The Islanders activated defenseman Adam Pelech off long-term injured reserve ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Canucks, returning No. 3 to the lineup after missing 20 games with an upper-body injury.
Pelech is believed to have hurt his wrist on Nov. 24 in Ottawa, a win over the Senators in which Sebastian Aho was also injured.
Since then, the Islanders have played constantly with multiple defensemen out of the lineup, as Ryan Pulock joined Pelech on LTIR before Aho even returned.
Robert Bortuzzo — one of two defensemen brought in to help plug the gaps along with Mike Reilly — is also on IR after suffering a lower-body injury last week.
The 29-year-old Pelech has long been the Islanders’ best defensive defensemen, and his return on a pair with Scott Mayfield should help shore up a defense that has struggled badly all season.
Now would be an especially good time for the Isles to start making life easier for Ilya Sorokin, as the netminder’s workload has increased due to a lower-body injury suffered by Semyon Varlamov a week ago in Colorado.
Varlamov was moved to IR on Tuesday to clear a roster spot for Pelech.
Since the move was retroactive to Jan. 2, he can be activated at anytime.
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