Could the Islanders' uptick of injuries be connected to new training camp rules?

We wondered during training camp whether the shortened preseason and limited on-ice testing would lead to more injuries once the NHL regular season started.

We’re still wondering.

Add defenseman Ryan Pulock to the growing list of significant injuries suffered by the Islanders just a month into the expanded 84-game schedule.

The team announced on Sunday that Pulock will be sidelined two to four weeks with an upper-body injury. He missed Saturday’s 4-0 loss to the Oilers at UBS Arena after getting hurt early in the first period of Thursday’s 4-3 overtime win in Minnesota.

The Islanders have until Thursday, when they face the defending Stanley Cup champion Hurricanes, to iron out this lineup issue.

Isaiah George, a healthy scratch against the Oilers after being recalled from the Islanders’ AHL affiliate in Hamilton, Ontario, while Matt Kessel dressed, was returned to the Hammers on Sunday.

That’s likely to give the 22-year-old George, who suffered an upper-body injury on Oct. 9, more playing time. He was in the lineup on Sunday against Utica, and Hamilton also will host Toronto on Wednesday.

Pulock, hampered by a shoulder injury at the end of last season that required offseason surgery, appeared to grab toward his left shoulder after a check from Blake Coleman 44 seconds into Thursday’s game. He exited after his second shift.

The Islanders already are without defenseman Alexander Romanov (right knee), injured three games in and likely unavailable for the rest of the season. Top-six forwards Matias Maccelli and Cal Ritchie suffered lower-body injuries five games later in Toronto on Oct. 17.

Maccelli, who has resumed skating on his own, was expected to miss two to four weeks. Ritchie, who remains off the ice, was expected to miss four to six weeks.

The Islanders will have Emil Heineman available against the Hurricanes. The top-six forward did not receive supplemental discipline from the NHL after he was ejected at 2:22 of the first period for drawing a five-minute kneeing penalty on the Oilers’ Isaac Howard, who missed the rest of the game.

 So, back to the wondering.

Newsday asked coach Pete DeBoer if he sees a correlation between the shortened training camp (two weeks instead of three and with a ban on certain on- and off-ice testing) and preseason (four games instead of six) and the Islanders’ spate of injuries.

“It’s a good question,” DeBoer said. “I don’t know. I don’t think so, that’s my gut. You look around the league, there’s a ton of injuries. I don’t think it’s a shorter camp. Honestly, some of the practices you would do during that three-week camp and the extra exhibition games were sometimes, I felt, as dangerous or more dangerous for getting guys hurt than regular-season games.

“It seems to be one of those years. The game is getting faster, more physical every year, and these guys are finely tuned machines. I just think it’s part of the process.”

The NFL went through a similar change after its 2011 collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Players Association. Two-a-day padded practices during training camp were eliminated and full-contact drills were restricted.

Injury rates, particularly soft-tissue and lower-body issues, were documented to increase in the first few years after the new CBA. However, there has been no documented rise in injury rates since the NFL reduced its preseason from four games to three in 2021.

So we still wonder.

It’s not just the Islanders’ NHL roster taking a hit. Hamilton has been plagued by early-season injuries beyond George’s, including a head injury recently suffered by defenseman Marshall Warren (Laurel Hollow).

Cole Eiserman, the 20th overall pick in 2024, also was not in Sunday’s lineup with an upper-body issue.

It will take a couple of seasons of collecting injury data to determine the real effect of a shorter training camp on hockey players.

Right now, that’s not what the Islanders’ players are thinking about.

Right now, it’s all about collecting themselves after what DeBoer described as a “fatigued” performance against the Oilers.

“It was a tough road trip [2-1-0] we came back from,” captain Bo Horvat said. “We have some time off here. We’ve got to regroup and get ready for our next game.”

“These next few days will be good to regroup and come back to work as a team,” Jean-Gabriel Pageau said. “Get some rest at the same time.”

And then it will be time to wonder how the Islanders will get by without Pulock in the lineup.

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.