Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock skated in a regular jersey at Thursday’s practice, Denis Gorman of Newsday reports, indicating he may be ready to return when the Islanders return to action Sunday against the Stars.
Pulock, 30, has not played since sustaining an upper-body injury on his first shift in New York’s game against the Hurricanes on Jan. 25. He missed seven games leading into the 4 Nations break, which was conveniently timed to cover most of his recovery period.
The Isles are still nowhere close to fully healthy on their blue line. No. 1 defender Noah Dobson, who hasn’t skated since being designated week-to-week with a lower-body injury last month, remains on long-term injured reserve alongside Mike Reilly, whose availability down the stretch remains doubtful after undergoing heart surgery in November. Nonetheless, Pulock remains a heavy minute-muncher for the Isles, averaging 21:55 over 48 appearances this season. His return to a top-four role will allow for easier assignments for overseas signing Tony DeAngelo, trade acquisition Scott Perunovich, and waiver claim Adam Boqvist – all of whom were brought in over the weeks leading up to the break to give them much-needed depth in the wake of Dobson’s and Pulock’s absences.
Pulock isn’t the routine 30-point defender he was early in his career, but he remains a serviceable top-four option. He has 3-13–16 with a plus-seven rating and ranks second on the team with 105 blocks. The latter stat indicates Pulock’s continued struggles to control possession over the past few seasons. He’s logged a Corsi share of 47.2% and an expected rating of -5.8 at even strength this year, both of which rank in the bottom half of Islanders skaters. His usual pairing with Adam Pelech has remained stout defensively but struggles to generate scoring chances, leading to a subpar xGF% of 48.2, per MoneyPuck. They’ve been the lowest-event duo of the four Islanders pairings to log at least 150 minutes together in 2024-25.
His return comes as the Islanders look to continue the momentum generated by an 8-3-0 run leading into the 4 Nations break, which put them back within shouting distance of a playoff spot. They’re four points back of the Red Wings for the final wild-card position but don’t have any games in hand and need to leapfrog the Rangers, Bruins, and Blue Jackets as well. It won’t be easy, but getting him (and Scott Mayfield, who missed their last four games with a lower-body issue) back in the lineup gives them veteran stability as they look to gain ground down the stretch.