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This piece will be the last in my series of player profiles, where I’ll give some thoughts on the performance of a member of the New York Islanders this season. This article will focus on Semyon Varlamov.
Signed in the offseason to take over for Robin Lehner, Varlamov had a strong first season with the Islanders.
In the past, Varlamov has been inconsistent from year to year and considering how rock solid New York’s goaltending tandem was the year prior, it was going to be a difficult task for Varlamov to replicate that success. That said, he performed quite well for the most part, was consistent enough and usually gave the Islanders a chance to win this year.
Next year, I’d expect Varlamov to carry the bulk of the work at the beginning of the year, assuming Ilya Sorokin does start in the NHL. Should Sorokin perform as expected though, it’s likely that the two netminders could be splitting games by the end of the season, similar to what we saw this year with Varlamov and Thomas Greiss, and the year prior with Lehner and Greiss.
While I certainly preferred Lehner, this was a solid season for Varlamov. Despite a poor end to the year, he at least met expectations and hopefully he's able to repeat his consistency next season.
Here's today's poll (results and discussion will be posted on the weekend):
OTHER ISLANDERS ARTICLES FROM APRIL
Reviewing the season (so far): Thomas Greiss Reviewing the season (so far): Ross Johnston Reviewing the season (so far): Otto Koivula Reviewing this week's polls (April 4): Islanders Edition Reviewing the season (so far): Leo Komarov Reviewing the season (so far): Tom Kuhnhackl Reviewing the season (so far): Nick Leddy Reviewing the season (so far): Anders Lee Reviewing the season (so far): Matt Martin Could the Islanders look to add a top-line winger through a trade? Sorokin reportedly turns down KHL extension, will sign with Islanders Reviewing this week’s polls (April 13): Islanders Edition Reviewing the season (so far): Scott Mayfield Reviewing the season (so far): Brock Nelson Reviewing the season (so far): Adam Pelech Reviewing the season (so far): Ryan Pulock Reviewing this week's polls (April 18): Islanders Edition Reviewing the season (so far): Devon Toews