What The Boychuk Injury Means Going Forward For The Islanders
The Islanders find themselves between yet another rock and a hard place, as they announced this afternoon that Johnny Boychuk will head to the IR with a shoulder injury, suffered on this play late in last night’s 2-1 win over Buffalo.
First off, that’s just a terrible place to find yourself in – A 7 year vet getting spun off by a 19 year old rookie.. yikes. I’m still trying to confirm it was the boards that caused the injury and not the embarrassment, but thats besides the point.
No timetable has been set as of right now, but I would expect JB55 to be missing a good amount of time after that one. [Ex: Connor McDavid suffered a similar injury on Nov. 3 and skated for the first time since, yesterday.] With Johnny out for at the very least a few days, Isles fans are treated to the call up of 21 year old, former 15th overall pick Ryan Pulock Adam Pelech.
It’s clear as day that Pelech was the safe choice over Pulock, whom all the fans wanted to see get that call, but at the end of the day Pelech proves to be not only the safe choice, but the smarter one as well.
Now now, I’m with you guys, I want Pulock to start clapping 108MPH slappers night in and night out as well, but Pelech knows his limits as a defender and has a game that best makes up for JB’s absence. And despite having just two games NHL experience, I oddly find myself trusting him as a bottom-pair defenseman over Pulock, who has yet to see any NHL action. Mix in the fact that Pelech will be splitting starts with Brian *gahhh* Strait, and Zids, I don’t mind leaving Pulock in the A if it means him missing the chance at 5 or 6 games over the next month or so.
An injury to a player of Boychuk’s caliber is a dagger no matter what, but with an Islanders team focusing on a stronger defensive effort this year, losing out on #55 for any amount of time is no bueno moving forward.
2016 is way overrated if you ask me.