New York Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov made his return to competitive NHL action on Tuesday night, 662 days after his last appearance, stopping a difficult breakaway attempt from Rangers forward Alexis Lafrenière during a 4-3 preseason win at Madison Square Garden.
Varlamov, 38, last played on Nov. 29, 2024. Since then he has undergone two partial knee replacements in an effort to keep his career alive. He entered Tuesday’s game with 10:15 left in the second period, relieving starter Ilya Sorokin, and made seven saves the rest of the way.
The most notable stop came early in the third period, when Lafrenière split defensemen Kashawn Aitcheson and Scott Mayfield, shifted from backhand to forehand, and could not beat Varlamov, who tracked the play the whole way. Varlamov also made a strong save on a shot from Sean Durzi with about 2:40 remaining in the second period.
The appearance comes just over a week before the Islanders open their regular season against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Varlamov was drafted by the Washington Capitals in the first round in 2006 and later spent eight seasons with the Colorado Avalanche before joining the Islanders. He said last week that his decision to pursue the surgeries was “crazy,” calling it a “very risky idea,” but said he pursued it because he did not want to stop playing. Before his 2024 injury, he had gone 3-4-3 with an .889 save percentage that season.
His path back included a conditioning assignment with AHL Bridgeport late last season, during which he allowed three goals on 46 saves across two games and picked up both wins — an early sign that a full return might be possible. In the meantime, David Rittich served as Sorokin’s backup for the Islanders last season.
Even so, the team hedged this offseason by signing goaltender Vitek Vanecek to a one-year, $1 million free-agent deal. Head coach Patrick Roy’s staff has acknowledged that carrying three goaltenders “does handcuff you,” a possibility the team is still weighing.
Varlamov still needs to log a full preseason game later this week, among other steps, before his role as backup to Sorokin — worth an estimated 25 to 30 starts in a typical season — is fully settled. But Tuesday’s outing marked a concrete milestone in a recovery that, for a long stretch, looked like it might end his career.
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