Islanders News: Barzal, Pelech Placed on IR; Bolduc & Hutton Recalled

The New York Islanders announced today that Adam Pelech and Mat Barzal have been placed on IR following injuries sustained in the last few days in Buffalo and Columbus. Barzal finds himself landing on the LTIR, and will be out through Thanksgiving. Lou Lamoriello announced the timeline for both Barzal and Pelech are 4-6 weeks, and both are upper-body injuries. Lamoriello gave Mike Reilly a day-to-day designation, which can only be seen as good news after his injury.

Subsequently, the team announced the recall of Samuel Bolduc and Grant Hutton tock to seven defensemen. Mike Reilly yet.

Dennis Cholowski will immediately slot into the Islanders’ lineup. Cholowski has played three games already and scored a goal in one. He fit well enough with Scott Mayfield, so one can assume that’s where he may slot back in. He also makes a natural replacement for Reilly on the power play. He’s more offensive than most, making Cholowski more comfortable with Reilly’s role than a shut-down role like Pelech’s.

Hutton and Bolduc competed for the seventh defenseman spot in camp before losing the spot to Cholowski.

Bolduc, a left-hand shot with previous NHL experience, immediately comes up and could be plugged into the lineup. A second-round pick in 2019, Bolduc had a disappointing training camp and failed to make the roster outright. Through nine games in Bridgeport, the 23-year-old Bolduc has scored one goal and totaled five points with a +/- of 0.

This is a big year for Bolduc; make no mistake about it. Assuming he is called up, this opportunity could be his last major audition with the Islanders. If he draws in, it’ll be alongside one of Mayfield or Ryan Pulock, two long-tenured veterans who can help him along as he tries to win over the staff.

Hutton impressed in training camp. Hutton, 29, is a veteran leader in Bridgeport with some NHL experience as well. His calling card is his defensive awareness and positioning, which he prides himself on.

Through nine games in Bridgeport, the 29-year-old has two assists while being a +3  on a 2-5-1 Bridgeport squad. During camp, Hutton received heavy praise from Roy, who loved his positioning and awareness. What works against Hutton is the fact that he’s a right-shot defenseman. Typically, teams don’t like to use off-hand guys.

However, Roy said he doesn’t care much about handedness and trusts his guys to play where necessary.