After a 5-1 domination of the Washington Capitals Friday night, Saturday brought some not-so-good news as Ryan Pulock has been transferred from injured reserve to long-term injured reserve.
After a 5-1 domination of the Washington Capitals Friday night, Saturday brought some not-so-good news as Ryan Pulock has been transferred from injured reserve to long-term injured reserve.
The New York Islanders got some good news on Friday morning when head coach Lane Lambert shared that defenseman Scott Mayfield would likely travel with the team on their four-game road trip.
After a 5-1 domination of the Washington Capitals Friday night, Saturday brought some not-so-good news as Ryan Pulock has been transferred from injured reserve to long-term injured reserve.
Pulock suffered a lower-body injury in the Islanders' 7-3 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Dec. 7, leaving the game in the third period after blocking a Zach Werenski point shot in the final minutes of the middle frame.
Per NHL rules, a player on LTIR must miss 10 games and 24 days, and with Pulock's IR stint being retroactive to the date of the injury, he is eligible to return on Jan. 1.
Lambert said Pulock has yet to resume skating, so don't expect his return to come anytime soon.
The Islanders are rostering 22 players, and their one open spot would likely go toward Mayfield.
So what's the positive to this move, and why did the Islanders wait until now to make this decision?
With Pulock on LTIR and his $6.15 million not counting against the cap, along with Adam Pelech and his $5.75 million still on LTIR, that brings the Islanders available cap space to $9.95 million, per CapFriendly.
This also means the Islanders can activate Pelech when ready, as he was eligible to return on Dec. 19.
Whether you believe the Islanders should bolster their forward group or go and get a shutdown defenseman, the Islanders have the cap space to acquire essentially any player that fits their need.
That doesn't mean they have the assets to do so, but financially, they can.
Remember that if the Islanders want to use their newfound cap space to acquire any player, they must be cap-compliant before activating either Pulock or Pelech out of LTIR.
There is one player that may seem like a no-brainer move now, and that's bringing back Zach Parise on a one-year, league-minimum deal ($750,000).
Whether it's Parise or another player, the Islanders would have to move a player off the roster, whether that's Oliver Wahlstrom or one of their defenseman, who would be on the outside looking in after Mayfield returns.
One would think the Islanders' backend would look something like this:
Alexander Romanov - Noah Dobson
Sebastian Aho - Scott Mayfield
Mike Reilly - Robert Bortuzzo
*Samuel Bolduc, who is not waiver-exempt, would likely be the extra defenseman.
As for why the Islanders waited 23 days since the date of his injury, it's rather simple.
In the back of the Islanders' minds, they likely knew Pulock would miss significant time.
However, if they placed Pulock on LTIR, to begin with, he wouldn't have been able to return until Jan. 1, even if he was healthy.
By waiting until Saturday, the Islanders ensured he would need to miss at least the required 10 games, especially with Pelech being out.
The Islanders have also returned goaltender Ken Appleby to Bridgeport, which likely means that Semyon Varlamov will travel after "tweaking" something in relief of Ilya Sorokin on Wednesday.