Horvat Already Back On The Ice After Lower-Body Injury
- Islanders center Bo Horvat skated on his own today, just two days after suffering a lower-body injury, notes Stefan Rosner of The Hockey News (Twitter link). Head coach Patrick Roy noted that the veteran seems to be doing well but couldn’t provide a timeline for his return. At a minimum, Horvat will miss the next week, making him IR-eligible should New York need to open up a short-term roster spot. Horvat, who was named to Canada’s Olympic team this week, has 21 goals and 12 assists in 36 games this season.
New York Islanders Recall Cole McWard
The New York Islanders announced today that defenseman Cole McWard has been recalled from the club’s AHL affiliate, the Bridgeport Islanders.
McWard takes the place of blueliner Marshall Warren on the Islanders’ roster, as Warren was reassigned to Bridgeport yesterday. Warren had played in six consecutive games for the Islanders from Dec. 20 to Jan. 1, his final game for the team being the club’s 7-2 loss to the Utah Mammoth on the first day of 2026. Warren has three assists through eight games this season playing in a limited bottom-pairing role.
In recalling McWard to replace Warren, the Islanders have swapped 24-year-old depth defensemen on their roster.
While Warren is a left-shot defenseman who entered the year with zero games of NHL experience, McWard joins the Islanders’ roster with six games of NHL experience already on his résumé. He was signed as an undrafted player out of the NCAA’s Michigan Wolverines in 2023 and ended the season with a five-game run on the Vancouver Canucks’ NHL roster.
McWard then spent the following two campaigns in the AHL with the Abbotsford Canucks, playing a top-four role and winning a Calder Cup with the team last season. McWard signed with the Islanders this past summer after he was non-tendered by the Canucks; he got a one-year, two-way pact with a league-minimum NHL salary and a $200K total guarantee in order to sign on Long Island.
So far this season, McWard has been a top-pairing defenseman for the AHL Islanders. He has scored 16 points in 29 games and leads the team in time-on-ice per game, playing a role on both special teams units. The fact that he’s a right shot would, on paper, make him a less natural fit with veteran Scott Mayfield on the Islanders’ bottom pairing, though the other spare defenseman on the roster, Adam Boqvist, is also a righty.
Andrew Gross of Newsday wrote today that he expects McWard to play tonight when the Islanders host the Toronto Maple Leafs, and it’s likely McWard will make his Islanders debut lined up next to Mayfield.
Islanders Activate Ilya Sorokin, Reassign Marcus Hogberg
The Islanders activated goaltender Ilya Sorokin from injured reserve on Friday, per Stefen Rosner of NHL.com. He will dress as the backup to David Rittich for Saturday’s game against the Maple Leafs before returning to action Tuesday versus the Devils. Third-stringer Marcus Högberg was returned to AHL Bridgeport in a corresponding move.
Sorokin, arguably the Vezina Trophy frontrunner at the halfway point of the season, has missed the last five games with an undisclosed injury. Pre-injury, he’d been excellent behind an Islanders defense that allows the third-most expected goals against per 60 minutes in the league at 5-on-5 (2.96), posting a .910 SV%, 2.55 GAA, and three shutouts with a 12-10-2 record in 24 starts. His 22.8 goals saved above expected rank first across the NHL, per MoneyPuck.
Rittich has also been highly competent this year, but has begun to show signs of wear as he attempts his sixth consecutive start this weekend. He was pulled after allowing five goals on 14 shots against the Mammoth yesterday, but still has a .909 SV% in 17 games on the year.
Still, if the Isles manage to keep up their 96-point pace and make the postseason cutoff, Sorokin, along with Calder favorite Matthew Schaefer, will be the names that have the most to do with it. Sorokin’s 137 career wins are already third in Islanders franchise history, and his .916 SV% is first (min. 100 starts).
Högberg’s only action on this recall came in the relief appearance against Utah yesterday, allowing two goals on seven shots. The 31-year-old has a .881 SV%, 3.08 GAA, and 5-7-3 record in 14 games for Bridgeport.
Bo Horvat Avoids Long-Term Injury, Out At Least One Week
One day after being included on Team Canada’s roster for the 2026 Olympics, Islanders center Bo Horvat suddenly saw his participation fall into jeopardy after sustaining a lower-body injury in the third period of Thursday’s loss to the Mammoth. Today’s evaluation revealed he’s expected to be back in action before heading to Italy next month, although he will miss at least the next week, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports.
Horvat, 30, had recently returned from a two-week absence due to another lower-body injury. Sources told Stefen Rosner of NHL.com that the injury he sustained yesterday is of a similar nature and should carry a similar return timeline.
While those injuries have provided the Ontario native with some bumps in the road, he’s persisted to churn out a career-best offensive performance to earn him a spot on the world’s biggest stage as NHLers return to the Olympics. He had two goals in four games in his return to the lineup to boost his season totals to 21 goals and 33 points in 36 appearances.
The Isles’ top scorer and second-most used forward behind Mathew Barzal, Horvat is also averaging a career-high 20:30 of ice time per game as a true all-situations center. His 57.6 faceoff percentage is the eighth-best clip among the 45 players with at least 500 total faceoffs this season.
While concern over Horvat’s Olympics availability no longer abounds, there’s still the question of how the Islanders will navigate another multi-game stretch without him. Barzal will center the top line between Anders Lee and Emil Heineman to start, per Denis Gorman of the Associated Press, while second-year winger Maxim Tsyplakov will get a look in a second-line role after serving as a healthy scratch in nine of New York’s last 11 games.
Instead of placing Horvat on injured reserve, the Islanders opened a roster spot this morning by reassigning defenseman Marshall Warren to AHL Bridgeport. Warren, 24, had appeared in six straight games and has three assists in eight games on the year, the first appearances of his NHL career. Ice time has been limited, though, with the Long Island native averaging only 11:29 per game.
With Warren down, the Islanders can recall a forward from AHL Bridgeport before Saturday’s game against the Maple Leafs if they wish. However, with 13 healthy forwards still on the roster without Horvat and two games left on their homestand, there might not be a corresponding move.
Image courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images.
Bo Horvat Out With Lower-Body Injury
The New York Islanders are dealing with some additional concerns from their difficult loss to the Utah Mammoth earlier today. According to Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News, center Bo Horvat was apparently doubled over in pain on the bench and left the game in the third period.
The Islanders didn’t offer any updates to Horvat’s status after the game. Still, Andrew Gross of Newsday relayed a note from head coach Patrick Roy that Horvat is expected to meet with the team’s medical staff tomorrow.
Matthew Schaefer Added To Team Canada's Standby List
Even being on the standby list is a testament to how the recent first overall pick has played for the New York Islanders this season. He’s leading the team in defensive scoring by a significant margin, recording nine goals and 25 points in 40 games while averaging nearly 24 minutes of action per game. Furthermore, his defensive metrics are notably mature for his age, with a 50.7% CorsiFor at even strength and 90.1% on-ice save percentage at even strength.
Islanders Loan Jesse Nurmi To OHL
The Islanders have loaned left winger Jesse Nurmi to the OHL’s London Knights, according to Stefen Rosner of NHL.com. Since he was previously on assignment to AHL Bridgeport, the move doesn’t impact their active roster.
Nurmi, 20, was looking to get his first real taste of pro hockey in North America this season, but will instead finish out the campaign back in juniors. A knee injury sustained during rookie camp kept him out of main training camp and delayed his season debut until November.
Instead of having the 2023 fourth-round pick begin his season in Bridgeport, the Islanders sent Nurmi down a level further to ECHL Worcester to get his feet wet. After being limited to a goal and an assist in 12 games, he was brought up to Bridgeport earlier this month but hasn’t played since.
Nurmi was one of the top producers in Finland’s junior circuit in his draft year, recording 21 goals and 50 points in 41 games for KooKoo’s under-20 club. Playing time was limited as he made the jump to the top-division Liiga the following year, influencing the Isles to sign Nurmi to his entry-level contract in the 2024 offseason and get him more deployment on this side of the Atlantic.
The 5’11” lefty won an OHL title and Memorial Cup championship with London last season as part of a stacked group that included a remarkable 15 NHL draft picks. He totaled a 9-22–31 scoring line in 58 games.
Obviously, the knee injury derailed his initial adjustment to the pro game. He’ll now be able to fully get back up to speed in a familiar environment while providing a significant boost to a London club eyeing its fourth consecutive OHL final appearance and third straight championship.
Since Nurmi is no longer slide-eligible, his contract will still fill up one of the Isles’ 50 slots for the remainder of the season.
Barzal Fined For Slash On Marchment
- Islanders center Mathew Barzal is a little lighter in the wallet today. The league announced that he has received a $5K fine for his slash on Columbus winger Mason Marchment in the second period of Sunday’s game. Barzal received a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct on the play. The fine, which is the maximum allowable under the CBA, goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
Islanders’ Ethan Bear Clears Waivers
Dec. 29th: Insider Frank Seravalli reported that Bear has successfully cleared waivers and can be safely reassigned to AHL Bridgeport.
Dec. 28th: The New York Islanders have placed depth defenseman Ethan Bear on waivers per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Bear began the year on season-opening injured reserve with an upper-body injury. His waiver placement serves as a strong indication that Bear has fully recovered from that injury. Should he clear, he will likely be assigned to the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders.
Bear spent the entirety of last season with the AHL’s Hershey Bears. It was his first full AHL season since 2018-19 and he took full advantage of the lighter competition. Bear, who had struggled in the NHL for a few years in a row, led Hershey in scoring with 46 points in 62 games last season. The performance was the most a Hershey defenseman has scored since Aaron Ness scored 55 points in the 2018-19 season.
It is too late into Bear’s career to call his AHL season a breakout year – but it went far in solidifying the role he offered an NHL team. He’s stood out as a top-end offensive-defenseman in the minor-leagues, who can offer serviceable, bottom-pair impact with an NHL club. That standing lines up with Bear’s career stat line. He has recorded 67 points and 112 penalty minutes in 275 NHL games, to go with 95 points and 76 penalty minutes in 151 AHL games.
The Islanders will look to add that puck-moving ability to the top of Bridgeport’s lineup with this move. Bridgeport has struggled to win this season. They are currently ranked dead-last in the Atlantic Division and have been outscored by a combined 82-to-94. Bear won’t buoy the team’s defense, but his offensive talent should remove some responsibility from more well-rounded defenders Marshall Warren and Cole McWard.
Barzal Ejected For Slashing, Could Face Extra Discipline
There may be some supplemental discipline coming from tonight’s contest between the Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Islanders. Early in the second period, Islanders’ Mathew Barzal was given a five-minute major and a 10-minute game misconduct for slashing Blue Jackets forward Mason Marchment (X Link).
Additionally, the penalty was retaliatory in nature. Marchment was assessed a tripping penalty shortly after sticking his leg out as Islanders’ rookie Matthew Schaefer was attempting to skate the puck out of the zone. The video for each event can be found here.
It’s always difficult to theorize whether the NHL’s Department of Player Safety will use suspension as a punishment or not, but they haven’t been scared to fine Barzal in the past. The Islanders’ second-highest scorer has been fined four times throughout his career, with the most recent coming during the 2023-24 season when he high-sticked current teammate, Tony DeAngelo. Given that he was ejected from the contest, Barzal could be facing the fifth fine of his 10-year career.