Ryan Pulock may be back.
Is New York Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock ready to return?
After forward Julien Gauthier cleared waivers, per the Islanders, the NHL media site shows that Pulock is no longer on Long-Term Injured Reserve.
The Pulock move has not been officially confirmed by the organization.
The 29-year-old blue liner fell victim to a lower-body injury on Dec. 7 in a 7-3 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets after taking a Zach Werenski point shot off the ankle area:
On Dec. 7, the Islanders placed Pulock on Injured Reserve, acquiring defenseman Robert Boruzzo from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for the team’s 7th-round selection in the 2024 NHL Draft.
Bortuzzo played 11 games with New York before suffering a lower-body injury against the Colorado Avalanche on Jan. 2 in a 5-4 overtime loss.
On Dec. 30, Pulock found himself on Long-Term Injured Reserve so that the Islanders had enough cap flexibility to activate Adam Pelech out of LTIR.
Pelech is now currently day to day with an upper-body injury after taking a Brendan Gallagher elbow to the head in a 4-3 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Jan. 25.
The Islanders would need to clear $637,458 in cap space before activating Pulock.
So here's what they've done:
The Islanders now have $3.15 million in deadline cap space and can activate Cizikas and Bortuzzo off LTIR whenever they are ready.