Islanders To Miss Streit, Okposo For Extended Periods Of Time

The New York Islanders were hardly expected to win the Stanley Cup this year. Making the playoffs alone was a far-reaching goal. But to obtain some marked improvement over their 26th place showing in the standings last year was on the radar. And it would take the great play from all of the assets on this rebuilding squad to accomplish that.

That could become a difficult task this year now that the Islanders will go extended periods of time without their top defenseman (and perhaps best player) and top right wing. Both Mark Streit and Kyle Okposo sustained devastating injuries in training camp that will have the latter out of the lineup an indefinite amount of time and the former perhaps for the entire season.

Streit was the first one to go down after receiving a cross-check from teammate Matt Moulson in a morning intrasquad scrimmage this past Saturday that sent him awkwardly into the boards. Tests would reveal that Streit suffered a torn labrum and rotator cuff in his left shoulder – an injury that will require surgery putting Streit out for at least six months, according to Newsday.

"I don't think anyone replaces him," Islanders Head Coach Scott Gordon said. "You're talking about a guy that was in the top three in scoring on our team as a defenseman. That's pretty hard to match that; guys that do that are all-stars. I like who we have, but you can't expect them to be Mark Streit."

The Islanders brought in several new faces to the defense corps over the summer, including Milan Jurcina and Mark Eaton as free agents and James Wisniewski in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks. On Monday, General Manager Garth Snow also pulled the trigger on a two year contract for Mike Mottau, who spent the past three seasons with the New Jersey Devils. But as Gordon stated, none of those guys can match what Streit brings to the table. They can only hope to lessen the blow.

Streit was officially joined on the shelf Tuesday by Okposo after a weekend of evaluations revealed that the 22-year old needed surgery for a torn labrum in his right shoulder. There is no definitive timeline for Okposo’s return. However, Newsday estimates he will be out of the lineup for two-to-three months. That would put him out until at least very late-November.

Okposo is also believed to have injured his shoulder during a team scrimmage. Katie Strang notes that this injury was suffered last Thursday and was believed to have occured "when Okposo extended his arm to reach back for a puck."

The former-first overall selection by the Islanders back in 2007 has steadily grown into a strong offensive weapon on Long Island. He posted career-highs last year in goals (19), assists (33), points (52), power play points (22) and game-winning scored (4). When put together on a line with John Tavares and Matt Moulson, Okposo truly excelled as a good all-around talent and should have continued developing down that path on the same line this upcoming season. Unfortunately, he will now have to wait a few months to see if his progress and chemistry with those linemates grows further moving forward.