Islanders’ Semyon Varlamov to make first NHL start since 2024

It’s been a long time coming for Semyon Varlamov’s return to the NHL.

As the New York Islanders get set to take on their intra-city rivals in the New York Rangers on Tuesday, head coach Pete DeBoer announced at morning skate that Varlamov will start for them, his first NHL game in almost two years.

Varlamov hasn’t played a professional game since November 24, 2024, as the netminder has missed the last 56 games of the 2024-25 season and all 82 of the 2025-26 season with a knee injury. He had undergone surgery for the injury in December 2024, and began skating in the 2025 offseason with the hope of returning during the 2025-26 season, but had setbacks to that return. At the age of 38, it would have been easy for him to call it a career, but he worked towards a return, including a conditioning stint in the AHL at the end of the season.

Varlamov’s conditioning stint went very well, as in the two games he played with the Bridgeport Islanders last season, he had a 1.50 goals against average and .939 save percentage, winning both games as well. It’s a solid sign for the Samara, Russia product, as his last NHL season before the injury wasn’t the most promising, as he had a 3-4-3 record, an .889 SV%, and a 2.34 5v5 goals saved above expected in 10 games in 2024-25.

Varlamov is in the final year of a four-year contract with a $2.75 million cap hit, and he will be an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2027.

The Islanders find themselves in fourth place in the Metropolitan Division in the early going of the season, as after a tight 2-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs to open the season, they responded with a 6-0 blowout win over the New Jersey Devils. They’ll look to build off that win, as well as the momentum of Varlamov’s return, when they visit the Rangers on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. ET.