New York Islanders Rumours: Pulock to Get Called Up

With Calvin De Haan being placed on injured reserve earlier today, Arthur Staple of Newsday is reporting the New York Islanders are likely to call up Ryan Pulock tomorrow.

De Haan’s stint on injured reserve is retroactive to February 15^th, so although it’s unlikely, he could still be eligible to play in Tuesday’s game. Earlier in the week, it had been suggested that the injury was not a serious one, so don’t start working up some fantasy trade deadline moves to fill the gap.

Really, the most interesting piece of news to come out of this is that Islanders fans may finally get a glimpse at the team’s first-round pick from 2013 in an NHL game.

Earlier in the year, when Adam Pelech was originally called up, people wondered why Pulock wasn’t getting his shot. While there is little doubt of his offensive capabilities, the team felt he still needed to work on the defensive side of his game. According to an article written by Staple earlier in the week, it appears he has:

"“When he got here, those parts of his game were nonexistent — in juniors, it was offense, offense, offense for him. He’s got that weapon of a shot and he could help the [Islanders’] power play right now, but if he’s not good enough in his own end, no one will ever see that shot because he won’t get a chance. He’s shown so much improvement in that aspect of his game.”"

Don’t get too excited though, it remains to be seen if this call up will turn into Pulock’s first NHL game.

The Bridgeport Sound Tigers don’t play again until Friday, so skating with the NHL team for a couple of days will make little difference in his schedule.

Of course, we can’t mention the Islanders calling up Pulock without putting Brian Strait on blast, so here it goes. There is almost no way that Pulock can be worse that Strait, so seeing him in action before the stretch run could be helpful.

Next: Islanders Top Pair Reunion

There have been so many rookies that have made impacts on their teams in the playoffs, finding out if Pulock can be one of them while keeping Strait out of the lineup is the best thing the New York Islanders can do in De Haan’s absence.