Headlines

  • Avalanche, Jets, Lightning Interested In Jonathan Toews
  • Stars Reportedly Dialing Back Efforts To Trade Jason Robertson
  • Updates On Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad
  • Kings’ Anže Kopitar Wins 2024-25 Lady Byng Trophy
  • Ducks Acquire Chris Kreider From Rangers
  • Multiple Teams Interested In Sabres’ Bowen Byram
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • MLB Trade Rumors
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors

Pro Hockey Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • Atlantic
      • Boston Bruins
      • Buffalo Sabres
      • Detroit Red Wings
      • Florida Panthers
      • Montreal Canadiens
      • Ottawa Senators
      • Tampa Bay Lightning
      • Toronto Maple Leafs
    • Central
      • Chicago Blackhawks
      • Colorado Avalanche
      • Dallas Stars
      • Minnesota Wild
      • Nashville Predators
      • St. Louis Blues
      • Utah Mammoth
      • Winnipeg Jets
    • Metropolitan
      • Carolina Hurricanes
      • Columbus Blue Jackets
      • New Jersey Devils
      • New York Islanders
      • New York Rangers
      • Philadelphia Flyers
      • Pittsburgh Penguins
      • Washington Capitals
    • Pacific
      • Anaheim Ducks
      • Calgary Flames
      • Edmonton Oilers
      • Los Angeles Kings
      • San Jose Sharks
      • Seattle Kraken
      • Vancouver Canucks
      • Vegas Golden Knights
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Partners
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Islanders Activate Mathew Barzal, Adam Pelech From Injured Reserve

December 15, 2024 at 11:17 am CDT | by Josh Erickson 1 Comment

The Islanders will have two pillars back in action today against the Blackhawks. Forward Mathew Barzal and defenseman Adam Pelech have been activated from long-term injured reserve and standard injured reserve, respectively, reports Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News. The Isles placed goaltender Semyon Varlamov on injured reserve in a corresponding transaction earlier this morning to open a necessary roster spot.

Barzal, 27, returns at the end of his initial four-to-six-week timeline after he sustained an upper-body injury against the Blue Jackets on Oct. 30. The injury cost him 21 of the Islanders’ 31 contests. They’ve also been without Pelech for almost that entire time. He sustained a fractured jaw midway through the Isles’ first game following Barzal’s injury against the Sabres on Nov. 1.

Neither player’s activation is surprising. Barzal returned to practice with the team on Thursday without a no-contact designation and was upgraded to day-to-day. Head coach Patrick Roy told Rosner yesterday that Barzal would be a game-time decision for today’s contest. Pelech returned to practice with the team in a non-contact sweater last week but was upgraded to full contact along with Barzal’s return to the sheet. Roy said yesterday that he expected the veteran shutdown man to return to action in today’s matinee.

The Islanders managed a 9-7-5 record without their highest-paid forward in the lineup. They’ve also been without Barzal’s early-season linemate, free-agent signing Anthony Duclair, after he sustained a leg injury earlier in October. He was also upgraded to day-to-day on Thursday, but Roy confirmed yesterday that he wasn’t quite ready to come off LTIR ahead of today’s game. That record has at least allowed them to tread water in the Eastern Conference playoff race, ending up with a .500 record with about 62% of their schedule still ahead of them. Their points percentage is good enough for 11th in the conference, and they’re currently just one point behind the Senators for a wild-card spot, although Ottawa has a game in hand on them.

After all of today’s moves, the Isles have a full active roster and just over $100K in cap space, per PuckPedia. They’ll need to clear multiple salaries to have space to activate Duclair in the coming days, which will likely involve Engvall returning to the minors after clearing waivers yesterday.

With Duclair still out and Bo Horvat likely to miss today’s game with a minor lower-body injury, Barzal will play center for the first time in quite a while in his return between captain Anders Lee and Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Rosner reports. The 2015 first-round pick wasn’t tracking well offensively before his injury, limited to two goals and three assists in 10 games. The All-Star playmaker was coming off his best season since his Calder-winning rookie campaign in 2017-18, recording a career-best 23 goals with 57 assists for 80 points in 80 games. Besides his rookie campaign, it was his first time reaching the point-per-game mark. They’ll need his production level again to justify his $9.15MM cap hit and give them a chance at a third straight postseason berth.

Pelech returns in his familiar top-pairing role with Ryan Pulock. The 30-year-old lefty had four assists and a -3 rating through 11 contests before the fracture, averaging over 20 minutes per game. At least in the early going of the season, his possession numbers returned to the play that once had him considered one of the best defensive players in the world. The Isles controlled 54.6% of shot attempts with Pelech on the ice at even strength, which will stand as a career-high for the 10-year veteran if it continues. Isaiah George and Grant Hutton will be healthy scratches on the blue line, while Dennis Cholowski flanks Scott Mayfield on their bottom pairing.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email

New York Islanders| Newsstand| Transactions Adam Pelech| Bo Horvat| Mathew Barzal

Red Wings Return Jack Campbell From Emergency Recall
Main
Avalanche Sign Tye Felhaber To Two-Year Deal
View Comments (1)

Comments

  1. JG88

    6 months ago

    The team is a mess and has no cap space to show for it. Unbelievable.

    1
    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Avalanche, Jets, Lightning Interested In Jonathan Toews

    Stars Reportedly Dialing Back Efforts To Trade Jason Robertson

    Updates On Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad

    Kings’ Anže Kopitar Wins 2024-25 Lady Byng Trophy

    Ducks Acquire Chris Kreider From Rangers

    Multiple Teams Interested In Sabres’ Bowen Byram

    Mario Lemieux-Led Group Interested In Stake In Penguins

    Cale Makar Wins 2025 Norris Trophy

    Blue Jackets Expected To Pursue Mitch Marner

    Canadiens’ Lane Hutson Wins 2025 Calder Trophy

    Recent

    Senators Sign Lassi Thomson To One-Year Deal

    Jackson Smith Commits To Penn State University

    Kraken Linked To Aaron Schneekloth For Assistant Coach Vacancy

    Sabres Listening To Trade Offers On JJ Peterka

    Free Agent Focus: Philadelphia Flyers

    Devils Sign Juho Lammikko

    Red Wings Goalie Prospect Rudy Guimond Decommits From Yale

    Free Agent Focus: Ottawa Senators

    Multiple Teams Showing Interest In Jean-Gabriel Pageau

    Hurricanes Expected To Sign Stanislav Yarovoi

    Rumors By Team

    Rumors By Team

    • Avalanche Rumors
    • Blackhawks Rumors
    • Blue Jackets Rumors
    • Blues Rumors
    • Bruins Rumors
    • Canadiens Rumors
    • Canucks Rumors
    • Capitals Rumors
    • Devils Rumors
    • Ducks Rumors
    • Flames Rumors
    • Flyers Rumors
    • Golden Knights Rumors
    • Hurricanes Rumors
    • Islanders Rumors
    • Jets Rumors
    • Kings Rumors
    • Kraken Rumors
    • Lightning Rumors
    • Mammoth Rumors
    • Maple Leafs Rumors
    • Oilers Rumors
    • Panthers Rumors
    • Penguins Rumors
    • Predators Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Red Wings Rumors
    • Sabres Rumors
    • Senators Rumors
    • Sharks Rumors
    • Stars Rumors
    • Wild Rumors

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Sam Bennett Rumors
    • Nikolaj Ehlers Rumors
    • Mitch Marner Rumors
    • Marco Rossi Rumors

    Pro Hockey Rumors Features

    Pro Hockey Rumors Features

    • Support Pro Hockey Rumors And Go Ad-Free
    • 2025 Free Agent Focus Series
    • 2025 Offseason Checklist Series
    • 2025 NHL Free Agent List
    • 2026 NHL Free Agent List
    • Active Roster Tracker
    • Coaching Staff Directory
    • Draft Order 2025
    • Offseason Trade Tracker
    • Pro Hockey Rumors On X
    • Pro Hockey Rumors Polls
    • Waiver Claims 2024-25

     

     

     

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives

    PHR Info

    • About
    • Privacy Policy
    • Commenting Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

    scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version