Engvall and Wahlstrom were placed on waivers by Isles

Friday brought a second straight sign that the Islanders are close to getting some of their injured players back in the lineup, perhaps as early as their next game Sunday afternoon in Chicago.

Forwards Pierre Engvall and Oliver Wahlstrom were placed on waivers, likely as a prelude to releasing their salaries in order to activate Mathew Barzal and/or Anthony Duclair from long-term injured reserve. Defender Adam Pelech also remains on injured reserve.

Placing Barzal and Duclair on LTIR gave the Islanders $88 million in salary cap relief.

Teams have until 2 p.m. Saturday to claim either Engvall, in the second season of a seven-year, $21 million contract, or Wahlstrom, the 11th pick in 2018 on a one-year, $1 contract to make million proof contract. If that doesn’t happen, they will likely be transferred to the Islanders’ AHL affiliate in Bridgeport.

Barzal, out since Oct. 30 with an upper-body injury, rejoined his teammates for Thursday morning’s skate before a 5-4 win over Chicago that evening at UBS Arena. Duclair, who suffered a lower-body injury on Oct. 19, and Pelech, who suffered a jaw injury on Nov. 1, had already rejoined their teammates on the ice earlier in the week. But neither wore an orange non-contact jersey on Friday. Barzal also wore a normal training jersey.

The Islanders are scheduled to practice Saturday before heading to Chicago. This meeting should give a clear indication of whether any of the three are ready to continue play.

“I think it’s exciting,” said Matt Martin, who received a one-year, $775,000 contract to add to his professional tryout offer after Barzal and Duclair were placed on LTIR. “Three of our top players. When you see them you can see where we are in the table. Not where we want to be, but we stayed afloat.”

The Islanders improved to 12-12-7 with Thursday’s win.

Adding Barzal and Duclair back into the lineup would change the Islanders roster. Both started the season alongside top center Bo Horvat. Their return would likely send Jean-Gabriel Pageau back to the third-line center, with Anders Lee joining him on the left wing and Simon Holmstrom presumably on the right. Casey Cizikas could reprise his long-standing role on the fourth line, likely alongside Martin and Kyle MacLean.

This would see Maxim Tsyplakov return to Brock Nelson’s second line with Kyle Palmieri.

“We already have an idea of ​​what we want to do,” coach Patrick Roy said. “But everything changes. That’s why I don’t like to go in and say, “Oh yeah, I think it’s going to be like this.” ”

Pelech’s return could prompt the Islanders to send rookie defenseman Isaiah George back to Bridgeport for consistent playing time. Or George could stay in the top six and either Dennis Cholowski or Grant Hutton could be sent down, with the other being the extra blueliner.

Engvall, who is expected to be a fixture in the Islanders’ top nine after signing his long-term deal, has already been to Bridgeport once this season and was sent off after a tepid training camp. Roy has always made it clear that Engvall needs to play a more aggressive game.

Engvall has three goals and three assists in 20 games. Wahlstrom has two goals and two assists in 27 games.

Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began covering the NHL in 2003 and previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.