Johnny Boychuk Injury: Now what?

Next man up.Though they have extra days of rest while their next opponent plays at least two more games, the New York Islanders’ challenge in the second round just got a little bit harder.

The Islanders announced Johnny Boychuk, who left Game 4 in their sweep of the Pittsburgh Penguins, will miss an expected three to four weeks.

That means he is certainly out for the second round. What does that mean for the defense?

The left-shooting but fairly versatile Thomas Hickey is the likely replacement, but that doesn’t mean he slots right in on the pairing with Nick Leddy. When Hickey returned from his December injury and Boychuk was held out of some games after returning from his, the Islanders did…