Mathew Barzal, Matias Maccelli and Ryan Pulock return to practice for the Islanders

It’s not necessarily a sign of impending returns to the lineup but the Islanders did have some encouraging signs for Wednesday’s practice at Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow.

Top-six forward Mathew Barzal, out since the first day of training camp with a left knee issue, took to the ice in a red, non-contact jersey. He was joined by top-six forward Matias Maccelli (lower body) and defenseman Ryan Pulock (upper body).

Maccelli had worked himself back onto Bo Horvat’s top line and was being used on the first power-play unit before being injured in Toronto on Oct. 17. He was expected to miss two to four weeks.

Pulock was injured early in the first period in Minnesota on Thursday and was also expected to miss two to four weeks.

Both Pulock and Maccelli were also in red, non-contact practice jerseys.

Barzal has been skating on his own. He initially hurt his left kneecap blocking a shot on Feb. 1, 2025, required surgery and missed the rest of that season. But he returned to play 81 games last season with a team-high 53 assists and 72 points before not passing his medical testing prior to training camp because of inflammation.

The Islanders are also without second-line center Cal Ritchie (lower body), who was also hurt on Oct. 17 and was expected to miss four to six weeks. He has not resumed skating.

Defenseman Alexander Romanov (right knee) was injured on Oct. 6 and will likely miss the rest of the regular season.

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.