After two of their defensemen went down injured on Friday in Ottawa, the Islanders completed a flurry of moves ahead of Saturday’s game against the Flyers.
The team placed Adam Pelech on long-term injured reserve with an upper-body injury Saturday after No. 3 played just 55 seconds in a win over Ottawa on Friday night.
Sebastian Aho (upper body) did not play on Saturday, with general manager Lou Lamoriello saying the team wouldn’t know his timeline for return for “the next couple of days.”
The Islanders, who dropped a 1-0 shootout loss to the Flyers on Saturday night at UBS Arena, then claimed lefty defenseman Mike Reilly off waivers from Florida on Saturday afternoon to give themselves an option to replace Pelech other than rookie Samuel Bolduc and add some needed depth on the left side of their blue line.
Righty defenseman Grant Hutton was also called up from AHL Bridgeport and played on Saturday, as Reilly was yet to arrive.
The Islanders put Matt Martin on IR retroactive to Nov. 15 in order to facilitate that move, though Lamoriello said Martin would be ready “in the next couple of days.”
Adam Pelech is injured during the Islanders’ win over the Senators on Nov. 24, 2024. USA TODAY Sports
Pelech going on LTIR means he will be out for at least 10 games and 24 days, with his earliest return date being Dec. 19 against Edmonton.
Because Reilly was coming up from Florida, he was not on Long Island in time for Saturday’s game.
While Pelech is on LTIR, the Islanders can exceed the salary cap by dipping into the LTIR pool — which helped them pick up Reilly’s $1 million cap hit.
However, they will not accrue cap space towards the trade deadline.
Reilly, who has made stops in Minnesota, Montreal, Ottawa, Boston and Florida over a nine-year career, has 341 games of NHL experience to his name and would likely be a more comfortable option than Bolduc, who averaged just 9:38 over 10 games prior to Saturday.
Adam Pelech was placed on long-term injured reserve. Getty Images“He’s a left shot, first of all. His skating is his asset and his puck-moving ability is his asset,” Lamoriello said. “And with Sebastian out and also Pelly out on that left side, he will help us there. As far as how he can fit in, only time will tell. You never know but we’ve seen enough of him, what we think he can and can’t do.”
If Reilly ends up sticking, it could open up questions about whether Bolduc would eventually be subject to waivers.
However, that is not an immediate concern with Pelech hurt and the Isles needing to plug holes as fast as possible.
Reilly played just two games for the Panthers this season and 10 for the Bruins last year, spending much of 2022-23 in AHL Providence.
