It took nearly two years and two partial knee replacements for Semyon Varlamov to get to this point. It took 662 days from his last NHL game — Nov. 29, 2024 — until Tuesday night, when he was staring down Alexis Lafrenière on a breakaway early in the third period in his most difficult chance since completing his improbable return.
Lafrenière had split Kashawn Aitcheson and Scott Mayfield. He moved to his backhand and then went back to his forehand. But Varlamov followed him the whole way, turning aside the shot during the Islanders’ 4-3 preseason win over the Rangers on Tuesday at the Garden.
He didn’t face many chances after taking over for Ilya Sorokin with 10:15 left in the second, only needing to make 10 saves, but it marked another promising step for Varlamov just over one week before their season opener.
“I haven’t played for a while in this league,” Varlamov said, “and, for me, it was a very special moment.”
By the time the second period dipped under 12 minutes, Varlamov had replaced his baseball hat with his goalie helmet on the Islanders’ bench. He shook his blocker, fixed his glove and then grabbed his stick as play continued, inching closer to the point when he’d finally enter. Then he skated onto the ice, tapped gloves with Sorokin as they crossed paths and returned to an NHL crease.
Through his grueling recovery, Varlamov, 38, found a way to keep his vision for inching back to the Islanders intact. He still has plenty of boxes left to check before his role is solidified. There’s a massive gap between splitting a preseason game and making 25 to 30 starts as the primary backup to Sorokin, but Varlamov said that he doesn’t need to manage his knees at this point. He also made a strong save on a tough shot from Sean Durzi with around 2:40 left in the second period.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” Varlamov said. “I don’t have to do anything. The knees are feeling good, and I just have to play a few games before the season. Next time, I’ll be playing the full game, and then I really want to see how everything responds — it’ll be important for me to get through the game and get the full game to play.”
Varlamov admitted last week that his thought for the surgeries was “crazy,” a “very risky idea” and something that he knew he wanted to try because — despite a lengthy career that began with the Capitals as a first-round pick in 2006 and also included an eight-year run with the Avalanche — he didn’t want to stop playing. When he got injured in 2024, Varlamov had gone 3-4-3 with an .889 save percentage to start the season.
But it took time for Varlamov’s vision for his recovery to take tangible steps. It required David Rittich backing up Sorokin last year, though Varlamov managed to log a pair of games with AHL Bridgeport at the end of last season while on a conditioning assignment. He allowed three goals, made 46 saves, picked up a pair of wins and, perhaps most importantly, demonstrated that his improbable return actually had a realistic chance of happening.
The Islanders still braced for the worst in the offseason, inking Vitek Vanecek to a one-year deal worth $1 million in free agency. They could keep three goaltenders on their roster, though DeBoer admitted that it “does handcuff you.”
But by making his expected return to an NHL-level game, Varlamov demonstrated that he’s one step closer to stepping back into his Islanders role that — for the longest time — seemed like it was in jeopardy. And the scene once the final horn sounded at the Garden, as his Islanders teammates — starting with Matthew Schaefer, Adam Pelech and Casey Cizikas — gave Varlamov long embraces, captured the weight of the moment.
“Just really impressive when you think about what he’s gone through in the last year, how hard he’s worked to come back, even the situation tonight — he’s playing the second half of the game, so he’s going in there cold,” head coach Pete DeBoer said. “And to play like he did, I think it’s inspirational to our group.”
