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Mathew Barzal Reportedly Out Six Weeks After Knee Procedure

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Feb. 8: TSN’s Pierre LeBrun provided an update to Barzal’s timeline this afternoon. LeBrun shared that Barzal had a small procedure on his injured kneecap on Thursday, and a normal recovery timeline would place Barzal’s return around six weeks from now. No matter if Barzal returns quicker or later than expected he should return to the Islanders’ active lineup sometime in March.

Feb. 4: Barzal has been moved to injured reserve, per a team announcement. It’s only a procedural move to open up his roster spot.

Feb. 3: The Islanders announced Monday that forward Mathew Barzal will be sidelined indefinitely with a lower-body injury. Defenseman Scott Mayfield will also miss some time with an LBI, although he’s only listed as day-to-day.

Barzal, 27, left Saturday’s overtime win over the Lightning in the third period and did not return after taking a Darren Raddysh slapper to the knee. He skated off under his own power, but he remained out of the lineup in yesterday’s loss to the Panthers as he underwent further evaluation.

The Isles will now be without their highest-paid player for an extended period for the second time this season. He missed 21 games with an upper-body injury in November and December, missing roughly six weeks.

When in the lineup, Barzal has disappointed offensively in 2024-25. He’s shooting at a career-low 7.7% rate en route to a six-goal, 20-point performance through 30 appearances. His 0.67 points per game are third on the team but rank as the worst of his career over a full season, below 2018-19’s 0.76 mark.

Barzal is in the second season of the eight-year, $73.2MM extension he signed in October 2022 with a $9.15MM cap hit. He provided strong value in the first year of the deal, hitting a point per game for the second time in his career in 2023-24, but has continuously seen a dip in his shooting accuracy. He has a 22-team no-trade clause that kicked in last July and remains in effect for the life of the deal.

After spending the first six seasons of his career as a center, continued faceoff struggles and the acquisition of Bo Horvat from the Canucks in 2023 have bumped him to the wing. Injuries everywhere on the Islanders’ roster have meant a rotating cast of linemates for Barzal this season, spending significant time with Horvat, Anthony Duclair, Anders Lee, Brock Nelson, and Jean-Gabriel Pageau.

Duclair and Lee, as well as Kyle Palmieri and Maxim Tsyplakov, will comprise the Islanders’ top-six winger group in Barzal’s absence. Most of them have had decent campaigns aside from Duclair, who’s been limited by an early-season leg and injury struggled to get off the ground with eight points in 23 games after signing a four-year, $14MM deal in the summer.

The Islanders’ seven-game win streak came to an end in Florida, but they’ve managed to get back within four points of a playoff spot despite injuries to Hudson Fasching up front and multiple on the blue line, namely their top two righties in Noah Dobson and Ryan Pulock. General manager Lou Lamoriello has been aggressive in replacing his injured blue-liners, acquiring Adam Boqvist, Tony DeAngelo and Scott Perunovich to help keep them in the playoff race. It’s worked, but with a key top-six piece now missing from a bottom-10 offense, it’s yet another significant blow.

Lamoriello could place Barzal on long-term injured reserve to open up some cap flexibility around the trade deadline, but that would require him to remain out through at least March 4 against the Jets. The Isles are among the league’s most cap-strapped teams with $1.95MM in current space, per PuckPedia, and they already have Dobson, Mike Reilly and Semyon Varlamov on LTIR helping them stay compliant.

As for Mayfield, a day-to-day designation means he may remain out until the 4 Nations Face-Off but should return after the break. Combined with Dobson and Pulock, the Islanders are now without their entire regular corps of right-shot defensemen, even if it’s for a brief period. Righties Boqvist and DeAngelo, plus a lefty playing on his off-side in Perunovich, give them an incredibly dynamic puck-moving group in the interim, even if all carry significant weaknesses away from the puck.

Mayfield, 32, has seven points and a +14 rating in 50 games. His 17:33 average time on ice is his lowest since the 2017-18 campaign, though.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Islanders Notes: Dobson, Nelson, Pettersson

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According to a report by Jim Biringer from RG.com, and further elaborated by Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News, which was later shared by the NHL Network, the New York Islanders may be approaching the trade deadline in an unexpected way. Biringer noted that the Islanders are making defenseman Noah Dobson available for trade, while also offering Brock Nelson a three-year contract extension.

It’s a strange development for a team that has gone 8-2-0 in their last 10 and has vaulted back into the playoff conversation in the Eastern Conference. Dobson is arguably the most offensively talented defenseman on the team, won’t become an unrestricted free agent until after the 2026-27 season assuming he doesn’t sign a long-term extension, and is only one year removed from scoring 70 points.

Assuming accurate reporting, Dobson would receive a higher-value return as a young right-handed shooting defenseman. Still, there’s no arguing he’s fallen short of expectations this year. Dobson has scored six goals and 24 points in 46 games for the Islanders this season and a lower-body injury will keep him out of the action until after the 4 Nations Face-Off.

No matter the depressed offensive output or recent injury it would still make little sense for New York to move on from Dobson. They are the fourth-oldest team in the NHL this season and haven’t made it beyond Round One of the Stanley Cup playoffs since the 2020-21 season. Dobson’s ability to score and more than respectable defensive metrics strike as a player the Islanders should invest in long-term — not consider moving.

Keeping Nelson around wouldn’t make them any younger either. A three-year extension would take Nelson to his age-36 season in 2027-28. He’s been a consistent top-six center in New York for over a decade scoring 291 goals and 564 points in 894 career games with the Islanders.

Unless New York continues their winning ways after the 4 Nations Face-Off break, MoneyPuck only gives them a 33.5% of making the postseason. Nelson has been mentioned in trade rumors nearly the entire season and the Islanders could get a valuable return for one of the best rental centers on the market.

Rosner also alluded to another trade target for the Islanders this morning. He reported there’s “a lot of smoke” regarding Vancouver Canucks’ center Elias Pettersson despite the team trading away center J.T. Miller.

New York has been linked to Pettersson over the last couple of months but much of the overall trade interest has died down since Miller was sent to the New York Rangers. Rosner makes a good point that Pettersson only has one year remaining without trade protection but the Canucks could theoretically wait until the 2025 NHL Draft to move him. It would be reasonable for Vancouver to see how Pettersson responds for the rest of the regular season before ultimately taking a firmer stance on his future with the organization.

At any rate, plenty of trade rumors are leaking from a front office that typically doesn’t appreciate them. Lou Lamoriello has deployed ’smoke-and-mirror’ tactics leading up to deadline day in the past but he doesn’t appear to have a concrete direction for the organization’s future.

Islanders Activate Hudson Fasching

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The New York Islanders have activated forward Hudson Fasching off of injured reserve per Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News. Fasching has missed the Islanders’ last 13 games with an upper-body injury in the team’s January 5th game against the Boston Bruins.

He was designated as day-to-day in the immediate wake of the injury, but was quickly downgraded to week-to-week, then earned an injured reserve placement on January 17th. He was assigned to a minor league conditioning stint at the start of February and appeared in two games with the Bridgeport Islanders. The Islanders recalled Fasching on Tuesday and are expected to bring him on their upcoming two-game road trip. Defenseman Scott Mayfield won’t be going on the road trip, per Rosner, as he continues to sit out day-to-day with a lower-body injury, and has been placed on IR to make room on the roster.

Fasching has been a fourth-line forward for the Islanders all year long. He’s appeared in 199 games but is still searching for his first point of the season. One penalty and a minus-six stand as his only notable stat changes. Fasching has been a bit more productive in the minors, with two points in seven games – but he’s still far off from the 14 points he posted in 45 NHL games last year. He moved to the Islanders organization ahead of the 2022-23 season, after spending four years as a top depth forward for the Arizona Coyotes. Fasching proved to be a productive minor leaguer with the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners, netting 106 points across 174 games and serving as the team’s captain in 2021-22. This return will place him back in the competition for bottom-line minutes in New York, pitted against Pierre Engvall and Marc Gatcomb.

Islanders Recall Hudson Fasching From Conditioning Stint

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The New York Islanders have recalled forward Hudson Fasching from a conditioning stint with the Bridgeport Islanders of the AHL (as per Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News). Fasching has been dealing with an upper-body injury and has not played since January 5th. He remains on the injured reserve for the time being, despite the recall and can be activated when he is ready to return.

The Islanders could certainly use some extra bodies up front, but it’s unlikely they’ll be able to count on much offense from Fasching. The 29-year-old has yet to post a point in 19 NHL games this season and has tallied just 11 shots while averaging 8:56 of ice time per game. On the defensive side of things, Fasching has 11 hits and three blocked shots.

He was waived to start the season but received a recall in late October when the Islanders started to have injuries emerge throughout the lineup. Fasching has been able to remain on the NHL roster for most of the season despite his limited production.

During his AHL conditioning stint, the Milwaukee, Wisconsin native appeared in two games with Bridgeport, going scoreless with a +1 plus/minus and four shots on goal.

Overall, in the AHL this season, Fasching has appeared in seven games, posting a goal and an assist with a -2 plus/minus rating.

Metropolitan Notes: Haula, Malkin, Duclair, Edstrom, Stillman

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It has been one of the busiest weeks of the season for the Metropolitan Division. Five of the division’s eight teams have made trades in the last few weeks, and all eight clubs are dealing with multiple injuries. That’s sparked plenty of news and updates – starting with the New Jersey Devils, who plan to bring centerman Erik Haula on their upcoming two-game road trip despite already ruling him out for Sunday’s game against Buffalo, per team reporter Amanda Stein. Stein added that Haula will practice with the team on the road trip and be questionable for Tuesday’s game against Pittsburgh. Haula suffered an ankle injury on January 5th and has been out of action ever since. He’s missed 11 games and was placed on injured reserve on January 17th. He resumed skating four days later and was upgraded to out day-to-day on January 29th.

Haula is now one step closer to returning. Having already been ruled out of Sunday’s game, he’ll have three more opportunities to get back into the lineup before the team goes on a two-week break for the 4-Nations Face-Off. Whether or not he’ll be able to return before that break will be notable, as Haula has been selected to represent Team Finland at the tournament. He has so far made no indication that he won’t be able to play – but the thought of his absence will weigh on a Finnish club that recently lost top defenseman Miro Heiskanen for the tourney. Haula is in the midst of a down year, with just 11 points in 42 games – his lowest scoring pace since the 2016-17 season. But he’ll still be an important addition to the Finns’ lineup should he return back to full health, likely to slot in as a middle-six winger with Sebastian Aho, Roope Hintz, Aleksander Barkov, and Anton Lundell manning the middle lane.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are gearing up for an even more notable return, after franchise legend Evgeni Malkin has returned to practice in a non-contact jersey on Saturday, per Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Malkin has missed Pittsburgh’s last four games and is still expected to miss a few more with a lower-body injury. He will be hard-pressed to return before Pittsburgh’s 4-Nations break begins on February 8th. The Penguins have lost two of the games that Malkin has missed. They were outscored 9-2 in the pair of outings. With that in mind, Pittsburgh will hope their future Hall-of-Fame Russian can get back to full health ASAP – and get back to building on the 34 points he’s scored in 47 games this season. Malkin continues to play a pivotal role on the team’s second line, averaging north of 18 minutes of ice time this season.

While New Jersey and Pittsburgh gear up for returns, the Islanders will have yet another lineup vacancy to fill, with winger Anthony Duclair set to miss Saturday’s game due to illness, per Andrew Gross of Newsday Sports. Duclair missed over two months of action earlier in the year, sitting out from October 20th to December 21st with a lower-body injury. He scored three points in his first three games back, but has been ice cold ever since – with just two points in his last 14 games. Duclair has held onto top-nine ice time despite the scoring drought, giving the Islanders a hardy role to fill as he misses yet another game. Marc Gatcomb has returned to the lineup to fill the vacancy, earning another chance to find scoring after playing in his first seven NHL games, and scoring his first goal, earlier this season. Gatcomb will fill a fourth-line role, while Simon Holmstrom has been promoted into the top-nine.

Joining the list of Metropolitan absentees is New York Rangers forward Adam Edstrom, who suffered an apparent injury in the team’s Saturday loss to the Boston Bruins. No specifics of Edstrom’s injury or timeline have been revealed. It’s terrible timing for the towering forward, who’s scored two points and seen a boost in ice time over his last five games. His absence will force the Rangers to fill a hole on their fourth line, likely opening the door for Arthur Kaliyev, Jimmy Vesey, or top prospect Brennan Othmann to earn a spot start. Vesey notably voiced concerns over his ice time recently – and could now have a golden chance to prove he can make a lasting impact with minimal minutes.

Closing out the littany of Metro updates – the Carolina Hurricanes have reassigned depth defenseman Riley Stillman back to the minor leagues. Stillman was recalled for his season debut on Friday. He played in just under eight minutes of ice time and recorded one shot and two hits. He’ll now return to the minor leagues, where he’s scored two goals and five points through 15 games.

Islanders Issue Updates On Multiple Long-Term Injuries

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New York Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello met with the media on Saturday morning to provide updates on the team’s endless injury list, captured by NHL.com’s Rachel Luscher. Most notably, Lamoriello shared that backup goaltender Semyon Varlamov has stopped skating on his own or taking shots after a setback in his lower-body injury. Lamoriello dubbed Varlamov as now out indefinitely and referred to his recovery as “a total rehab situation”.

Varlamov has been out of the lineup for over two months but very little about his injury has come to the surface. His last appearance was an overtime loss to the Washington Capitals on November 29th where Varlamov – despite allowing five goals – didn’t seem to suffer a noticeable injury. But he was pulled from skating the following morning, moved to injured reserve on December 14th, then moved to long-term injured reserve five days later. He seemed to be on the rebound when the new year rolled around, returning to skating and individual drills on January 2nd. But after a month of light action, Varlamov still needs more time to recover. He’ll head back to the shelf, forcing the Islanders to continue searching for a backup.

Unfortunately, that search will be made significantly tougher by an injury to Varlamov’s fill-in, Marcus Hogberg, who Lamoriello shared will miss the next four weeks with an upper-body injury. Hogberg was originally injured on January 26th and moved to injured reserve the following day. He’ll now sit out through the two-week break 4-Nations Face-Off from February 9th to February 22nd. Hogberg was in the midst of a small resurgence before going down with injury. He made his return to North American pros with a two-way deal with the Islanders this summer, after spending the last three seasons starting for Linkopings HC of Sweden’s SHL. Hogberg started the year with middling numbers in the AHL – a 2-5-3 record and .898 save percentage in 11 games – but found his momentum in the wake of Varlamov’s injury.

Starter Ilya Sorokin has been New York’s bell-cow, but in seven games relieving him, Hogberg has managed a dazzling, team-leading .947 save percentage. It’s the highest save percentage of his North American career, ignoring sample size. But now, Hogberg will join Varlamov on the absentee list – and force the Islanders to find yet another replacement. After succeeding him as AHL starter, Jakub Skarek has also filled Hogberg’s role of NHL backup in light of his injury. Skarek hasn’t yet made his NHL debut, but he nonetheless seems cushy at the top flight – with Henrik Tikkanen and Hunter Miska both posting save percentages below .840 in their own elevated, minor-league roles.

Moving out of the net, Lamoriello also shared that the team is still unsure when defenseman Mike Reilly will return after undergoing a heart procedure in November. Reilly has been skating on his own since December 14th – just over a month after his surgery – but hasn’t progressed since then. Lamoriello added that Reilly’s situation will be dictated by his doctors. The 31-year-old defenseman is in his second season with the Islanders. He scored a career-high 24 points in 59 games last season, serving as an impactful third-pair option for a deprived Islanders defense. He seemed headed for a cushier role this year, but struggled to manage any scoring through the first 11 games of the season – then fell to injury. Reilly seems to have a winding recovery ahead of him, which could limit his chance to earn another deal when his $1.25MM cap hit expires this summer.

Ending on a positive note, top Islanders defensemen Noah Dobson and Ryan Pulock are both expected to return to skating drills during the 4-Nations break, per Andrew Gross of Newsday Sports. Dobson has missed the Islanders’ last four games and earned a spot on long-term injured reserve with a lower-body injury; while Pulock has missed two games and been placed on standard IR with an upper-body injury. The pair of absences have driven the Islanders to acquire both Scott Perunovich and Adam Boqvist via trade and waivers respectively. This news will lock the new acquisitions into the lineup until the two-week break – but hopefully the blue-line can return to full-health soon after that.

New York Islanders Reassign Isaiah George

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The New York Islanders needed to cut one player from the active roster after claiming defenseman Adam Boqvist off waivers earlier today. According to Andrew Gross of Newsday Sports, the Islanders have elected to reassign defenseman Isaiah George to their AHL affiliate, the Bridgeport Islanders.

George’s reassignment seems wise for the young defender’s growth. The Islanders picked George with the 98th overall selection in the 2022 NHL Draft, and he is still in his first year with the organization.

Due to numerous injuries in the defensive lineup, George has already played 33 games for the Islanders in his first year of professional hockey. He’s scored one goal and recorded five points during these games, averaging 15 minutes and 39 seconds of ice time per night.

His defensive metrics have painted the best picture of his performance thus far with a 46.2% CorsiFor% at even strength and a 91.4% on-ice save percentage at even strength. Complimented by an average of one block per game — George should have some staying power on the Islanders’ blue line.

Still, it won’t hurt to have George back in Bridgeport. He’s only one year removed from scoring six goals and 30 points in 68 games for the OHL’s London Knights and only has four AHL games on his résumé. The AHL Islanders aren’t expected to make a push for the Calder Cup playoffs this season but George should help alleviate many of Bridgeport’s goals-against issues this year.

Islanders Claim Adam Boqvist Off Waivers From Panthers

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Jan. 31: The Islanders claimed Boqvist off waivers from the Panthers on Friday, per Friedman. He’s the third puck-moving blue-liner they’ve added in the past few weeks, joining UFA pickup Tony DeAngelo and trade acquisition Scott Perunovich. He’ll add some needed depth to the team’s blue line as they deal with the long-term absences of Noah Dobson, Ryan Pulock, and Mike Reilly. They’ll need to open up a roster spot as Boqvist’s acquisition puts them over the 23-player limit.

Jan. 30: The Panthers placed defenseman Adam Boqvist on waivers Thursday, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. He will presumably be assigned to AHL Charlotte if he clears.

Boqvist, 24, has not played since Jan. 6 and was healthy scratched for an 11th straight game in Wednesday’s shutout win over the Kings. The 5’11” righty played in nine of Florida’s first 10 games of the season but has been a press box fixture since then, only suiting up 18 times among the Panthers’ 52-game slate thus far.

Once one of the league’s more highly-touted defense prospects, Boqvist was a low-risk pickup for the Panthers last summer on a one-year, league-minimum contract. He’d been bought out by the Blue Jackets with one season left on a three-year, $7.8MM deal, ending his tenure in Columbus prematurely after being brought in as the centerpiece of the return from the Blackhawks in the 2021 Seth Jones blockbuster.

Selected eighth overall by Chicago in the 2018 draft, Boqvist looked well on his way to becoming a top-four fixture soon after the trade to Columbus. He wasn’t logging a ton of even strength minutes but had worked his way up to a consistent power play role and, when healthy, notched 46 points in 98 games over his first two seasons in Ohio. His lack of physicality had always been a sticking point, though, and, paired with underwhelming possession quality numbers, he entered the 2023-24 campaign further down on the depth chart than in years past.

Healthy scratches and shoulder issues were the norm for Boqvist last season. He was limited to 35 appearances for the Jackets, scoring once and adding nine assists for 10 points. He averaged 18:17 per game when in the lineup, similar to the usage he’d had in years prior. However, he was an even less engaged checker with only 11 hits and fell behind as Columbus added veterans Ivan Provorov and Damon Severson to their ranks.

The Panthers were optimistic that Boqvist could regain a regular role in Florida, helping accommodate the departures of power-play fixtures, such as Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Brandon Montour, in free agency after winning the Stanley Cup. He also linked up with older brother Jesper Boqvist, who signed a matching league-minimum deal with the Cats. While Boqvist did get a long look on the power play, he was quickly overtaken on the top unit by Aaron Ekblad and averaged just 10:48 per game at even strength, the lowest among Florida defenders. His 3.4 GA/60 at even strength also ranked last among Panthers D-men, leading to his poor defensive impacts outweighing any offensive benefit.

Boqvist hits pause on his NHL career for now after recording six points (2 G, 4 A) in 18 appearances for the Panthers. If he suits up for Charlotte, it will mark his first AHL appearance since the 2019-20 campaign when he was still in the Blackhawks organization.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Hudson Fasching Loaned To AHL On Conditioning Stint

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The New York Islanders have loaned forward Hudson Fasching to the Bridgeport Islanders of the AHL on a conditioning stint (as per Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News). The 29-year-old Fasching hasn’t seen NHL action since January 5th against the Boston Bruins and has dressed in just 19 games this year after suiting up in 45 NHL games last season.

When he has been in the lineup, Fasching has been used sparingly, averaging just 8:56 of ice time per game. This season has been a struggle for him, as he has yet to score, posting a -6 plus/minus and a CF% of 44.9% at even strength. Fasching has never been an offensive force in the NHL; however, in the previous two seasons with the Islanders, his numbers were considerably better, combining for 14 goals and 19 assists in 94 games.

In the AHL this season, the Milwaukee, Wisconsin native has had better luck offensively, posting a goal and an assist in five games. With his conditioning loan, he will have an opportunity to add to his numbers and hopefully regain some confidence before getting back into NHL action.

Fasching is in the final year of a two-year contract and will be playing for his NHL career whenever he is called back up. He’s unlikely to receive much NHL interest in free agency this summer, however, a solid run down the stretch would certainly help him land a contract for next season.

Islanders Acquire Scott Perunovich From Blues

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The Islanders acquired defenseman Scott Perunovich from the Blues on Monday in exchange for a conditional 2026 fifth-round pick, both clubs announced.

Perunovich, 26, slots into the Islanders’ blue line after righty Ryan Pulock landed on injured reserve this morning. His acquisition signals the latter is expected to miss significant time, so he and recent free-agent signing Tony DeAngelo now slot in to relieve the void left by Pulock and Noah Dobson, who’s week-to-week with a right leg injury.

While the 5’10” puck mover is a left shot, he has experience playing on his offside. New York will rely on that experience and presumably utilize him on the right, giving them another offensive option in addition to the historically one-dimensional DeAngelo.

A 2018 second-round pick, Perunovich was once one of the most highly-regarded defense prospects in the game. But after winning the Hobey Baker Award with 40 points in 34 games for Minnesota-Duluth in 2019-20, he missed his entire rookie campaign with St. Louis after undergoing left shoulder surgery. Wrist surgery limited him to 19 games with the Blues the following year, and yet another shoulder injury cut into his 2022-23 campaign. Throughout those three seasons, injuries limited Perunovich to just 58 games with the Blues and AHL Springfield.

While wholly healthy for the first time since college in 2024-25, Perunovich hasn’t found much playing time. He’s been a healthy scratch for about half the season, including the last nine games, and has only averaged 14:37 per game when in the lineup. He has six points and nine shots on goal in 24 games, adding 21 blocks and nine hits. The acquisition of Philip Broberg via offer sheet this summer as a young puck-moving lefty largely made Perunovich a redundancy heading into the campaign, so seeing him on the move is not entirely surprising.

He’s far from being the two-way presence Pulock is for the Isles, but he more accurately fills the void left by depth defender Mike Reilly, who remains on LTIR after undergoing heart surgery. He has 29 points in his 97 career NHL appearances but will be in line for a bump in minutes on Long Island, which both sides hope will boost his production.

Perunovich signed a one-year, $1.15MM extension with the Blues last June to avoid hitting restricted free agency. He’ll be an RFA again at season’s end and is arbitration-eligible.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

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