Islanders Should Send Down Grant Hutton Over Travis Mitchell With Alex Romanov Back

When the New York Islanders lost three defensemen to injuries in their 4-3 win against the Buffalo Sabres on Nov. 1, general manager Lou Lamoriello recalled Grant Hutton to help fill one of the holes.

After being recalled on Nov. 2 and playing well enough over seven games, with two assists averaging 14:02 minutes per game, he'll be out of the lineup on Tuesday night against the Flames.

Alexander Romanov will return to the lineup after an upper-body injury, per Newsday's Andrew Gross and The New York Post's Ethan Sears.

While Hutton certainly made the case to stay in, Romanov's return allows Ryan Pulock to return to his natural right side -- he was playing his off-side -- with Dennis Cholowski remaining in on the left of Scott Mayfield.

Related: Romanov Back As Regular At Islanders Practice In Calgary, Skating With Dobson

Travis Mitchell, who hasn't played but was recalled to serve as the seventh defenseman in the last two games, would likely be the defenseman sent back to Bridgeport.

But the Islanders should send Hutton back instead, and here's why.

While both players are waiver-exempt right now, Hutton is much closer to needing it than Mitchell.

The rule is that if a player stays on an NHL roster for 30 accumulative days or plays in 10 games, they'll require waivers to return to the American Hockey League.

Hutton has spent 18 days on the roster and has played in seven games.

Although sending Hutton down on off days, like Wednesday or Friday, doesn't ultimately save the day, it delays the inevitable and could play a major difference, depending on how much more time Adam Pelech needs as he works his way back from a jaw injury.

While Hutton passed through waivers before the start of the season -- that was at a time when every team was cutting their roster to try and get salary-cap compliant -- his strong play and the fact that he's a big right-shot defenseman would make the odds high that another team snags him.

Given the Islanders' defensive depth or lack thereof, they can't really afford that to happen.