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Mathew Barzal, Anthony Duclair Close To Returning For Islanders

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The 2024-25 NHL season hasn’t gone as planned for the New York Islanders. They are the only team in the Eastern Conference unable to amass double-digit win totals in the regular season and sit three points back of the last wild-card position with three more games played.

Some blame can be placed on New York’s inability to stay healthy this season. Defenseman Adam Pelech and Mike Reilly are currently positioned on the team’s injured reserve and forwards Mathew Barzal and Anthony Duclair are on the team’s long-term injured reserve. Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News shares that things are about to change with the two latter players.

Rosner writes that Barzal has finally resumed skating for the Islanders after missing his 17th straight game a few nights ago. New York’s most talented player has been dealing with an upper-body injury since late October after blocking a shot from Columbus Blue Jackets’ forward Yegor Chinakhov. Likewise, Duclair has been skating for the last few weeks and should be activated from LTIR before Barzal.

The two have missed a combined 39 games for the Islanders this season and their offense has struggled in their absence. New York has typically hovered around three goals per game since the 2018-19 season but has now fallen to last in the Eastern Conference with a 2.48 GF/G average.

Barzal wasn’t a game-changing threat when healthy this season scoring two goals and five points through his first 10 games. His absence was felt elsewhere though as teammate Bo Horvat has lost nearly all goal-scoring touch without his typical linemate. Horvat scored three goals in 10 games with Barzal and has only two scored two goals in the 17 subsequent games without him.

Duclair’s absence has also aided in the offense’s stalling out. He’s typically a surefire bet to score 25 goals when healthy and potted two in his first five games with the Islanders. Furthermore, New York’s powerplay has dropped to 31st in the league with an 11.84% success rate with the man advantage.

The Islanders still have 55 remaining games to recover the season and there should be growing optimism with Barzal and Duclair’s return on the horizon. It’s difficult to imagine New York qualifying for the playoffs for the sixth time in seven seasons if their offense doesn’t recover from the dismal start.

Metropolitan Notes: Ersson, Duclair, Chytil, Kreider

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Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson will be out for the eighth straight time with his reaggravated lower-body injury when they take on the Rangers today, Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia reports.

The injury has limited Ersson, 25, to starting only three of the Flyers’ 12 games in November. When healthy, he’s far and away been Philadelphia’s best netminder. He still leads the team with 10 starts and five wins despite the extended absence, as does his .902 SV%, 2.70 GAA, one shutout, and 0.2 GSAA.

Ersson’s lack of availability means the Philly crease has been guarded by a tandem of rookies Ivan Fedotov and Aleksei Kolosov for most of the past few weeks. The former is starting today against the Blueshirts but has struggled in eight appearances this season, logging a .874 SV% and 3.69 GAA. The younger Kolosov’s numbers are slightly better but still unimpressive, with an .885 SV% and 3.11 GAA in six appearances.

Ersson remains on injured reserve but can be activated at any time since he’s missed well over a week.

More out of the Metropolitan Division:

  • Islanders winger Anthony Duclair has begun skating on his own as he begins the first tangible step in his recovery from the leg injury he sustained last month, Stefen Rosner of NHL.com relayed Friday. The 29-year-old had two goals and an assist in his first five games with the Isles in a top-line role alongside Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat before leaving an Oct. 19 tilt against the Canadiens. He’s missed 18 games and is near the end of his initial four-to-six-week timeline, so since he’s yet to practice with the team and take contact, his return will likely push past that mark.
  • The Rangers will still be without forwards Chris Kreider and Filip Chytil in the lineup against the Flyers as they remain day-to-day with upper-body injuries, head coach Peter Laviolette told Vince Z. Mercogliano of USA Today Sports. It’s Kreider’s third straight absence – they’re 0-2-0 without him as part of a four-game skid – while Chytil has been day-to-day for over two weeks and hasn’t played since Nov. 14 despite skating with the team.

Mike Reilly Out Indefinitely After Heart Surgery, Other Islanders Updates

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Cory Wright of the New York Islanders issued several injury updates this afternoon including one unfortunate update for a member of the Islanders’ defense. The organization announced that defenseman Mike Reilly has fully recovered from his concussion suffered on November 1st but underwent a procedure on his heart that will keep him off the ice indefinitely.

There shouldn’t be any long-term concerns for Reilly’s health after fully recovering from the surgery according to a few quotes from New York’s general manager and president of hockey operations, Lou Lamoriello. Lamoriello said, “It was picked up through the different echocardiograms that you do for different reasons that you go through with any post-concussion situation. It’s probably a blessing in disguise of what transpired. They detected this, something that you’re sometimes born with, but never knew. [His quality of life will be] 100% and he will be able to play once this procedure is done. It takes quite a bit of time. It could be several months before he’s back, because of the type of procedure“.

Because of the uncertainty of the recovery process, it’ll likely be some time before the Islanders issue any formal updates on Reilly’s status. Considering Lamoriello mentioned it could take several months, there’s every likelihood Reilly won’t return until next season.

The puck-moving Chicago native has played in 70 games for New York since being claimed off waivers from the Florida Panthers last year. He’s been a steady offensive performer over that stretch with six goals and 24 points, averaging 17:01 a night in an Islanders’ sweater.

The team also issued updates on Alexander Romanov, Anthony Duclair, Mathew Barzal, and Adam Pelech in the announcement. Romanov, the closest to returning, is still considered day-to-day and will be a game-time decision for tomorrow night’s contest against the Calgary Flames.

On the longer-term end, neither Duclair, Barzal, or Pelech have resumed skating, but the team hopes Duclair will soon. He’s been out with a lower-body injury since October 19th and was originally given a four—to six-week recovery timeline.

Barzal and Pelech haven’t been out as long as Duclair. The two were injured in back-to-back games in the first week of November and still haven’t been cleared by the team’s medical staff.

Islanders Sign Matt Martin, Make Several Other Roster Moves

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The Islanders are back in action tonight against Florida and have made several roster moves in advance of that contest.  The team announced (Twitter link) that winger Anthony Duclair was placed on LTIR while Liam Foudy was assigned to AHL Bridgeport.  With the cap savings from those two moves, the team has signed veteran winger Matt Martin to a one-year contract and recalled wingers Pierre Engvall and Hudson Fasching from the minors.

Martin has spent all but two of his 15 NHL seasons with the Isles, becoming a key member of their fourth line along the way.  It looked like the two sides would part ways over the summer when he was told that he wouldn’t be offered a contract.  However, when he hadn’t reached a deal heading into training camp, Martin signed a PTO with New York, allowing him to play and practice with them for the preseason.  No contract came along then but he remained on a tryout deal into the season, suggesting that it was only a matter of time before he received a contract, the financial terms of which were not disclosed.

The 35-year-old has played in 955 career NHL games between New York and Toronto, recording 176 points, 1,158 penalty minutes, and 3,849 hits.  With the series of roster moves the team made, he will be available to suit up against Florida tonight if head coach Patrick Roy wants to put him in the lineup.

Duclair’s placement on LTIR comes as no surprise.  Earlier this week, it was revealed that he’ll miss four to six weeks due to the leg injury he sustained last weekend.  With the Islanders operating very close to the salary cap, gaining even some short-term flexibility will certainly help.  Duclair’s placement was backdated to October 19th and he must miss at least 10 games and 24 days from then although the expected timeline for recovery will run longer than that.

Foudy’s time with the big club was relatively short-lived.  He was only brought up on Tuesday, taking Julien Gauthier’s place on the active roster.  The 24-year-old played in two games while on recall and was held off the scoresheet while averaging just 7:27 per game.  Foudy has 104 career NHL appearances under his belt now between three separate organizations.  He has four assists in five games so far with Bridgeport.

Engvall is in the second season of a seven-year, $21MM contract which made it both surprising and not surprising that he was on waivers at the end of training camp.  Needing to open up cap room (his demotion saved them $1.15MM prorated), he was a safe bet to pass through unclaimed.  That said, the fact he hit the wire just a year after being retained as a key secondary piece is an outcome few would have foreseen.  The 28-year-old had 10 goals and 14 assists in 74 NHL games last season and has just one tally in six games so far with Bridgeport.

Fasching played in 45 games with the Isles last season where he had four goals and ten assists.  However, that wasn’t enough to save him from going through waivers late in training camp where he passed through unclaimed.  He has a goal and an assist in five games so far with Bridgeport.

As a result of these roster moves, the Islanders are now at the maximum of 23 players on the active roster.

Anthony Duclair To Miss 4-6 Weeks With Leg Injury

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Oct. 24: The Islanders have received what’s likely the best-case scenario regarding Duclair’s injury. It’s indeed not season-ending and will only cost him the next four to six weeks, the team announced. That puts his absence around 13 to 20 games, not including time he’s already missed. He should return between Nov. 21 and Dec. 5.

Oct. 21: Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello told reporters today that winger Anthony Duclair is facing a long-term absence after sustaining an apparent left leg injury Saturday against the Canadiens (via Andrew Gross of Newsday). Lamoriello estimates it won’t be a season-ending absence, but they’ll have a more specific timeline tomorrow after further testing.

Duclair, 29, now has to hit pause on his fresh start on Long Island after negotiating himself a four-year, $14MM deal in free agency over the summer. He was expected to be an impact piece for a lagging Islanders offense and appeared to fit the bill early on, logging top-line minutes with Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat. He posted two goals and an assist in five games while posting dominant possession metrics – the trio controlled 64.6% of expected goals together, per MoneyPuck.

He’s occasionally been a standout secondary goal-scorer without being much of a defensive liability, if at all. He’s historically posted slightly above-average possession metrics, but injuries and plain old consistency issues have led to wildly different year-to-year point totals. The Quebec native showed his ability to flourish in top-six usage as recently as the 2021-22 campaign when he had a career-high 31 goals and 58 points in 74 games for the Panthers.

But Duclair tore his Achilles tendon while training the following offseason, keeping him out for the vast majority of 2022-23. He wasn’t terribly effective after returning to play down the stretch, scoring only twice in 20 appearances. He’s flipped teams twice since then, first traded to the Sharks in a cap-dump deal over the 2023 offseason and again to the Lightning as a deadline rental last season.

Duclair did the best he could on a severely undermanned Sharks offense, posting 16 goals and 27 points in 56 games before the trade. He ended the campaign on a tear in Tampa, though, scoring eight times and adding seven assists in 17 games while playing the top-line complementary role that yielded so much success from him in South Florida. The Islanders were hoping to get a similar rate of production out of him while placing him with their star forwards, but instead, they’ll lose his services for a significant portion of the first year of his contract.

For now, the outlook for this year’s Islanders becomes dicey. They’ve again struggled to score out of the gate, ranking 26th in the league with 2.60 GF/GP. Missing Duclair for an extended period certainly won’t do anything to improve that. But the Isles’ possession play at even strength has been strong, and they’re getting stellar goaltending from Ilya Sorokin (.953 SV% in 2 GP). That’s a familiar recipe that’s gotten them to the postseason in recent years, even with a subpar offense.

Lamoriello said the Islanders will add a forward on a call-up from AHL Bridgeport later in the coming days to replace Duclair on the roster. Julien Gauthier, who’s on waivers, won’t be staying on the roster with today’s news. It’s a performance-based demotion that will see him head to Bridgeport if he doesn’t get claimed. He also said that veteran enforcer Matt Martin, who remains on a PTO, isn’t a candidate for a contract at this time. Someone already in the organization will get the call.

In terms of who replaces Duclair’s minutes alongside Barzal and Horvat, today’s line rushes indicated it’ll be Simon Holmström (via Stefen Rosner of NHL.com). The 2019 first-round pick has two assists and a +1 rating in five appearances this season while averaging 13:32 per game, seeing most of his time at right wing alongside Anders Lee and Jean-Gabriel Pageau.

Islanders’ Anthony Duclair Leaves Game With Injury

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The New York Islanders will be without their top free-agent acquisition for the rest of the game tonight and potentially for the foreseeable future. Forward Anthony Duclair left the game in the third period of New York’s contest against the Montreal Canadiens and appeared to have injured his left leg.

He took the puck into Montreal’s zone and drove toward the net when he twisted his left leg. There was some contact with Canadiens’ defenseman Jayden Struble, but the injury appears to be non-contact. This is a cause for concern, as non-contact injuries are often more serious.

There should be more information tomorrow about the extent of the injury or even later tonight. Duclair signed a four-year, $14MM contract with the Islanders this past offseason and has held a valuable spot on New York’s first line next to Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat.

He led the Islanders in scoring heading into tonight’s action with two goals and three points in four games but has now been surpassed by Barzal. New York has struggled on offense over the last few seasons and Duclair was brought in to elevate the organization’s top six.

Although an absence for any stretch would do nothing to help New York’s offensive difficulties, it could create an opportunity for one of the team’s newer players. Maxim Tsyplakov has gotten off to a strong start with one goal and two points in four games with another assist tonight and he could expand upon that with an opening on the top line.

Metropolitan Notes: St. Ivany, Tuomaala, Duclair

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Jack St. Ivany has the inside track at landing the third pairing right defense spot that will be up for grabs during Penguins training camp, opines Josh Yohe of The Athletic.

St. Ivany, 25, was a fourth-round pick of the rival Flyers in 2018 but didn’t sign with them following his senior season at Boston College in 2022. He instead landed in Pittsburgh as a free agent, signing a two-year, entry-level contract.

The California native reached the NHL last season after spending his first pro campaign entirely in the minors, recording an assist while averaging 13:42 per game over 14 contests over a late-season call-up. He didn’t have many visible mistakes, only logging three giveaways, although his overall defensive impact was questionable, with a -6.5 relative CF% at even strength in tough but not overwhelmingly difficult minutes.

But as Yohe points out, St. Ivany doesn’t have many legitimate challengers for the role, at least among right-shot defenders. Free agent addition Sebastian Aho could flip to his off-side and be a higher-upside option offensively if the Penguins wish, though.

St. Ivany signed a three-year, league-minimum extension back in May and has a two-way salary structure this year and next. He’s also still waiver-exempt, so if he falls behind off-handed competition like Aho and Ryan Shea during training camp, there’s nothing stopping Pittsburgh from assigning him to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton without incident.

More from the Metropolitan Division:

  • Flyers prospect Samu Tuomaala remains absent from rookie camp and is listed as day-to-day with an undisclosed injury, per Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia. The 21-year-old right-winger has two years remaining on his entry-level contract and is coming off an impressive first season with the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms, where he finished third in scoring with 43 points (15 G, 28 A) in 69 games. The 2021 second-round pick is destined for the Phantoms once again to open the season but should put himself under consideration for an NHL call-up and corresponding debut over the course of the season.
  • The Islanders will indeed kick off camp with free agent signing Anthony Duclair riding shotgun on the top line with Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat, head coach Patrick Roy told reporters today (via Stefen Rosner of NHL.com and The Hockey News). The 29-year-old Duclair did quite well in a similar role in a limited time for the Lightning after they acquired him from the Sharks at last year’s deadline, posting 15 points in 17 games next to their star-powered duo of Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov. The Isles signed Duclair, who’s averaged 21 goals and 43 points per 82 games throughout his career, to a four-year, $14MM deal on July 1.

Islanders Sign Anthony Duclair, Mike Reilly

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The Islanders have signed winger Anthony Duclair to a four-year deal and re-signed defenseman Mike Reilly to a one-year deal, the team said in separate announcements. Duclair’s deal carries a $3.5MM cap hit, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.

Duclair is reunited with head coach Patrick Roy who he played for back in junior; Roy called to recruit him to the Islanders.  The 28-year-old speedster has bounced around over the years as this will be the ninth NHL organization he has played for as he enters his 11th season.

Last summer, Florida moved Duclair to San Jose in a cost-clearing move.  While he rebounded a bit after a tough showing in 2022-23, he was on a Sharks team who struggled considerably from a scoring perspective although he still managed 16 goals and 11 assists in 56 games.  Tampa Bay picked him up at the trade deadline and the fit was seamless as he added eight goals and seven assists in 17 contests down the stretch before adding a pair of assists in five playoff contests.  He should give the Isles some more secondary scoring on the wings moving forward.

As for Reilly, he started last season with Florida after being bought out by Boston, who is still paying him $1.333MM in cash for the upcoming season.  However, he was waived less than two months into the season after playing in just two games and was claimed by the Islanders who were dealing with injury issues at the time.

The change of scenery was certainly beneficial for both Reilly and the Isles.  He immediately stepped into a regular role and held it for the rest of the season, picking up six goals and 18 assists along the way while logging more than 17 minutes a night.  That was enough to convince GM Lou Lamoriello to keep him around at a $250K raise from the $1MM he made last season.  Reilly should reprise his role on the third pairing with some secondary power play time next season.

Evening Notes: Manson, Johnson, Islanders

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Colorado Avalanche defenseman Josh Manson saw a change in his contract on June 15th, 2024, as his full no-trade clause became a modified 12-team no-trade clause (as per CapFriendly).  Manson is entering the third year of his four-year $18MM contract and can now be traded to 19 NHL teams. The change in contract status doesn’t mean that the Avalanche are interested in trading the 32-year-old, but it does give the team options as they try to navigate multiple complex contract situations, while simultaneously trying to extend Jonathan Drouin and potentially address deficiencies in their roster.

Manson enjoyed a bounce-back season last year after an injury-riddled 2022-23 season, he posted eight goals and 17 assists in 76 games and continued to provide sound work in the defensive zone. He remained a good penalty killer with his long reach and mobility.

In other evening notes:

  • Kevin Kurz of The Athletic tweeted that the Philadelphia Flyers remain in conversation with pending free-agent defenseman Erik Johnson. Kurz believes that the former first-overall pick intends to keep playing next season and is interested in signing with the Flyers. At 36 years of age, Johnson is not the defenseman he once was, but he can still provide physical play and take care of the defensive zone. He won’t score much, but for a team in need of a veteran in the room, re-signing Johnson might make sense for the Flyers.
  • Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News believes that pending free agent forward Anthony Duclair would be a great fit with the New York Islanders. Rosner doesn’t cite any direct sources from the Islanders organization to link them to Duclair but believes the 28-year-old’s ability to play up and down the lineup would be a huge asset for the Islanders and his previous relationship with Islanders head coach Patrick Roy could factor into the equation. Roy coached Duclair for two years in his junior hockey days and Duclair speaks glowingly of him, calling Roy a mentor. Duclair posted 24 goals and 18 assists last season in 73 games and should have a lot of interest in free agency given his skillset.

East Notes: Duclair, Nosek, Rangers

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The Tampa Bay Lightning could be without winger Anthony Duclair on Thursday, with head coach Jon Cooper declaring him as “definitely doubtful” with a stomach bug, per Chris Krenn of NHL.com (Twitter link). Duclair has played in 14 games since moving to Tampa at the Trade Deadline. He’s been incredibly productive on a new roster, posting 12 points, split evenly, with Tampa after just 27 points in 56 games with the San Jose Sharks. His 0.857 points-per-game pace with Tampa is the highest of his career.

The Lightning have breathed new life into Duclair’s career, after a trade from the Florida Panthers to the Sharks last summer. The move stalled out Duclair’s production after three big seasons with the Panthers. He totaled 99 points across 137 games in Florida, adding 14 points in 34 playoff games. He’s now regaining that scoring touch across Florida, despite averaging his sparsest ice time (14:33) since the 2018-19 season.

Conor Sheary is expected to move into Duclair’s role next to Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov, while Mitchell Chaffee will slot back into the lineup. Sheary has three goals and 13 points in 53 games this season, while Chaffee has four goals and six points in 27 games. Tampa has four games left in their season and has already clinched the Eastern Conference’s top Wild Card, giving them the space to rest some of their top names like Duclair.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Tomas Nosek will be out of the New Jersey Devils lineup on Thursday, per interim head coach Travis Green (Twitter link). Nosek has been in and out of the lineup all season long, totaling just 35 games on the year. He’s scored six points in those appearances, adding six penalty minutes and a -9. It’s his first year in New Jersey, joining the team on a one-year, $1MM contract this summer. While injuries have been a major concern, Nosek has provided stout play in New Jersey’s fourth-line center role when healthy. Recall Graeme Clarke is slotting into the lineup in Nosek’s place, though it’s Shane Bowers who will take over his centerman role in the bottom six.
  • The New York Rangers have shared that both Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad are okay after scary incidents in the team’s Wednesday night game, per The Athletic’s Peter Baugh (Twitter link). Kreider took a slapshot from Zibanejad and looked banged up on the bench, while Zibanejad had a blindsided collision with New York Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech. Both players are expected to stay in the lineup as the Rangers approach their final three games of the season.

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