Islanders In January & February Is New York Islanders [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/latest-news/julien-gauthier-new-york-islanders-waivers-bridgeport] defenseman Ryan Pulock [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/latest-news/new-york-islanders-ryan-pulock-ir-acquire-robert-bortuzzo] ready to return? After forward Julien Gauthier [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/latest-news/julien-gauthier-new-york-islanders-waivers-bridgeport] 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.
