Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche said that while there’s still no set timeline for Mat Barzal to return from the left knee issues that have held up his start to the season, doctors “would be comfortable” for him to move to the next stage of his recovery.
While Darche never directly said the ball is in Barzal’s court regarding when that will happen, he did make clear that the inflammation which originally caused the Islanders to hold Barzal out of training camp has subsided.
“Initially there was some inflammation. We feel it’s controlled now. Now it’s getting him to feel comfortable to take the next step,” Darche said.
“There’s no setbacks. Nothing happened, no procedure. Since training camp, nothing has come [up]. We feel we’re controlling the inflammation. It’s just how comfortable he feels.”
Barzal has been skating on his own for a couple weeks now, and walked by a group of reporters at UBS Arena on Wednesday, briefly saying hello.
Since he hasn’t practiced with the team, the Islanders are under no obligation to make him available to speak about his injury.
Given the ongoing questions about the situation, though, they did have Darche speak on it Wednesday.
“After two weeks [of skating], we feel the inflammation is down but we’re still working on getting his strength back and how comfortable he feels,” Darche said. “He’s skating. Progress every day. Can I give you a definite timeline? No. We hope it’s sooner, but every day, he’s starting to skate a little bit more and we’re hoping to, at some point, get him with the team and we’ll go from there.”
Originally, the plan was for Barzal to resume skating around when the season started. That was pushed back by about a week, and since then, things have stayed in place, with the Islanders declining to commit to a timeline for any next steps.
When Barzal does come back, he will need to manage his left kneecap, which was broken two years ago and required surgery to repair. That’s nothing new — even while playing 81 games last year, he managed his knee throughout the season. Darche said the Islanders don’t believe anything about the way the injury was managed caused it to flare up again.
He also said that, as of now, there are no conversations about an additional procedure.
“If it doesn’t get better, you’re always looking at where we think he can be,” Darche said. “We don’t believe [that’s necessary] right now. But we’re progressing. I think it’s going in the right direction.”
The next big question is whether Barzal will join the team on next week’s road trip in Dallas, Nashville and Minnesota, potentially allowing him to start practicing with the group. Practicing in a non-contact jersey would presumably be the next step before Barzal participates fully and, eventually, returns to games.
The Islanders, currently without Calum Ritchie and Matias Maccelli in addition to Barzal, could sorely use his offensive ability, though they’ve withstood his absence quite well. Going into Thursday’s match at home against the Kings, they are 5-3-1, and playing stout defensive hockey under Pete DeBoer.
Still, Barzal’s situation will hang over the club until it is resolved.
“We both work together,” Darche said. “The doctors would be comfortable for him to ramp up whenever he’s ready. It’s not necessarily, ‘Oh it’s all him,’ or it’s all us [making the decision]. We’re trying to work together on this.
“But of course he has a big say. It’s his body. He knows how he feels.”
Darche shot down a rumor originating from The Fourth Period that Scott Mayfield could soon ask for a trade if he continues to sit as the extra defensemen.
“I can tell you right now, there’s no truth to any of those rumors,” Darche said.
“I saw them this morning. His agent [Matt Keator] was here the last two days cause he had a player on the other team, he has a few players on our team. There’s none of that.”
