New York Islanders defenseman Mike Reilly is out indefinitely with an upper-body damage, per a team announcement. Reilly has been out since hitting his head within the crew’s Nov. 1 win over the Buffalo Sabres. He was initially dubbed day-to-day within the wake of the damage, however will now be out for the foreseeable future.
Reilly’s absence leaves a transparent gap within the New York lineup. Whereas his minutes have been comparatively capped, he’s served as a go-to depth possibility since being acquired off waivers from the Florida Panthers final summer time. He landed with the Islanders after they wanted him most — sq. in the midst of accidents to Adam Pelech, Sebastian Aho and Ryan Pulock. These absences paved the way in which for Reilly to common simply over 17 minutes of ice time by 59 video games with New York. He made good work of the function, passing the 20-point mark (24) for simply the second time in his 10-year profession. However each his function and his scoring have dried up this 12 months, with Reilly averaging 15:45 in ice time and but to attain by 11 video games this season.
New York can also be lacking Adam Pelech and Alexander Romanov — successfully depleting the whole thing of their blue-line’s left-hand aspect. The crew’s seventh defenseman, Dennis Cholowski, joined call-up Samuel Bolduc in attempting to fix the emptied depth chart — however neither proved very dependable. That led New York to recall rookie Isaiah George, who’s appeared way more the a part of the top-end defender that the Islanders are lacking. George has averaged just below 20 minutes of ice time by his first two profession video games, blocking 4 pictures and impressively dealing with the tempo of NHL protection. He’s but to attain the primary level of his profession, however he ought to proceed as a robust member of the Islanders’ top-four whereas they wait for his or her protection to return to well being. The Islanders have additionally been tied to rumors round left-defenders on the commerce or waiver market, and could also be fast to interchange George if he falters in a continued function.
Romanov additionally stays out day-to-day with an upper-body damage, per Andrew Gross of Newsday Sports.
