The New York Islanders missed the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs by 16 points last season, a seemingly huge mountain to climb for a team that struggled mightily in 2021-22. A return to the playoffs appears all the more difficult considering, at the time this is being written, general manager Lou Lamoriello has only upgraded the defense so far this offseason when he traded the team’s 13th overall pick in the 2022 Draft for Alexander Romanov. The lack of offseason movement is concerning as the rest of the Metropolitan Division has improved and the Eastern Conference looks to be more crowded around the playoff bubble, it’s difficult to ignore that number – 16. Is that insurmountable? How can the Islanders find 16 points in the standings? The answer is goaltender Semyon Varlamov.
Islanders’ Varlamov Key to Success
Before we get too far, yes – the Islanders need to add another piece to their forward group and need their veterans to find the back of the net more consistently. You won’t find an argument against both of those, and a continued lackluster summer is unacceptable. However, looking at Varlamov’s numbers, specifically the straightforward wins and losses, his 10-17-2 record is a huge reason the Islanders couldn’t fight their way back into the playoff conversation. Like the team in front of him, there are plenty of valid reasons this past season was difficult, coming off of an injury chief among them.
For the 2022-23 season, the Islanders need Varlamov to return to his numbers from both the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, 19-14-6 in 39 starts and 19-11-4 in 35 starts respectively. Varlamov’s partner, youngster Ilya Sorokin, has proven he can carry the majority of games moving forward, starting 52 last season to Varlamov’s 29 and doing so in spectacular style considering the team in front of him on most nights. The Islanders would ideally be aiming to start Varlamov about the same number of games in the upcoming season as they did in 2021-22, in and around 30 games, which is a manageable number. They do, however, need him to win just over half of those games and steal some extra points in a few others, a sticking point to the Islanders’ success this past season.
Related: Islanders 2022 Offseason at a Standstill
At 10-17-2, a reversal of those numbers – approximately one extra win a month for the team, a tough pill to swallow upon reflection – would have put them…
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