After a relatively healthy first quarter of the season, the injury bug has stung the NY Islanders deep.
With Alexander Romanov likely ruled out for the remainder of the regular season after undergoing shoulder surgery, and Kyle Palmieri done for the year with a torn ACL, the Isles have the option of placing both on LTIR, potentially freeing up $11M in cap space. This would be in addition to Pierre Engvall’s $3 million that is already on LTIR, and could potentially include Semyon Varlamov’s $2.75 million if Mathieu Darche elects to do so.
In total, that’s a maximum of $16.75 million that the Islanders can free up in cap space.
The Islanders can use the LTIR to their advantage
While there are holes in the lineup without Romanov and Palmieri, Darche likely doesn’t replace them with rentals or anybody outside the scope of what he is aiming to build. Any additions would have to be young players with a controllable contract.
“The one thing that seems pretty clear is Darche isn’t going to do something short-term,” Elliotte Friedman said on the 32 Thoughts podcast. “If he’s going to do something short-term, it’s not going to be a big price. It’s going to be – it makes sense for us.”
With all that potential cap space, what Darche and the Islanders can do is help facilitate other trades around the league as a third-party, receiving either prospects or draft compensation in return.
By rule, a team can absorb up to 50% of a player’s remaining contract, and can do so with up to three players.