Metropolitan Notes: Islanders, Backstrom, van Riemsdyk, Trade Interest

Picking up eight points in their last five games, the New York Islanders were able to recorrect a tepid start to the season. Today, Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News issued some updates on several members of the Islanders team, including Bo Horvat, Scott Mayfield, and Adam Pelech.

Rosner reports that Horvat is day-to-day with an injury, it he is questionable to play in the team’s game tomorrow night against the Minnesota Wild. Being one of the most important parts of their offense, Horvat’s offensive presence will be greatly missed even for a game or two on a team that is still struggling to score goals at a high rate.

Pelech, on the other hand, already missed the team’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes two nights ago due to a lower-body injury, but Rosner indicates that he looked good at practice today, but still remains questionable for tomorrow night. Dissimilarly, Mayfield was notably absent from the team’s practice today, but Rosner confirmed it was merely a maintenance day and that Mayfield is not dealing with any sustaining injuries.

Other notes:

• • Nearly a week ago, it was reported that Washington Capitals forward, Nicklas Backstrom, would be stepping away from the team due to a lingering injury that does not appear to be going away. In an earlier report from today, Tarik El-Bashir of Monumental Sports Network relayed a message from the General Manager of the team, Brian MacLellan, who says that is ’unlikely’ that Backstrom will return to the team this year. After missing much of the season last year, it appears that Backstrom will miss nearly two full seasons of hockey due to his ongoing hip injury.
  • Sticking with the Capitals, it was apparent during their game on Saturday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets, that defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk had sustained some sort of injury. The team was hoping that it would not be a long-term injury, and after proper evaluations, Tom Gulitti of the NHL reports that van Riemsdyk is only considered day-to-day, but will not practice with the team today.
  • Only a few weeks ago, multiple reports indicated that the Capitals were very interested in the idea of acquiring forward Conor Garland from the Vancouver Canucks. Although not mentioning Garland specifically, and now factoring in the absence of Backstrom in the lineup, Ethan Cadeaux of Monumental Sports Network confirms that Washington is indeed still looking for an addition to the team’s top six forward unit, and their motivation has increased since the news from Backstrom.