The Islanders won their ninth straight game on Sunday, but also lost three players, one of them for the balance of the regular season.
Captain Anders Lee, who sustained a lower-body injury in Thursday’s game against the Devils, has been placed on long-term injured reserve retroactive to Thursday – a move that requires him to miss at least 10 games and 24 days, meaning he will be out until at least April 6, when the Isles play Washington.
In addition, forward J-G Pageau and defenseman Noah Dobson have been placed on the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol list.
Losing Lee, who has 12 goals and seven assists this season, is a big blow, but what the LTIR designation does is allow the Isles to exceed the salary cap by the amount his player’s cap hit for the season, at least until Lee returns. That means the team can add someone making up to a $7 million cap hit for the stretch run – either a free agent or a trade acquisition ahead of the April 12 deadline – but they would have to get back under the cap as soon as Lee were to return.
"It’s going to take a village. He’s a unique player," head coach Barry Trotz said of replacing Lee. "We’ve got to fill the void, that’s all. As we go along, we’ll give you some further updates."
The Islanders have already taken advantage of the designation this season by placing Johnny Boychuk, who is basically retired due to injury, on LTIR just before this season to free up his $6 million in cap hit.
Dobson and Pageau’s addition to the COVID-19 protocols does not mean a positive test, but they must stay isolated in quarantine until deemed safe. Both men had played in all of the Isles’ first 28 games before sitting out Sunday, with Pageau recording nine goals and eight assists and Dobson netting three goals and nine helpers.
Thanks to their ninth straight win (and third straight against New Jersey) on Sunday, the Isles enter Monday with a 19-6-4 record, tops in the East Division, and with an NHL-high 42 points.
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