Engvall, Wahlstrom on waivers as Islanders near return to health
“What...would you say...you do here?” | Photo by Mike Stobe/NHLI via Getty Images
Mat Barzal, Anthony Duclair and Adam Pelech are close to returning as early as Sunday. The New York Islanders have placed both Pierre Engvall and Oliver Wahlstrom on waivers, another sign that some of their injured core players’ return from long term injuries is imminent.
Mathew Barzal, Anthony Duclair and Adam Pelech have all been skating with the team this week after several weeks on the shelf. The first two have been on LTIR, which means their reactivation would require the Islanders to clear some salary cap as well as roster room.
Though Wahlstrom has seen more action than Hudson Fasching lately, he also carries a $225,000 larger cap hit. Every bit counts when navigating the cap crunch of Lou’s making.
Ethan Sears of the Post has them needing to clear about $4 million:
Wahlstrom and Engvall going to the minors would equate to $2.15 million of that total — enough to activate either Barzal or Duclair, but not both.
That might indicate one or the other is ready to return on Sunday in Chicago, but the Islanders have yet to announce anything.
Moving Mike Reilly (heart surgery) to LTIR and sending down one more player — likely Marcus Hogberg, if Semyon Varlamov is ready to come back from a lower-body injury, or a defenseman, if Varlamov still needs some time — would clear enough room for both to return.
...but you can play around with their cap situation by taking a gander at PuckPedia.
The Islanders are in Chicago Sunday to face the Blackhawks....
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