The New York Islanders have been dealt a brutal blow over the weekend when star middle Mathew Barzal suffered a lower-body damage. On Monday, the group introduced that Barzal will probably be out indefinitely, additional depleting the Isles’ group of forwards.
Barzal suffered the damage simply 6:01 into Saturday’s sport towards the Boston Bruins after he was hit by Bruins middle Craig Smith. The Islanders star tried to skate off the damage throughout a stoppage in play, however ended up going to the locker room and by no means returned for the rest of the Islanders’ 6-2 loss.
Losing Barzal is a tricky capsule to swallow for an Islanders group that’s presently hanging onto the ultimate Wild Card playoff spot within the Eastern Conference getting into Monday. The versatile middle presently owns a team-high 37 assists whereas additionally being second on the group in factors (51) behind solely Brock Nelson (55).
According to The Athletic’s Pierre LeBruin, Barzal’s damage is being categorized as a week-to-week and he’s anticipated to return sooner or later earlier than the common season ends. Still, with Barzal exiting the lineup for the foreseeable future, the Islanders are pressured to take care of an enormous depth subject inside their ahead group.
Prior to Barzal happening, ahead Jean-Gabriel Pageau has been out with a lower-body damage and was positioned on injured reserve final week retroactive to Feb. 11. Additionally, winger Josh Bailey suffered an upper-body damage in Friday’s contest towards the Pittsburgh Penguins and is presently out of the lineup.
With Barzal anticipated to be out for a substantial portion of time, that elevates the standing of current acquisition Bo Horvat on the group’s high line. Horvat came visiting in a commerce from the Vancouver Canucks proper earlier than the All-Star break and has recorded 4 factors (three targets and an help) since becoming a member of the group.
Even with Horvat to lean on, the Islanders might need to make one other transfer on the NHL commerce deadline in the event that they need to keep within the postseason race. Here’s a have a look at just a few names that the group may look so as to add previous to the March 3 deadline.
The Islanders already parted with a good portion of capital to land Bo Horvat final month, so a high ahead like Patrick Kane or Tyler Bertuzzi most likely is not coming to Long Island. However, Max Domi could be a strong comfort prize. Domi will probably be an unrestricted free agent this summer season, which implies that the worth tag will not be insanely excessive. Despite being on his fifth NHL group, Domi has thrived because the Blackhawks top-line middle this season. Domi would slide in properly because the Islanders’ middle on the second line, whereas present middle Brock Nelson is flexible sufficient to slip over to left wing if essential. The 27-year previous would even be a pleasant addition to an Islanders power-play that’s changing simply 17.4 p.c of their alternatives, which is seventh-worst within the league.
Could the Islanders attain out to one among their Metropolitan Division rivals so as to add some ahead depth? It’s not unattainable to assume that they would not. The Flyers are fading within the standings, so that will probably imply that they’re going to be trying to promote on just a few of their veteran items on the deadline. At 33 years previous, James van Riemsdyk definitely is not the dynamic 30-goal scorer that he was earlier in his profession. Still, van Riemsdyk would nonetheless present some playmaking potential, which might actually turn out to be useful proper about now. van Riemsdyk’s $7 million cap hit is not preferrred, but it surely’s probably that the Flyers must eat a few of that cash. Perhaps just a few draft picks would get a deal achieved.
Jesse Puljujarvi was as soon as one of many Oilers most promising younger prospects, but it surely’s doable that his time with the group could also be coming to the top after an underwhelming tenure. Puljujarvi was the fourth total decide again within the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, however has recorded simply 111 profession factors (51 targets and 60 assists) in his six seasons with the franchise. A change of surroundings could possibly be within the works for Puljujarvi and the Islanders could possibly be simply the kind of group that will take an opportunity on a low-risk, high-reward kind of transfer to accumulate his companies. Aside from their 2023 first spherical decide, New York has all their draft decisions in tow over the subsequent three years. Since they already parted with a number of belongings to land Horvat, this might make a ton of sense for the Islanders.
The Islanders have not gotten a lot manufacturing from their third line all through the 2022-23 season. While his offensive skillset is probably not fairly what it as soon as was, Lars Eller would not be a nasty choice for a low price ticket. The Capitals are presently on the skin wanting in of the playoff race. If Washington continues to battle, it would not be stunning in the event that they have been prepared to deal a participant like Eller, who’s an unrestricted free agent this summer season. Eller is probably not flashy, however he is successful a team-high 54.3 p.c of his face-offs on the season. The Islanders presently rank in the course of the pack (50.3 p.c) within the face-off division, so Eller would not be a nasty depth piece so as to add on a budget.
Nick Bonino is participant in an identical mould to Lars Eller — the Sharks middle is not an extremely gifted offensive participant, however he does slightly little bit of the whole lot on the ice. Bonino wins face-offs (48.9 p.c), skates on San Jose’s penalty kill unit, and likewise sees time on the power-play. The 34-year previous is the kind of glue man that playoff-caliber hockey groups want on their roster. Bonino is a gritty ahead that takes up actual property in entrance of the online and might rating these targets in tight conditions. He additionally has a championship pedigree as he gained the Stanley Cup twice with the Penguins in 2015 and 2016. Bonino is one other participant that would not value the Islanders a lot to accumulate, however would offer high quality depth.
