Islanders forwards Matias Maccelli, Calum Ritchie exit with injuries against Maple Leafs

· Yahoo Sports

The Islanders' poor injury luck continues.

Forwards Matias Maccelli and Calum Ritchie sustained lower-body injuries during Saturday's game against the Maple Leafs. Neither player returned to the game.

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Maccelli, 26, signed a one-year contract to join the Islanders this past offseason and has already been making his presence felt in his new sweater, with two goals and four assists in his first seven games.

Maccelli was handling the puck behind the net in the offensive zone when he lost his footing. His left leg buckled and he instantly went down in pain, unable to put any weight on it. He was helped off the ice and down the tunnel by his teammates.

 

 

Ritchie, 21, was drafted at the tail end of the 2023 NHL Draft's first round by the Colorado Avalanche. Ritchie was sent to New York as the headline of a package swapped for Brock Nelson.

Ritchie enjoyed a solid rookie season in 2025-26 with the Islanders, scoring 13 goals and adding 17 assists in 65 games.

His injury seemed less serious than Maccelli's. Ritchie was playing the puck up the boards at his own blue line and took a routine check into the boards. It was unclear exactly what he injured, but he was visibly shaken and skated off the ice hunched over.

Meanwhile, star centerman Mathew Barzal is still yet to return to the lineup as he works back from a knee injury that sidelined him for the final 31 games of last season.

Barzal did not travel to Canada for the team's two-game road trip, which concluded on Saturday night in Toronto.

Additionally, defenseman Alexander Romanov is expected to miss six-to-eight months following his recent ACL tear and subsequent surgery. Romanov missed the majority of last season with a shoulder injury he suffered in November of 2025.

Speaking of ACL tears, alternate captain Kyle Palmieri recently returned to the ice for the Isles.

Palmieri -- along with the rest of the healthy forwards in the lineup -- will need to pick up the slack as long as Maccelli and Ritchie are sidelined.

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