NY Islanders Share Matias Maccelli & Calum Ritchie Return Timetables

The New York Islanders suffered two significant losses from their lineup in their most recent game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

It was impressive that the Islanders were able to come away with a 4-1 victory despite not having two key top-six forwards early in the game. Calum Ritchie, the No. 2 center, played only 28 seconds before exiting with a lower-body injury.

Later in the period, Matias Maccelli also suffered a lower-body injury that knocked him out of the game. He needed assistance from his teammates to get off the ice, which was certainly not a great visual.

Now, the Islanders know how long they are going to be without both players. As shared by Andrew Gross of Newsday, New York will be without both of them for multiple weeks. Ritchie has a 4-to-6-week timetable to return, while Maccelli will be sidelined 2 to 4 weeks.

Islanders lose Matias Maccelli and Calum Ritchie to multi-week injuries

Ritchie hasn’t been producing as much as the team had hoped, and is averaging 12:11 of ice time per game, which is the least of any skater thus far this season. But head coach Peter DeBoer did give him a vote of confidence when he wasn’t moved out of the No. 2 center spot despite recent line shakeups.

He is being replaced as the No. 2 center by one of his linemates, Brayden Schenn. He is moving to the middle, with Emil Heineman taking over at left wing and Victor Eklund on the right wing.

Maccelli has been excellent through the first eight games of the season after signing with the team as a free agent. He has been a source of offensive production regardless of where he has been deployed in the lineup.

Through eight games, he was third on the team with six points, behind only Captain Bo Horvat, who has nine, and defenseman Matthew Schaefer, who has seven. His plus/minus of +3 is fourth on the team behind defenseman Logan Stanley (+7), Horvat (+4) and Casey Cizikas (+4).

Others are going to have to step up in his absence and help create some offense. That has been a challenge at points already this season, so not having Maccelli in the mix is a huge blow to the team.

It will be interesting to see if general manager Mathieu Darche goes outside of the organization to find some more help. The Islanders are now down three players who were projected as top-six forwards, with Maccelli and Ritchie joining Mathew Barzal on the sidelines.

Barzal has yet to appear in a game, working his way back from a knee injury. New York also lost defenseman Alexander Romanov to an ACL injury that will keep him sidelined for 6 to 8 months, placing him on IR.