Camp Opens With the Same Six Names Still Missing

I wrote the injury note in mid-August and the situation hasn't moved. Barzal, Engvall, Palmieri, Pulock, Romanov, Varlamov — all unavailable, no meaningful update on return timelines for any of them. That's the team's leading scorer, its most reliable defensive pairing, and its starting goaltender, all heading into camp in the same condition they were in three weeks ago.

The front office has done what it can around the edges. DeAngelo is re-signed. Matthew Schaefer, who put together one of the more remarkable rookie seasons a defenseman has had in recent memory, is healthy and in camp. The pipeline got some attention this summer — new AHL GM, Tikkanen on a new deal in Bridgeport, Gustafsson developing overseas. That's real work. It just doesn't answer the immediate question, which is how you ice a functional roster in October when this many core pieces have no clear return date.

The roster that finished 43-39 was already leaning hard on close-game execution to stay afloat — 63% in one-goal games, which is a number that tends not to repeat. When the offense dried up late in the season, there was nothing underneath it. That vulnerability doesn't get better with six fewer contributors available at the start of camp. My read is that the Islanders are in a genuine hold-your-breath situation until Barzal and Pulock at minimum have some kind of timeline attached to them. Right now, they don't.