Ex Blackhawk Anthony Duclair Out Long-Term leaving the Islanders, and Patrick Roy shorthanded
A former Blackhawk winger, Anthony Duclair will be out long-term thanks to an injury suffered against the Montreal Canadiens this weekend. According to GM Lou Lamiorello, the injury will not be season-ending, fortunately.
Duclair was signed to help give the New York Islanders some more depth in the team's top nine, which already features Brock Nelson, Bo Horvat, Matthew Barzal, and Anders Lee.
This season, the forward's season has been put to a halt before he could get five games played this season.
The last time Duclair was out long-term was in 2022-2023, where he would play only 20 regular-season games, and return in time for the Panthers Stanley Cup matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights.
He'd be a key piece in that run scoring 11 points( 4 G, 7 A) in 20 games, and then find himself on the San Jose Sharks in 2023-2024, missing a Stanley Cup with the team by a year.
He's been struggling to return to form since the three years he put together a solid run starting in Ottawa and leveraging that into a contract with Florida.
Duclair recently signed a 4-year, $14 Million dollar deal in Long Island with an AAV of $3.5 Million.
The Isles were hopeful he could find the brilliance that led him to score 58 points( 31 G, 27 A) in Florida in 2021-202, under Head Coach Andrew Brunette. But has dealt with lingering injuries, and struggled to put it together on an underwhelming San Jose Sharks team, scoring only 27 points( 16 G, 11 A) before being dealt to Tampa Bay, and running hot on the top line the last 17 games of 2023-2024, scoring 15 points( 8 G, 7 A) in 17 games.
Duclair could come back healthy and help the Islanders dominate the NHL again if he can play like he did with the Lightning and the Panthers.
For now, he'll have to watch from afar and see if the Isles have what it takes to stay relevant in a highly competitive Eastern Conference.
