Are the NY Islanders' transactional recalls just that, or is there something else at play?

The New York Islanders have placed forwards Cal Ritchie and Matias Maccelli on IR retroactively to the 10/17 game against the Toronto Maple Leafs when they were originally injured. With both expected to miss several weeks to recover, from the Hamilton Hammers of the AHL.

The Islanders moved forward Pierre Engvall and defenseman Kashawn Aitcheson to the NHL to fill the 23-man roster required by league rules. The addition of Engvall makes sense, since he is under an NHL one-way contract. Kashawn Aitcheson joining the Islanders has raised some eyebrows. Some are correctly surmising that the moves are completely transactional, as the additions add to the . The more salary they carry closer to the NHL salary cap, the more relief they can get if they want to sign another player later on. This move adds Engvall's $3 million cap hit, while Aitcheson has a $500,00 worth of incentive bonuses that are also considered in moving the team closer to the cap ceiling.

Are the Isles roster moves strictly tranactional or is there something else to consider?

The recall of Engvall and Aitcheson may appear to be solely a necessity for roster management and be sent back to their American Hockey League affiliate in Hamilton, Ontario, as soon as possible. But by keeping both injured Islanders Matthew Barzal and Alexander Romanov off of Long-Term IR, the Islanders are creating more cap space to use if or when GM Darche makes a move for additional players or assets.

Could a new defenseman joining the Islanders be in their future? Coach Peter DeBoer said at practice yesterday prior to the Nashville game that all defense pairings are up in the air following a weak effort in a 6-3 loss to the Dallas Stars on Sunday.

“Everything is on the table,” . “It’s the first time we haven’t gotten points in five or six, so I think we’re going to look at everything lineup-based for tomorrow.”

With Matthew Kessel playing fairly well and outcast Scott Mayfield not factoring into DeBoer's plans, maybe they are looking at adding a depth defenseman at some point during the 26/27 season.

While we are only 11 games into the season, the Islanders may be eyeing a top-six defenseman sooner rather than later. It will all depend on where the Isles are in the standings by the new year and what Darche is willing to give up to achieve this goal. Only time will tell if DeBoer can make this team a playoff contender, or will Darche will be forced to use this cap space for the future.

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