Who knows whether his comeback is ultimately successful. Who can even say what success would look like in this context. The fact that Varlamov was even trying, and had gotten as far as practicing in recent weeks, had his teammates and general manager blown away.<\/p>\n
![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/20241019_IslandersCanadiens_013CS.jpg\")
Goalie Semyon Varlamov looks on during the second period of the Islanders\u2019 win over the Canadiens on Oct. 19, 2024 at UBS arena. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s Iron Man,\u201d Ilya Sorokin said. \u201cTotally. He\u2019s a big professional. He works hard. Every day that I see on the rink is positive. A good mind. Can\u2019t wait for when I see him in a game.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have so much respect for him,\u201d David Rittich said. \u201cNot just me. From every single guy in this room. Even through the tough times, still trying to get back. Nothing but respect to Varly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since he\u2019s on a conditioning loan, Varlamov isn\u2019t eligible to play in the postseason with Bridgeport. He\u2019ll be there for just six days, with the possibility to play a second game over the weekend if things go well.<\/p>\n
Darche declined to say whether Varlamov \u2014 whose two knee replacements were revealed unwittingly by then-coach Patrick Roy earlier this season \u2014 had the same knee replaced twice or both done separately. But he did say that Varlamov \u201chad procedures on both of his knees.\u201d<\/p>\n
Exactly how that impacts the Islanders\u2019 plans at goaltender, where Rittich is an unrestricted free agent, is unclear. <\/p>\n
General manager Mathieu Darche said Varlamov is considered an option going forward, but it\u2019s hard to believe the Islanders can go into next year without Rittich \u2014 or someone of similar standing \u2014 given the total unknown around Varlamov.<\/p>\n
![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/20241125NYIVDET01107RS-1.jpg\")
Semyon Varlamov makes a stop on a shot by J.T. Compher during the Islanders\u2019 loss to the Red Wings on Nov. 25, 2024 at UBS Arena. Robert Sabo for NY Post<\/p>\n
Still, it says a whole lot that he\u2019s trying.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe might play one game this weekend and see where it goes for next year,\u201d Darche said. \u201cBut I\u2019m telling you, from what the doctors were saying to where he is \u2014 it\u2019s like Gabe Landeskog [in Colorado]. For three years, he didn\u2019t play, people said he\u2019s done. Now he\u2019s playing hockey. A lot of credit to Varly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tony DeAngelo and Rittich, both pending unrestricted free agents, said they wanted to return to the Islanders next season.<\/p>\n
Cal Ritchie, Isaiah George, Victor Eklund and Liam Foudy will all rejoin AHL Bridgeport for the playoffs. Ritchie played just three games in the AHL this season before being called up, but the Islanders want him to get playoff experience.<\/p>\n
Matthew Schaefer, Adam Pelech, Emil Heineman and Simon Holmstrom all said they were open to playing at World Championships if asked. Bo Horvat did not rule it out, but having played in the Olympics, said the year \u201chas been a lot. Not only physically, but mentally, it\u2019s been a long year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ryan Pulock was dealing with knee and shoulder injuries and \u201changing by a thread\u201d at the end of the season, according to Darche. Pulock said he expects to be ready for camp, but the shoulder may need surgery to resolve. The knee is more of a \u201clittle issue,\u201d Pulock said, which came up in the last few weeks, whereas the shoulder was a season-long problem.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOn the ice from Long Island\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Islanders by Ethan Sears, a weekly Sports+ exclusive.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
DeAngelo has been dealing with a groin issue, and Max Shabanov with a rib injury, Darche said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kyle Palmieri (torn ACL) said he has a couple months left of rehab, but is optimistic about having a normal summer after that and should be back for training camp.<\/p>\n
Alexander Romanov (shoulder) confirmed that he had a good chance of returning had the Islanders made the playoffs, and expects to have a fairly normal offseason.<\/p>\n
Quinn Finley, whose season at Wisconsin ended last weekend at the Frozen Four, is also headed to Bridgeport. Finley signed a two-year entry-level deal Wednesday morning that begins next season, and will sign an ATO to join Bridgeport this year. The 2022 third-rounder had 33 points in 37 college games this season.<\/p>\n
2025 second-round pick Daniil Prokhorov left to come over from Russia on Wednesday, though it is not clear if he will play right away at Bridgeport.<\/p>\n
No decisions have been made as yet on the assistant coaching staffs or front office staffs. Darche and coach Pete DeBoer will meet over the next few days on the coaching staff; Darche said he liked his staff in the front office, but stopped short of saying definitively that they will all return.<\/p>\n
Darche clarified that there are no plans for Roy to stay with the organization in a scouting capacity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"No one but no one would have blinked twice had Semyon Varlamov decided, off two knee replacements, to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":553549,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5110],"tags":[5,122,3328,159,5190,5189,4,6235,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-553548","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-islanders","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-islanders","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-islanders","12":"tag-newyork","13":"tag-newyorkislanders","14":"tag-nhl","15":"tag-semyon-varlamov","16":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116411826037973008","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=553548"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553548\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/553549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=553548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=553548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=553548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}