Semyon Varlamov Returns to Islanders After 676-Day Absence and Two Knee Replacements

Six hundred seventy-six days had passed since Semyon Varlamov last started an NHL regular-season game, when he endured a forgettable overtime loss in Washington. One lingering mystery from that afternoon is that the Islanders did not officially declare him injured until two games later.

He backed up Ilya Sorokin the following night against Buffalo and remained on the bench in Montreal for another overtime defeat three days later. Only then did the team begin holding him out with what was initially described as a lower-body injury.

It is almost miraculous that those days did not mark the end of Varlamov’s NHL career. Nearly two years and two partial knee replacements later, the 38-year-old goaltender led the Islanders onto the Madison Square Garden ice Tuesday night for his first regular-season start since the injury that once seemed certain to end his career.

“Everything feels great. Everything feels 100 percent,” Varlamov said after the eventual 5-2 loss to the Rangers, two bulky knee pads in tow. “Nothing holds me back, which is great news.”

While Varlamov will likely want more from a performance standpoint—he allowed three goals on 22 shots before the Rangers scored twice into an empty net—there was little room for criticism on a night like this.

The procedure generally entails replacing only the damaged portion of the knee while leaving the rest intact. Dustin Pedroia, the former Red Sox MVP who suffered a severe knee injury in 2017, underwent a series of procedures before receiving a partial knee replacement in 2020. At the time, Pedroia said the surgery meant he would never play again “because of the fear that it breaks and the rest of my life would be severely impacted by it.”

When reached Tuesday, Pedroia texted his support. “Semyon will be fine!” he told The Post. “With the partial replacement, the big concern is pounding from impact like jogging or running. Skating is actually good for the joints because it builds quad muscles and legs fire to keep pressure off the joint! And him being a goaltender shouldn’t be an issue at all! This is cool to see, I will be pulling for him!!!”

Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche said last week that the club does not anticipate needing to do any special monitoring of Varlamov. “They’re like, I don’t know what to tell you. This is extremely impressive,” Darche recalled of the team doctors, who were stunned after performing annual physicals earlier this year.

Without any apparent reason to slow down, the Islanders moved forward with Varlamov as their backup goaltender this season. He appeared in 1½ preseason games, and coach DeBoer has said the plan is for him to start “at least” 30 games behind Ilya Sorokin.

“As his teammate, his friend, it’s just so awesome to see,” said Kyle Palmieri, who spent last season rehabbing a torn ACL alongside Varlamov. “I had a front row seat to watch him come in and prepare his body and just, day in and day out, I think he just found a way to enjoy that process. Take it day by day and here he is. It’s so cool to be a part of it, and as a group and as a room, we’re thrilled to have him back.”

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