Islanders’ Mathew Barzal to Miss Significant Time Following Knee Procedure
New York Islanders forward Mathew Barzal will be sidelined indefinitely after undergoing a minor procedure on his injured left knee, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reported over the weekend.
Barzal, who hasn’t played since February 1st against the Tampa Bay Lightning, underwent surgery on Thursday. As LeBrun noted, he could miss the traditional six weeks usually accompanied by this type of ailment. However, the timeline for his recovery remains unknown.
The Islanders placed the 27-year-old skater on injured reserve last Tuesday, and they could potentially transfer him to LTIR following the 4 Nations Face-Off break, providing valuable salary cap savings ahead of the Mar. 7 trade deadline.
The Coquitlam, B.C., native departed his most recent contest versus the Lightning after taking a slapshot from defenceman Darren Raddysh off his left kneecap during the final minute of the third period. He left the ice without assistance but hasn’t suited up since then.
New York went on to secure a 3-2 overtime victory, winning their seventh consecutive game to maintain a season-long streak, which was snapped during the second half of the club’s back-to-back versus the Florida Panthers on Feb. 3.
It’s been a challenging 2024-25 season for Barzal, who missed an extended stretch earlier this season due to an upper-body injury. He’s been limited to just 30 games thus far and hasn’t found much success even when he’s been healthy, only recording six goals and 20 points.
The 16th overall selection from 2015 owns a career-worst 7.7 percent shooting percentage this season, down nearly two percent from last season, where he potted a career-high 23 goals across 80 games. He’s also registered the worst goals- (0.6) and points-per-60 (2.0) of his nine NHL campaigns.
In the second season of an eight-year, $73.2-million contract extension signed in October 2022, Barzal’s deal features a $9.15 million cap hit per season – an amount that could prove useful in locating a temporary replacement via trade. But only if he misses the rest of this season, that is.
Barzal is the latest Islanders skater to land on the shelf amidst an injury-plagued season for the franchise, as they’re also currently without defencemen Noah Dobson (LTIR), Mike Rielly (LTIR), Ryan Pulock (IR) and Scott Mayfield (IR) and goaltender Semyon Varlamov (LTIR).
Forward Anthony Duclair also missed considerable time earlier this season while recovering from a lower-body injury, hindering his on-ice production in Year 1 of a four-year, $14-million contract signed over the summer. In 26 games, he has four goals and eight points, failing to crack the scoresheet in seven straight contests.
New York has managed to keep its head above water thus far, entering the break for the best-on-best tournament just four points back of the final wild-card seed in the East – currently held by the Detroit Red Wings.
With a 25-23-7 record and 57 points, the Islanders’ playoff chances sit at a measly 32.5 percent through 55 games, according to MoneyPuck. But those odds remain incredibly fluid, given the log jam of clubs still competing in the razor-thin wild-card race.
They’ll be amongst the many Eastern Conference teams that must take a hard look in the mirror after the 4 Nations Face-Off concludes. Based on how aggressive general manager Lou Lamoriello has been previously, though, he’ll likely hold off until the last possible second before conducting any business ahead of next month’s trade deadline.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @Hall_Thomas_
Photo: Pens Through My Lens. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.