The New York Islanders are heading into a three-game West Coast trip with a chance to get healthier at the exact right time.
Before they face the San Jose Sharks, Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks, the Islanders are carrying a 7-6-3 record and a three-game winless stretch, though they did pick up a point in their most recent outing against the New Jersey Devils. The bigger development, though, is that reinforcements appear to be close.
According to Andrew Gross of Newsday, Mathew Barzal and Matias Maccelli were both in red non-contact jerseys at the team’s morning skate. Even so, both players have been working their way more deeply into practice lately, and Gross noted they are rotating into line rush drills. That’s usually the kind of sign that says a return isn’t far off.
Barzal still has not played this season, missing the first 16 games and counting. Maccelli has been out since the team’s eighth game of the year against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Oct. 17, the same night Calum Ritchie suffered a lower-body injury.
Getting Barzal and Maccelli back would give the Islanders a real boost on offense. Maccelli had already made his presence felt with six points in eight games, including two goals and four assists.
Barzal’s impact would be just as important in a different way. He led the team with 72 points last season and would bring a burst of speed the lineup could use, especially alongside the production the Islanders are getting from Captain Bo Horvat and defenseman Matthew Schaefer, who have both been point-per-game players so far in 2026-27.
Ryan Pulock is also trending in the right direction. He was injured in the team’s game against the Minnesota Wild on Oct. 28 and had been in a red non-contact jersey over the weekend, but Gross reported that he was in a regular practice uniform at the morning skate before the Sharks game. He and Scott Mayfield are listed as the extras, while Logan Stanley is with Schaefer on the first line, Adam Pelech and Tony DeAngelo make up the second pair, and Ben Hutton is paired with Matthew Kessel on the third.
With Barzal, Maccelli and Pulock all traveling with the team on the West Coast trip, the signs point toward returns getting closer. After the game in San Jose, the Islanders will be back on the ice on Nov. 12 against the Kings.
In Other News...
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Matthew Schaefers early NHL rise has already put him in the same conversation as some of the leagues most promising young stars, and Macklin Celebrini is the latest reminder of how quickly that market can move. The Islanders defenseman and the Sharks captain have crossed paths in limited head-to-head action, but their connection runs deeper than a few games, with both having worn Team Canada colors and spent time in the spotlight as franchise cornerstones before either had fully settled into an NHL routine.
Celebrinis recent extension only sharpens the focus on what comes next for Schaefer and the Islanders. For a player still building his resume, every strong stretch matters, because the numbers and the role are already pointing toward a major negotiation down the line. The bigger question now is how New York frames that next deal, and how much leverage Schaefers growing profile gives him when the time comes to turn promise into a long-term commitment. [Read more 🡒]
Barzal's Islanders Return Suddenly Feels Closer Than It Did
Mat Barzal is back around the Islanders again, and that alone is enough to make this California trip feel a little different. He joined the team on the road after being out recently because of inflammation connected to a previous knee injury, a sign that the club is at least moving closer to getting one of its most important players back in the mix.
The Islanders also brought Matias Maccelli and Ryan Pulock along on the trip while they deal with injuries, so this is not a clean bill of health by any stretch. Still, Barzals presence on the trip is the kind of encouraging development that can change the tone around a team, especially when it has spent so much time waiting for key pieces to return and for the lineup to look like itself again. [Read more 🡒]
Islanders Have A Real Opening To Climb The Metro Fast
The Islanders just came through a six-game run against playoff teams and came out of it at 2-3-1, which is hardly a disaster in a division race that still feels tight. More importantly, they did enough to keep themselves in striking distance, and the next few weeks could tell a lot about whether they can turn that into a real climb in the Metropolitan standings.
What makes the upcoming schedule so intriguing is the volume and variety, with 10 games in 19 days against a different set of opponents and only a limited number of chances to directly chip away at divisional rivals. For a team that has already shown it can hang in tough stretches, the timing matters, especially if some of the roster pieces that have been out can start filtering back in and give the Islanders a little more punch when the race tightens. [Read more 🡒]