New York Islanders General Manager and Executive Vice President Mathieu Darche spoke with the media on Wednesday morning and provided the following updates.
ENGVALL OUT FOR SEASON
Pierre Engvall, who had offseason hip surgery, underwent successful ankle surgery that will likely keep him out for the season. The winger recorded 15 points (8G, 7A) through 62 games for the Islanders last season.
Darche said Engvall's ankle surgery corrected a lingering injury, separate from the hip injury. Engvall is in the third year of a seven-year contract, so the team is taking a long-term approach with Engvall make sure he can return fully healthy.
"His ankle flared up again, so we decided to get it fixed right now so it doesn't linger," Darche said. "He still has a lot of term on his contract. Instead of him playing not at full strength, so might as well get it fixed and go from there."
VARLAMOV PROGRESSING
Semyon Varlamov is skating on his own and progressing, per Darche. The netminder is working his way back from knee surgery and is listed on Injured Reserve. Varlamov was limited to 10 games last season going 3-4-3 with a 2.89 GAA and an .889 SV%.
There is no update on Varlamov's return, but there is a "wait and see" approach.
"Varlamov is dropping down more and testing his knee a bit more," Darche said. "He was on the ice this morning and he's working towards it."
NAUMOVS NAMED GOALIE COACH
Islanders Goaltender Coach Piero Greco was relieved of his duties. Sergei Naumovs will be joining the coaching staff, overseeing the goaltenders.
Naumovs has served as the goalie coach of the Bridgeport Islanders since May 2024. Prior to joining the Islanders organization, Naumovs worked as a goalie coach in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) for 15 seasons prior to joining the Islanders, including six with CSKA Moscow. He worked with Ilya Sorokin in 2018-19 and 2019-20. Naumovs and CSKA Moscow won the KHL’s Gagarin Cup in 2019 when Sorokin won the MVP and in 2022.
“Piero has done a great job for the organization for the last seven years," Darche said. “We just felt at this time it was the right timing to have a reset with our goalies. There's obviously a history with Sergei and Ilya, and we just made that decision going forward.”
Sorokin is expecting small changes in detail and structure in his training and said that Naumovs was helpful in the past when they worked together in his last two seasons in the KHL.
"Ilya wants what's best for the team and we all want what's best for the team," Roy said. "Sometimes they're tough calls and this was a really tough one."
Chris Terreri, who serves as Director of Goaltending Development and Scouting for the Islanders, will help out in Bridgeport in the transition.
