The Reality Of The Islanders’ Backup Goalie Situation
The Islanders haven’t ruled out a David Rittich return, but Semyon Varlamov’s recovery remains the biggest factor in their backup goalie plans for 2026-27.
As I reported yesterday, the sense I get is that New York Islanders have not closed the door on bringing back pending unrestricted free agent goaltender David Rittich.
There’s one big question mark in the air and that’s the status of Semyon Varlamov.
It sounds like the Islanders will continue to monitor the 38-year-old veteran’s health and rehab before making a final decision on who will back up Vezina-finalist netminder Ilya Sorokin in 2026-27.
I’ve heard things are going incredibly well with Varlamov’s rehab, so that’s great to hear.
Varlamov, who has two seasons left on his deal at $2.75 million annually, hasn’t played in an NHL game since Nov. 29, 2024.
Rittich, who went 14-10-3 this past season, with a 2.76 GAA and an .894 SV%, just completed a one-year deal worth $1 million annually.
Despite not being a factor for the Islanders this past season, Varlamov took massive — and I mean massive — strides this past season in his recovery, ending on a fanttastic notes with two strong rehab starts with Bridgeport.
Varlamov stopped a combined 46 of 49 and looked like himself, especially in his final start, turning aside 28 of 29 shots that came his way, some of the acrobatic variety.
A 38-year-old goaltender coming back from double knee surgery is not only extremely rare. Varlamov might be the first ever, if he gets back to the NHL level which is definitely more likely now than it was a year ago when we broke for 2025’s summer vacation.
While many have doubted Varlamov through this whole process — my hand is raised — Varlamov never doubted himself.
I’ll never forget when we spoke with Lou Lamoriello after the Islanders announced they had signed Varlamov to a four-year deal back on July 4, 2024.
I asked Lou why he felt comfortable going four years rather than two on a goaltender who was already in his early 30s.