Anthony Duclair To Miss Significant Time With Leg Injury

 

Following what appears to have been a left leg injury on Saturday against the Canadiens, winger Anthony Duclair will likely need a lengthy layoff, according to Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello, who spoke with media today (via Andrew Gross of Newsday). Lamoriello predicts that it won't be a season-ending absence, but additional testing tomorrow will provide a more precise date.

Duclair, 29, secured a four-year, $14 million contract in free agency during the summer, but he must now put his fresh start on Long Island on hold. Early on, he looked to match the criteria as he played top-line minutes alongside Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat, fulfilling expectations that he would be an impact player for a struggling Islanders offense. In five games, he recorded two goals and an assist while displaying excellent possession metrics.   the trio controlled 64.6% of expected goals together, per MoneyPuck.

He’s occasionally been a standout secondary goal-scorer without being much of a defensive liability, if at all. He’s historically posted slightly above-average possession metrics, but injuries and plain old consistency issues have led to wildly different year-to-year point totals. The Quebec native showed his ability to flourish in top-six usage as recently as the 2021-22 campaign when he had a career-high 31 goals and 58 points in 74 games for the Panthers.

But Duclair tore his Achilles tendon while training the following offseason, keeping him out for the vast majority of 2022-23. He wasn’t terribly effective after returning to play down the stretch, scoring only twice in 20 appearances. He’s flipped teams twice since then, first traded to the Sharks in a cap-dump deal over the 2023 offseason and again to the Lightning as a deadline rental last season

Prior to the trade, Duclair had registered 16 goals and 27 points in 56 games, doing the best he could on a vastly inferior Sharks shooting corps. But he had a scorching finish to the season in Tampa, where he played the top-line complimentary role that brought him so much success in South Florida, scoring eight goals and dishing out seven assists in 17 games. The Islanders had hoped to place him among their great forwards and see a similar pace of output from him, but instead they will be without him for a large chunk of the first year of his deal.

The future of this year's Islanders is uncertain for the time being. Once more, they have had difficulty scoring early on; with a 2.60 GF/GP, they are ranked 26th in the league. Certainly, missing Duclair for a long time won't make that any better. However, the Isles have demonstrated excellent possession play when playing at even strength, and Ilya Sorokin (.953 SV% in 2 GP) is providing them with excellent goaltending. Even with a poor offense, they have made the playoffs in the past thanks to a tried-and-true formula.

Lamoriello stated that the Islanders will replace Duclair on the roster later in the next few days with a forward who was called up from AHL Bridgeport. With today's news, Julien Gauthier, who is now on waivers, will not be remaining on the roster. If he is not claimed, he will be demoted based on performance and sent to Bridgeport. Additionally, he stated that veteran enforcer Matt Martin, who is still on PTO, is not currently a candidate for a contract. The call will be answered by an employee already in the company.

In terms of who replaces Duclair’s minutes alongside Barzal and Horvat, today’s line rushes indicated it’ll be Simon Holmström (via Stefen Rosner of NHL.com). The 2019 first-round pick has two assists and a +1 rating in five appearances this season while averaging 13:32 per game, seeing most of his time at right wing alongside Anders Lee and Jean-Gabriel Pageau.