blackhawks?
Anything is possible.
However, the Islanders would need to make just one roster decision by then.
If Duclair isn't ready by Sunday, the Islanders will be completely fine salary-cap-wise to activate Barzal and Pelech since his $3.5 million remains off the books.
The Islanders would, however, have to open a roster spot.
They could place Hudson Fasching on waivers by 2 PM ET on Saturday since waivers require 24 hours. They don't play until Sunday at 3 PM ET.
The simpler move, and the most likely move, is sending waiver-exempt Isaiah George to Bridgeport. Dennis Cholowski seemingly solidified a starting job on Thursday night.