Islanders center Calum Ritchie will miss the remaining games before the Olympic break due to an injury. The team is unsure of his return date and faces a lineup decision when he's healthy, considering recent trades and the return of other players.
will keep him out through the Olympic break, coach Patrick Roy said Saturday before the Islanders faced the Predators at UBS Arena. Including Saturday’s match, the Islanders have just four games left before the three-week break, which will see them return to practice a little over a week before resuming the season in Montreal on Feb.
26. Roy said that Ritchie “tried” to skate on his own Friday but it did not go well, so for the time being, he will stay off the ice. New York Islanders center Calum Ritchie moves the puck down ice as Tampa Bay Lightning center Jake Guentzel tries to defend during the third period at UBS Arena, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Elmont, NY.It’s not clear when exactly Ritchie suffered the injury, as he played his last shift with under three minutes to go in last Saturday’s loss to the Sabres. For the time being, however, the injury is allowing the Islanders to punt on what will be a tough lineup decision once the rookie centerman returns. Ondrej Palat via trade , and with Bo Horvat back healthy, it’s not entirely clear how the Islanders can make room for Ritchie in their lineup. Max Shabanov, who had a spot for most of the season, has sat two of three games since the Isles traded for Palat, with his only playing time coming Thursday night when Casey Cizikas was out sick. Ritchie, who has generally centered the second or third line, would need to either shift to the wing or the Islanders would need to shift someone else to the wing in order to accommodate him. Calum Ritchie of the New York Islanders scores a goal as Luke Glendening of the New Jersey Devils tries to defend during the third period when the New York Islanders defeated the New Jersey on January 6, 2026 at UBS Arena in Elmont, NY.It’s not at all obvious which winger would sit either, at least as long as the fourth line of Marc Gatcomb, Cizikas and Kyle MacLean continues to play well. Jonathan Drouin has gone a long period without scoring, but the Islanders clearly value the other aspects of his game enough that they are reluctant to make him a healthy scratch.Depending how circumstances shake out when Ritchie is ready to come back, it wouldn’t be a shock if the Islanders ended up sending him back to AHL Bridgeport to avoid a situation where the 21-year-old is not getting playing time. Shabanov drew back out as a healthy scratch. Since Carson Soucy was traded to the Islanders, he’s taken the bulk of Matthew Schaefer’s penalty kill minutes. Though the Islanders don’t have a hard target for Schaefer’s minutes, which average 24:02 per night, and Roy certainly has not hesitated to use him extensively, the head coach acknowledged that it would be a positive to lighten his workload on the PK. “He’s 18 years old, playing over 25, 27 minutes. At some point it might affect his play,” Roy said. “It’s nice for him to come straight to his five-on-five, the power play.” Aaron Glenn is off to a rocky start this offseason — but is there a pathway for Jets to fix it?
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