We don’t know when Mat Barzal will play again, but it’s a good sign that he has joined the Islanders for their California trip, along with fellow injured teammates Matias Maccelli and Ryan Pulock. The center (he’ll ultimately be a center again, yes? no?) hasn’t played yet, dealing with inflammation from his broken knee cap of a couple years ago that bothered him all last season and kept him out of the World Championship.
It’s important that he get back into form so that his presence, along with Matthew Schaefer, can convince Nikita Kucherov to come to Long Island in July 2027. Heh.