New York Islanders in a tight spot as injuries mount once again

The New York Islanders are in a tight spot with Ryan Pulock, Noah Dobson, and two goalies on the shelf.  The Isles have scrambled to find defensive help by signing Tony DeAngelo and trading for Scott Perunovich from the St. Louis Blues.

But the fact of the matter is that the Islanders need to figure out where they stand amid this new rash of injuries. Before the latest wave, they were already down Mike Reilly and Hudson Fasching. It’s clear that Islanders’ management doesn’t have a ton of faith in Grant Hutton and Samuel Bolduc.

So, where does the team go from here?

DeAngelo and Perunovich are stop-gap measures. They are hardly everyday blueliners who can step in and become difference-makers on the team. But do the Isles have any other choice?

Losing Dobson was huge as there really is no replacing him. Unless the Isles can swing a deal for a top-pairing defenseman, at least a solid top-four guy, it’s hard to see anyone stepping into Dobson’s spot.

While DeAngelo and Perunovich could step into a bottom-pairing situation, there isn’t much upside beyond that. In fact, DeAngelo had gone unsigned all season till now, while Perunovich has only seen action in 24 games this season.

The moves aren’t bad, but they don’t look like a more permanent solution to the issue. As such, the Islanders will be in a tough situation come the trade deadline.

New York Islanders must make a call on this season

Given the circumstances, the New York Islanders must make a call on this season. If the team believes they can still make the playoffs, they’ll need to find another goalie and a legitimate top-four defenseman to plug in the gaps until Dobson and Pulock return.

Moreover, with Marcus Hogberg and Semyon Varlamov down, the Islanders will need to determine who, if anyone out there, could fit the bill as a backup to Ilya Sorokin. For the time being, Jakub Skarek has been called up to fill the void.

However, there’s no telling if Skarek can become a reliable backup at this point. Perhaps he does. Hogberg was playing fantastically well until he left prior to the start of overtime against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night.

The way things are going, it seems the New York Islanders are facing a lost season, not because of ineptitude or poor management, instead, the lack of depth seems to be the Isles’ biggest issue this season.

It seems like the Islanders will have no choice but to raise the white flag on the season. Unless there’s a move out there that makes sense, Lou Lamoriello will likely stand pat and look to fill up on depth pieces during the offseason.