Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s Expected Return

Jean-Gabriel Pageau is anticipated to make a comeback from his upper-body injury by Christmas, according to Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche, who spoke on Wednesday before the team’s 3-1 defeat to the Bruins.

Pageau was designated as week-to-week prior to Saturday’s loss against the Blues due to an exacerbated old injury. Fortunately, there are no long-term worries regarding his recovery.

“Week-to-week is definitely longer than daily updates, but it’s not like we’re looking at months,” Darche explained. “We’ll monitor his progress. I think he’ll be back in two to three weeks, maybe even sooner. There’s no cause for concern. He doesn’t need surgery or anything drastic. It’s just a matter of some healing.”

This news comes as a relief for the Islanders, who are eager to have Pageau back as soon as possible. In his absence, Cal Ritchie has stepped up to the third-line center position, while Casey Cizikas has shifted to the fourth line, and Maxim Tsyplakov has rejoined the lineup.

In a different situation, Semyon Varlamov’s status is still uncertain. There isn’t a clear timeline for his return following knee surgery, and Darche refrained from indicating whether Varlamov will miss the entire season.

“He’s taking some shots under controlled conditions with the goalie coach,” Darche noted. “I want to remind Varley to give it his all; this is a serious rehabilitation process. We’re providing him with all the support possible. We’ll see how it unfolds.”

Darche mentioned that the Islanders currently have around four or five analytics staff, including director of hockey analytics Adam Gomez, and he plans to add another soon.

“I expect it will take some time to reach our goal, but we have made notable progress recently,” Darche shared. “…We’re expanding our analytics department. We have a significant amount of data now, but modernizing this area is quite an undertaking. We’re on it, but it will take a few months, which is why we’re hiring.”

Darche has been actively scouting prospects, traveling to places like South Bend, Indiana, and Barrie, Ontario, to see Danny Nelson and Ka’Shawn Aitchison play this season. He’s set to attend the Saturday night game between Boston College and Cornell at Madison Square Garden, where he’ll be observing players such as Cole Yzerman, Kamil Bednarik, and Xavier Veil, among others.

Speaking of Yzerman, who has recently faced an injury layoff, Darche remarked that he is “recovering well.”

As expected, Darche confirmed that Matthew Schaefer will not play for Canada at the World Junior Championships.