Anders Lee Heads to LTIR as Islanders Prepare for Next Move

The news on Anders Lee doesn’t seem to be getting any better.

The New York Islanders placed Lee on long-term injured reserve on Sunday retroactive to March 11. The designation by the Islanders means that Lee will miss a minimum of 10 games and 24 days due to the lower-body he suffered on Thursday against New Jersey at Nassau Coliseum.

The earliest Lee could return would be April 6. against Washington. The Islanders can exceed the cap by Lee’s $7 million cap hit he carries while he is out on LTIR.

“Obviously like I said it’s going to take a village,” Islanders head coach Barry Trotz said ahead of Sunday’s game with New Jersey. “He’s a unique player and other than that we have to fill the void. That’s all.”

Anders Lee suffered a lower-body injury after he got tangled up with New Jersey’s Pavel Zacha. The New Jersey forward fell over Lee’s extended right leg and the Islanders captain screamed in pain on the ice.  He was able to get up, but had to be helped to the team’s dressing room.

On Friday, the Islanders announced that Lee would be sidelined indefinitely.

Lee is the Islanders leading goal scorer with 12 through 27 games this season. The 30-year-old forward is in the second year of a seven-year, $49 million deal he signed in 2019.

Where that leaves the Islanders going forward is up for debate. It appears that the LTIR designation indicates that Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello is planning on making some sort of move before the April 12 trade deadline.

Even before the news about Anders Lee, the Islanders had been bantered about in the rumor mill. Last Sunday, The Fourth Period linked the Islanders to Florida forward Brett Connolly and a potential deal that would send Leo Komarov to the Sunshine State.

The idea was that Lamoriello was looking to bolster the Islanders third line, but that may have changed due to the severity of the Lee injury.