Among the misfortunes to beset the Islanders over the last four weeks, the biggest might be the only one still left unresolved.

Ryan Pulock suffered a lower-body injury on Nov. 15 in a loss to the Lightning — the third in what became a marathon 11-game losing streak for the Islanders. The initial diagnosis was four to six weeks and Pulock has yet to return to the ice after four, leaving him as the only player still out of 10 who suffered either injury or COVID-19 at the height of the Islanders’ struggles.

Of the 10, there’s a good argument to be made that Pulock is the most important. His 22:27 average time on ice led Islanders skaters last season. The pairing of him and Adam Pelech was, arguably, the best in the league.

Pelech and Pulock played 770.6 minutes together last regular season, with a 62.7 expected goals percentage, per MoneyPuck. No other pairing with over 500 minutes together even reached 60 percent, with Ryan Lindgren and Adam Fox of the Rangers coming the closest at 58.6 percent.

“A lot,” Andy Greene said when asked how much the Islanders were missing Pulock. “He’s, if not our top D-man, plays all situations. And is just a really good — really good — player. When you miss someone like that, it’s tough to replace.”

The Islanders had already split up the Pelech-Pulock pairing when the injury happened, a way of trying to paper over depth issues in their top six. Originally when he got hurt, they called up Robin Salo to replace him, but due to other injuries, the Islanders were soon playing a defensive lineup that featured five players who weren’t in the opening night lineup.

Now that everyone but Pulock is healthy, Salo is the only call-up still on the roster. And after being a frequent scratch, he played on Saturday against the Devils, with Sebastian Aho returned to the press box.

Without Pulock, this is the choice in front of Barry Trotz. Play Aho, who can run the power play and be an offensive weapon, but whose defensive errors have led to goals? Or play Salo, whose inexperience has shown?

So not only does Pulock’s absence force the Islanders to go without him. It forces their coach into an undesirable decision every night.

“Obviously Ryan’s a huge part of our defense,” Trotz said. “He plays hard, very important, necessary minutes for us but he’s not here.”

Upon Pulock’s return, the Islanders will have mostly the same group of defensemen that finished second in goals allowed per game last season. They traded Nick Leddy in the offseason for salary cap reasons, signing Zdeno Chara to take his place — a move they’ve felt the ramifications of — but with Noah Dobson stepping up in recent weeks, they may now have the necessary depth to reunite Pelech and Pulock.

Dobson has scored his first three goals in the span of a week, looking confident and comfortable playing alongside Greene.

“He’s played more assertive, he’s way more aggressive than it translates,” Greene said of Dobson. “He’s getting off the ice well, he’s skating well, he’s seeing the puck.”

Such combinations on the first two pairings would likely leave Chara and Scott Mayfield — who have played just under 23 minutes together this year — for the third.

That is getting a bit ahead of things, however. Pulock still needs to come back, and Trotz still needs to decide to put him back alongside Pelech. But that would be a boon to an Islanders team that needs it.

“You can’t replace Ryan Pulock,” Trotz said. “You can only fill in the gaps. So we’re trying to do that. He’s missed, no question.”