New York Islanders defenseman Mike Reilly is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury, per a team announcement. Reilly has been out since hitting his head in the team’s Nov. 1 win over the Buffalo Sabres. He was initially dubbed day-to-day in the wake of the injury, but will now be out for the foreseeable future.
Reilly’s absence leaves a clear hole in the New York lineup. While his minutes have been relatively capped, he’s served as a go-to depth option since being acquired off waivers from the Florida Panthers last summer. He landed with the Islanders when they needed him most — square in the middle of injuries to Adam Pelech, Sebastian Aho and Ryan Pulock. Those absences paved the way for Reilly to average just over 17 minutes of ice time through 59 games with New York. He made good work of the role, passing the 20-point mark (24) for just the second time in his 10-year career. But both his role and his scoring have dried up this year, with Reilly averaging 15:45 in ice time and yet to score through 11 games this season.
New York is also missing Adam Pelech and Alexander Romanov — effectively depleting the entirety of their blue-line’s left-hand side. The team’s seventh defenseman, Dennis Cholowski, joined call-up Samuel Bolduc in trying to mend the emptied depth chart — but neither proved very reliable. That led New York to recall rookie Isaiah George, who’s looked far more the part of the top-end defender that the Islanders are missing. George has averaged just under 20 minutes of ice time through his first two career games, blocking four shots and impressively handling the pace of NHL defense. He’s yet to score the first point of his career, but he should continue as a strong member of the Islanders’ top-four while they wait for their defense to return to health. The Islanders have also been tied to rumors around left-defenders on the trade or waiver market, and may be quick to replace George if he falters in a continued role.
Romanov also remains out day-to-day with an upper-body injury, per Andrew Gross of Newsday Sports.
