NY Islanders forward Mat Barzal has minor procedure on injured knee

After being listed as out indefinitely with a lower-body injury suffered one week ago against the Tampa Bay Lightning, today we received a bit of clarity on the extent of NY Islanders forward Mat Barzal’s injury.

Pierre LeBrun of TSN said in his X account - Mathew Barzal had a minor procedure done Thursday on his injured kneecap. Normal recovery time for that is six weeks or so but varies.

Barzal has knee procedure

It was assumed that Barzal’s injury was to his knee absorbing a slap shot in the closing minutes with a one-goal lead, struggling to put any pressure on it.

With 12 weeks remaining in the season for the Islanders, if Barzal is set to return around the “normal” six-week recovery, that would leave him approximately 17 games to play before the end of the regular season.

Lebrun says the norm is six weeks, but Lou Lamoriello could elect to shut him down for longer. As valuable as Barzal is to the Islanders, his return would throw a wrench in any potential trade the Islanders could make between now and the trade deadline.

All the talk over the last two days has surrounded a potential deal that would send Noah Dobson to the Vancouver Canucks for Elias Pettersson. While there are plenty of obstacles to clear before a deal is complete, Barzal being placed on LTIR for the remainder of the regular season gives the Islanders an additional $9.15M in cap space - necessary to fit a player like Pettersson and remain cap-compliant.