Semyon Varlamov’s return may be miraculous but NY Islanders need another miracle

Mathieu Darche called Semyon Varlamov’s return to the ice “almost a miracle.”

For the New York Islanders, getting the 38-year-old goaltender back is only half the battle.

The second miracle would be keeping him healthy enough to play 25 to 30 games.

Varlamov is coming off double knee surgeries and has not played an NHL game in more than a year, but Darche said Wednesday that the veteran is progressing better than expected.

“He’s doing great, actually. It’s almost a miracle,” Darche said. “Well, it’s not a miracle because he’s really put in the work.”

Darche said Varlamov has been skating four to five times a week for at least a month and is doing so without medication or pain. The Islanders expect him to be a full participant in training camp and play in preseason games.

That is encouraging.

But the bigger question is what happens once the regular season begins.

The Islanders badly need Varlamov to provide a legitimate workload behind Ilya Sorokin. Sorokin, the Vezina Trophy runner-up last season, has carried an increasingly heavy burden over the past two years and has shown signs of wearing down as those seasons progressed.

Pete DeBoer cannot afford to make the same mistake.

If Varlamov can give the Islanders 25 to 30 quality starts, it would allow DeBoer to manage Sorokin’s workload, keep him fresher for the stretch run and potentially have one of the NHL’s best goaltenders operating closer to peak form when the games matter most.

That is the ideal scenario.

But asking a 38-year-old coming off surgeries on both knees to stay healthy and handle that type of workload carries obvious risk.

“Hopefully he’s ready to give us a lot of games this year,” Darche said.

The Islanders already appear to have gotten one unexpected break with Varlamov’s recovery.

Now they need another for it to last.

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