New York Islander president and general manager Lou Lamoriello provided some clarity on the team’s current status following a day full of moves.
Firstly, Adam Pelech is expected to miss at least a few weeks while on long-term injured reserve with an upper-body injury he sustained in the Islanders game last night in Ottawa.
“There’s no question the type of player he is and how important he is to the lineup,” Lamoriello said. “Injuries are part of the game, and you have to rise to the occasion.”
Now that Pelech is on LTIR, he will have to miss at least 10 games and 24 days of action to be eligible to return. That places his earliest possible return date on Wednesday, Dec. 20, when the Islanders visit the Washington Capitals.
Sebastian Aho also suffered an upper-body injury last night. Lamoriello says the team doesn’t currently know the extent of Aho’s injury and won’t for the next few days but does not expect it to be as significant as Pelech’s.
Either way, the Islanders are now down two defensemen and have made two moves to help aid the situation.
Earlier today, the Islanders claimed defenseman Mike Reilly off waivers from the Florida Panthers. However, Reilly will not make it to UBDS Arena tonight in time for the Islanders’ game with the Philadelphia Flyers. In the meantime, they’ve called up defenseman Grant Hutton from AHL Bridgeport.
The Islanders could’ve called up another defenseman from Bridgeport rather than acquiring Reilly but opted to go with a player with more NHL experience.
“It’s not that we have a lack of confidence in the defenseman in Bridgeport,” Lamoriello said. “We [decided] to bring in a more experienced person. We’re going to have a couple of young players in the lineup with our defense tonight. It is a relatively young defense right now, which we’re proud of, as far as today and tomorrow. The major reason was the experience.”
Reilly has played in 350 games across his nine-year NHL career for five different teams.
To make room for their new additions, the Islanders have placed forward Matt Martin on injured reserve retroactive to Nov. 15 with an upper-body injury.
Since his injury isn’t considered to be long-term, Martin is eligible to return to the Islanders’ lineup as soon as he is healthy.
Martin has missed the last four games but has skated on his own during his absence.
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