New York Islanders News

Clutterbuck has not appeared in a game this season, because of a leg injury.

Palmieri left Sunday's game against the Jets and did not return. He has no points and eight shots in the Ducks first three games.

Clutterbuck who has been practicing lately is nearing a return, but is not quite ready. He could be back on Friday vs. the Blackhawks.

Varlamov has had a great start to the season. He has gotten off to a 2-0 start with a 1.00 GAA and .968 SV%. He will go up against the 3-0 Maple Leafs who have scored 3.67 goals per game so far.

Clutterbuck was originally expected to miss close to a month, but apparently he is only going to have missed the Isles first two games. Even if he does not play on Tuesday expect him to be back in the lineup Friday vs. Chicago.

Varlamov was outstanding versus the Ducks in the Avs season opener. He allowed just one goal on 36 shots in Colorado's 6-1 rout. He will face a Predators team who saw Pekka Rinne get chased in the first period last night.

Clutterbuck is still a few weeks away from returning, but this is a positive sign for the Islanders.

The off-season acquisition practiced on a line with Casey Cizikas and Peter Regin. Clutterbuck was wearing a non-contact jersey during the skate. On Saturday, the former Minnesota Wild winger was put on injured reserve retroactive to September 17.

The 25-year-old Varlamov struggled in his second season in Colorado, going 11-21-3 with a 3.02 GAA and .903 SV%. He now has one of the greatest goalies of all-time, Patrick Roy as his new head coach so that should certainly help him in 2013-14.

The 25-year-old Varlamov struggled in his second season in Colorado, going 11-21-3 with a 3.02 GAA and .903 SV%. He now has one of the greatest goalies of all-time, Patrick Roy as his new head coach so that should certainly help him in 2013-14.

Drouin was the third overall pick in this year's draft and had been playing on a line with Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis in the preseason, will not be fantasy relevant this season.

With Dustin Penner struggling on Perry and Getzlaf's line he was replaced with Palmieri at today's practice.

Drouin is still skating with St. Louis and Stamkos as he was at the start of training camp. If he can land this gig on the top-line, it would do a ton for his fantasy value. St. Louis and Stamkos finished first and second in scoring last season so there would be a lot of opportunity for Drouin to produce.

All we knew was that Clutterbuck was going to "miss some time", now the 4 to 6 week recovery period could have him missing the first 10 games of the season. Clutterbuck could potentially see time on a line with Jonathan Tavares this season. The two were line mates when they played for the Oshawa Generals. Playing with Tavares would make Clutterbuck's fantasy value way higher than it has ever been, so monitor his situation after he has recovered from the injury.

Clutterbuck arrived to New York as a restricted free agent, the return for Nino Niederreiter in a trade this summer and then signed a four-year, $11 million deal. There's no real clear indication of how much time is an "extended" amount but it doesn't give the impression that Clutterbuck is going to be back by the start of the season in two weeks but you never know.

Clutterbuck is useful in the hit category only when it comes to fantasy.

Varlamov didn't allow a goal on six shots and recorded the win in a relief effort last night. He will start in the season finale tonight against a desperate Minnesota club.

Varlamov allowed four goals on 24 shots in a loss to Edmonton last Friday. He is not a great fantasy option and the matchup tomorrow is a tough one. Look elsewhere.

The Islanders are calling it an upper-body injury and said he will be evaluated Wednesday.