The Islanders waived Julien Gauthier on Sunday after just one game in the lineup for the winger — a move more notable for what it implies about the status of Anthony Duclair than for what it implies about the status of the fourth line.
Though no announcement has been made on Duclair’s status, with the Islanders off Sunday following their 4-3 win over the Canadiens, the club was left holding its breath when the winger went down in a heap in the third period against Montreal.
Duclair was helped off the ice without putting weight on his right leg.
Since the Islanders are up against the $88 million salary cap, the only way they could call a player up without a corresponding move is by using long-term injured reserve.
So, unless the brass was so dissatisfied with Gauthier’s contributions over 7:42 of ice that it felt fit to send him to AHL Bridgeport regardless, the indication here is that Duclair will not require LTIR.
That, at least, is an encouraging sign — though, of course, nothing is official until it is made so.
Moving Gauthier’s $787,500 cap hit to Bridgeport means that the Islanders are left with $1 million of open space for a call-up, enough to absorb Hudson Fasching’s cap hit but not enough for Pierre Engvall, who would add $1.15 million to the books with the Islanders already penalized to the tune of $1.85 million after sending the winger to the AHL.
If Duclair requires injured reserve — which would mean missing at least seven days — the Islanders would be without the winger for, at minimum, three games.
Compared to LTIR, though, which would mean a minimum of 24 days and 10 games, that is worth celebrating.
This picture, though, will need some time before becoming perfectly clear.
The short-term (at least) lineup implications of Duclair’s injury and Gauthier going on waivers are not easy to parse without getting into the realm of speculation.
If Fasching is called up, then giving him a turn on the fourth line — which has been generally ineffective through the season’s first five games — would make sense.
On the ice from Long Island
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That would also let Oliver Wahlstrom play further up the lineup, where his game could fit better than on the fourth line, where he looked out of place and struggled.
After Duclair left Saturday’s game, coach Patrick Roy went with Simon Holmstrom alongside Mat Barzal and Bo Horvat, indicating No. 10 could be the first choice to get a turn there, assuming Duclair misses time.
Wahlstrom, in that scenario, could spell Holmstrom on the third line alongside Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Anders Lee.
If that sounds like the Islanders would be putting together a lineup with duct tape and glue for the short term, though, you would not be wrong.
