Losing Semyon Varlamov just after Thanksgiving last season proved to be detrimental to the NY Islanders' playoff hopes. Missing half of their two-headed monster between the pipes, more pressure was put on the shoulders of Ilya Sorokin, who had a down season by his standards amid the team's difficulties on the penalty kill.
Undergoing knee surgery, the assumption was that Varlamov would be ready to go for the start of the 2025-26 season. But with one of Mathieu Darche's first orders of business at the start of free agency being to sign a backup goaltender in David Rittich, flags were raised as to Varly's health heading into the season.