New York Islanders fans hold their breath as Semyon Varlamov returns to practice after two knee replacement surgeries. Can the veteran goaltender reclaim his spot next season, or will David Rittich remain the reliable backup heading into the critical final stretch? The fate of Varlamov’s contract hangs in the balance, raising questions about Mathieu Darche’s offseason strategy and the need for a fresh backup solution.
Gil Martin dissects Max Shabanov’s lower body injury, shifting line combinations, and what Patrick Roy’s latest tweaks mean for the Islanders playoff hopes. Spotlighting Bo Horvat, Matthew Barzal, and Ondrej Palat’s new roles, the episode previews a pivotal eastern Canadian road trip, with Ottawa as a make-or-break matchup. Will the Islanders’ defensive pairings—especially Scott Mayfield and Carson Soucy—hold up under pressure? Don’t miss this breakdown of injury news, roster moves, and the high-stakes battles ahead for the New York Islanders.
All this and more on today’s bonus episode of the Locked On Islanders Podcast with Gil Martin.
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13 Comments
Two knee replacements? Semyon, you've been great. Good luck with your health, but it's time to retire
Semyon has "knee"monia
retire
Dmitry Gamzin is signed through 2028 in the KHL and is 22 years old. So they really need to plan on covering the next two years with someone not named Varlamov or Hogberg as G2. Need 2 of 3 on this trip with one of the wins vs Ottawa
Wishing Varly the best, but I can’t recall any NHL player returning to play after a total knee replacement. LGI
Interesting lines…. I always like the chemistry of JGP n Holmstrom…. I thought Schen would be a good mentor for Ritchie…. We will see how that goes! Every game is huge at this stage especially with how close this race is. I feel The Leafs GM has burned to many bridges! That was a horrible hit on AM and now I really feel AM is disgusted with the leafs and at this point would not be surprised to see AM traded! Don’t like that we keep collecting older players and I do hope to see Eklund and perhaps Aitcheson on the team next year.
Hes just riding out the rest of the contract. He's not walking away from the money.
Varly is tying to colllect for aslong as he can , that insane contract lou gave him $$$$
Knee replacements are better than the used to be. But we are talking about a professional athlete. I am from Missouri on this. Show me. I do not think this can work.
2 Things:
1. We would ALL lace up our skates for 3.5 Mil a year.. Don’t blame him for the world.. Thanks for the memories Varly!
2. What about signing UFA Akira Schmid on the cheap! The guy is 25-26 years old.. Always KILLS the Rags.. Married a Long Island girl.. He was 12-2-2 Until Vegas traded away Whitecloud. Anyway.. I think he’s be an AWESOME back up to Soro!
you were good for trotz a few years back. but face it 40 you are broken down and need to hang it up. still one more year left is an enticing nugget to 'try' to return
Put him on the power play… could he be worse?
Give Rittich a 2 million 1 year deal.