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Mathew Barzal

Islanders Notes: Shabanov, Barzal, Horvat, Drouin

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Despite drawing interest from several NHL teams, Russian free agent forward Maxim Shabanov chose to sign his one-year, entry-level contract with the New York Islanders because of the opportunities it presents, per Daria Tuboltseva of RG.org.

As Tuboltseva notes, Utah, Philadelphia, Vegas, Boston, and the New York Rangers expressed interest in Shabanov and that the 24-year-old surveyed all options before landing with the Islanders. In part, Shabanov prioritized finding the right fit over securing the biggest payday.  His contract will carry a $975,000 cap hit and maximum bonuses – valued at $3.5MM – per NHL.com’s Kevin Weekes.

“Utah really wanted him. So did Philadelphia, Vegas, Boston, the Rangers. So many teams. Some clubs even lost patience because the decision took a while. We were getting five or six calls a day,” his agent, Alexander Chernykh, told RG.

Despite being listed at just 5’8″ and 157 pounds, Shabanov recorded 23 goals and 67 points in 65 games with the KHL’s HC Traktor this season — the third-highest point total in the league. What he lacks in size, he makes up for with speed and skill. Shabanov will look to carve out a role on the Islanders’ third line but could conceivably work his way up the lineup. Today, coach Patrick Roy also noted the team’s interest in utilizing Shabanov as a flank on the power play, per a team release.

Elsewhere with the Islanders:

  • Roy noted that he envisions forwards Jonathan Drouin and Bo Horvat starting training camp on the same line, pairing Drouin’s playing-making abilities with Horvat’s shoot-first mentality. As Roy stated, “I think they’re both going to connect very well.” Drouin will provide the Islanders with key power-play minutes, which Roy said is one of the reasons GM Mathieu Darche signed the veteran to a two-year, $8MM contract. Drouin has recorded 31 power-play points over the past two seasons and 125 across his 11-year NHL career.
  • Roy also stated that Mathew Barzal is expected to slot back into his natural center position next season. Barzal, 28, began his career exclusively as a center but has spent time on the wing in each of the past two seasons. While he’s just one year removed from an 80-point campaign, he was limited to only 30 games last season due to injury, recording six goals and 20 points. With a career faceoff win rate of just 42.3 percent, Barzal will likely spend the offseason working to improve in that area. Last season, he took 52 faceoffs, winning just 22.

Islanders Won’t Consider Trading Mathew Barzal, Bo Horvat

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Ahead of the draft in which they hold the No. 1 overall pick, the Islanders have made it known that top forwards Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat will not be traded, reports Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. LeBrun adds that new general manager Mathieu Darche has gone as far as to inform both players directly that their future on Long Island remains stable.

While the Isles’ front office change signaled a willingness for a new organizational approach, the prospects surrounding a full retool/rebuild took a big hit when New York won the draft lottery to move up from 10th to first overall. Doing so gives them an incredibly valuable stepping stone toward their next period of sustained playoff contention without needing to trade away one of their highest-valued players to acquire that type of asset as they would have had to do otherwise.

It would have been incredibly unwise to trade Barzal at this stage anyway. The 28-year-old’s value is likely at a low point after an injury-plagued season, limiting him to just a 9-11–20 scoring line in 30 games. Even on a per-game basis, it was the worst offensive showing of his eight-year run as a full-time NHLer. He still has six years left on his contract at a $9.15MM cap hit with a 22-team no-trade list. Considering he had an All-Star campaign with 80 points in 80 games while averaging over 20 minutes per night just one season ago, there’s legitimate reason to believe an offseason’s worth of rest provides the reset Barzal needs to get back to that level of production.

Trading Horvat, their leading scorer in 2024-25, would have been similarly surprising. He doesn’t have Barzal’s offensive upside but remains a high-end piece, even if he would be better suited as a second-line option on a championship contender compared to the No. 1 center honors he holds on Long Island. He’s scored 141 points in 192 games since being acquired from the Canucks ahead of the 2023 trade deadline and remains one of the league’s best faceoff men, coming off a career-high 58.2 FOW% in 2024-25. Like Barzal, Horvat is signed through the 2030-31 season.

As such, both will remain foundational pieces of the Isles’ forward group as they look to improve by refreshing their blue line and secondary scoring options. Barzal is a natural center but has shifted to Horvat’s wing frequently since the latter’s acquisition. Nonetheless, head coach Patrick Roy might do well to shift Barzal back to center to give them two legitimate top-six pivots in an effort to revitalize a New York offense that ranked 27th in the league last season.

If the Islanders do trade from their forward group to get younger and open up cap space, expect it to be a name like Jean-Gabriel Pageau. The 32-year-old center is entering the final season of his contract at a $5MM cap hit and has become expendable after the Isles landed their new top prospect (for now) in 2023 first-rounder Calum Ritchie, a strong candidate to start next year as their third-line middleman, from the Avalanche in this season’s Brock Nelson deal.

Snapshots: Islanders, Andersson, Hrabal, Jedlicka

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With the Islanders missing the playoffs this season, some wondered if new GM Mathieu Darche might look to make a big shakeup on the trade front.  If he does, their two top forwards won’t be involved.  In his latest column for The Athletic (subscription link), Pierre LeBrun relays that Darche has told forwards Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal that they will not be moved this summer.  Horvat would have been an intriguing name on the center market while Barzal, who has been more of a winger lately but is a natural middleman himself, also would have drawn a lot of interest but instead, they’ll remain the focal points of a New York group that Darche feels can get back into the playoff mix next season.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • Extension talks between the Flames and defenseman Rasmus Andersson are expected to continue this week with the two sides exchanging numbers for the first time, reports Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli. Andersson is eligible to sign a new deal as of July 1st and it’s one that should carry a significant increase on his current $4.55MM price tag.  While he’s coming off a bit of a down year, he still managed 31 points in 81 games and as a right-shot rearguard who plays in all situations, he’ll be highly sought after should he hit the open market in 2026.
  • The Mammoth tried to sign goaltender Michael Hrabal after this season, his college head coach Greg Carvel stated in a recent Sick Podcast appearance (video link). The 20-year-old was the 38th overall pick back in 2023 and has spent the past two seasons at the University of Massachusetts.  Hrabal posted a 2.37 GAA with a .924 SV% in 36 games for the Minutemen which seemingly was enough for Utah to want to turn him pro.  Instead, Hrabal has decided to return for his junior year and seems like a strong candidate to sign after that.
  • While the Avalanche relinquished the rights to prospect Maros Jedlicka on June 1st, he’ll be remaining with the organization for now. Colorado’s AHL affiliate announced that they’ve signed the forward to a one-year contract for next season.  Jedlicka started this year playing at home in Czechia, collecting two assists in a dozen games for HC Kometa Brno before coming to North America in mid-November.  Jedlicka played in 18 games for the Eagles this season, picking up three goals and two assists and while that wasn’t enough to earn an NHL contract, it was enough for the Avs to keep him around in their system at least.

Mathew Barzal, Semyon Varlamov Expect To Be Ready For Training Camp

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New York Islanders goalie Semyon Varlamov and forward Mat Barzal both expect to be ready for the start of next season, per Ethan Sears of the New York Post.

Varlamov has been out since November with an injury that required season-ending surgery. The 36-year-old appeared in only 10 games on the season, finishing with a 3-3-4 record and an undesirable .889 save percentage. Speaking to reporters, Varlamov noted the injury is something that he’s been dealing with for quite some time. He added that he is looking forward to returning to action next season.

If healthy, Varlamov should provide the Isles with a solid backup option behind star Ilya Sorokin. Marcus Högberg ended up appearing in 15 games this year, but didn’t make the most of his opportunity, finishing with a 2-6-3 record to pair with a .878 save percentage. Varlamov has two years remaining on his contract, paying a $2.75MM AAV. Despite a rough 2024-25 season, he’s just one year removed from providing New York with a .918 save percentage and 2.67 goals against average. If he can rediscover that type of play, the combination of him and Sorokin should help the club’s efforts to return to the playoffs.

Barzal, who suffered an injury to his knee back in early February, also expects to be 100 percent for next season. In fact, had the Isles made the playoffs, there’s a chance Barzal could have played. In 30 games on the year, he posted six goals and 20 points. The three-time All-Star is coming off of an 80-point season and has produced 190 points in the three seasons prior to this year. The 27-year-old still has six years remaining on his $9.125MM AAV deal.

Islanders Place Matt Martin On IR, Activate Noah Dobson From LTIR

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Feb. 26: Per the NHL media site (and shared by Rosner), the Islanders have officially activated Dobson from the long-term injured reserve making him available for tomorrow’s contest. Additionally, New York has transferred center Mathew Barzal from injured reserve to LTIR to create the necessary cap space for Dobson’s return.

Feb. 25: It’s a lower-body injury for Martin, Rosner reports. Dobson won’t return tonight against the Rangers but is probable for Thursday against the Bruins, he adds.

Feb. 25: The New York Islanders have reportedly placed forward Matt Martin on injured reserve (as per Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News), opening the door for them to activate defenseman Noah Dobson off LTIR. The Islanders needed to open up room for Dobson and could have placed a player on waivers to do so, however, Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello opted to use IR to open up a spot.

Martin began the year on a PTO before signing a one-year deal for the NHL minimum ($775K) when the Islanders began dealing with injury issues. The 35-year-old hasn’t played since January 16th, making it unclear when he suffered the injury. The 12-game absence likely signals what the rest of Martin’s season will look like as he probably won’t see much action regardless of injury status, unless the Islanders trade away several members of their NHL roster or go through another bout of the injury bug.

Martin has dressed in 24 games this year for the Islanders, posting a single assist, 68 hits and 15 blocked shots. He carved out a nice NHL career for himself and was once a pretty solid forechecker but at this stage of his career, he doesn’t offer much at the NHL level. Martin has played very little when he has dressed, averaging just 7:47 of ice time per game and has been decimated on the possession front, posting a CF% of 35.4%.

Dobson is expected to be activated after the Islanders’ morning skate today. The 25-year-old hasn’t played since January 20th and has had a lower-body injury. His absence created a big hole for the Islanders as he has been averaging a shade over 24 minutes of ice time per game and has continued to be a terrific play driver. His offensive numbers have fallen off this season, registering six goals and 18 assists in 46 games, and he continues to be a polarizing player for Islanders fans who don’t see him as a fit on the power play and question some of his decisions with the puck.

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 Activate Mathew Barzal, Adam Pelech From Injured Reserve

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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.

Metropolitan Notes: Islanders, White, Kolosov, Stillman

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Islanders star Mathew Barzal practiced Thursday for the first time since sustaining an upper-body injury at the end of October, relays Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News. He was joined by fellow IR-bound impact pieces Anthony Duclair and Adam Pelech, all of whom weren’t carrying any contact restrictions, per Rosner.

None of the trio will play tonight against the Blackhawks, but head coach Patrick Roy told Rosner that they’ve all been upgraded to day-to-day. Barzal is at the end of his four-to-six-week return timeline from his UBI, while Duclair is already a week past his projected four-to-six-week return window from a freak leg injury in just his fifth appearance of the season. Pelech never landed a specific timeline in his return from a jaw injury he sustained against the Sabres on Nov. 1.

Today marked the latter two’s first time skating with the team without a non-contact designation, although they’d both returned to practice within the last week. The Islanders must make a few roster moves to activate their pair of top-six forwards and top-four defender. Their active roster is full with Barzal and Duclair on LTIR and Pelech on standard IR, so they’ll need to make three reassignments to be compliant. One should be goaltender Marcus Högberg, who’s up from AHL Bridgeport on an emergency basis while veteran backup Semyon Varlamov deals with a lower-body injury. Rookie defenseman Isaiah George is waiver-exempt and will likely be the second demotion, but all other likely candidates for reassignment require waivers. Winger Hudson Fasching, who’s averaging just 8:39 per game through 10 appearances this season, seems like the best option to expose to the wire.

While Barzal was averaging a career-high 21:12 per game before his injury, he was off to a slow start offensively, with two goals and three assists for five points in 10 games. His and Duclair’s nearing returns will allow Roy to reunite them on the top line with Bo Horvat, a new-look unit that dominated play with a 64.6% expected goal share before injuries struck, per MoneyPuck.

There’s more out of the Metropolitan:

  • The Devils’ demotion of defenseman Nick DeSimone yesterday wasn’t a paper move. They’ve opted to give a different minor-league mainstay a stint on the NHL roster as an extra defenseman, announcing the recall of Colton White from AHL Utica. White, 27, was a New Jersey fourth-round pick in 2015 and returned to the organization last offseason as a free agent on a two-year, two-way deal after spending the prior two years in the Ducks organization. He hasn’t appeared in an NHL game since skating in a career-high 46 contests with Anaheim in 2022-23, during which time he recorded six assists and 34 hits with a -17 rating while averaging 14:32 per game. The 6’1″ lefty has eight points and a -2 rating in 20 games with Utica this year, matching his point total from last season with San Diego in 53 games.
  • Flyers netminder Aleksei Kolosov has temporarily cemented his spot as No. 2 on their goaltending depth chart behind Samuel Ersson, head coach John Tortorella told reporters today (including Charlie O’Connor of PHLY Sports). The 22-year-old Belarusian has battled it out with fellow rookie Ivan Fedotov this season, and both have gotten extended looks with Ersson missing significant time last month with a lower-body injury. Philadelphia has carried three goalies since Ersson returned to health, though, a plan that doesn’t appear to be imminently changing. Kolosov has a 3-5-1 record in nine showings this year with a .881 SV% and 3.29 GAA but leads Flyers netminders with 0.1 goals saved above expected, per MoneyPuck. That’s a testament to the quality of chances he’s faced – the Flyers are allowing 3.13 xGA per game with Kolosov in net compared to 2.23 with Ersson. His numbers also clearly exceed those of the 28-year-old Fedotov, who has a .877 SV% and -3.5 GSAx through 10 games.
  • The Hurricanes have again swapped extra defenders, adding Riley Stillman to the roster today from AHL Chicago after having Ty Smith fill that role for their past couple of games. Stillman, 26, has been rostered twice since being activated from injured reserve in November but has yet to suit up for Carolina, which inked him to a two-way deal over the summer. The veteran of 158 NHL games with the Panthers, Blackhawks, Canucks, and Sabres has two assists and a +1 rating in seven minor-league contests in 2024-25.

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.

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.

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