New York Islanders GM and EVP Mathieu Darche elaborated on Mathew Barzal’s injury as Training Camp opened on Thursday morning.
Darche said Barzal’s injury, inflammation in his knee, was an aftereffect of the knee injury he suffered on Feb. 1, 2025 blocking a Darren Raddysh shot in Tampa Bay.
“It’s something that we’ve been managing for over a year,” Darche said. “Every now and then there's some inflammation, and just over the summer, as he ramped up, there was a bit more inflammation. We just want to make sure that we control it. So it's nothing new. It's just something we have to control.”
Barzal will not skate for the next two weeks – effectively all of the Islanders Training Camp – but Darche said the timeline was fluid.
“He still has a chance for opening night,” Darche said. “Is it guaranteed he's there opening night? No, it's not because we're playing the long game here.”
Darche said the inflammation flared up when Barzal was gearing up for the IIHF World Championships in the spring. He skated during the summer, but another flare up occurred in the last couple of weeks, prompting the team to take a proactive and conservative approach to camp.
“We wanted to make sure he had a normal summer, which he did,” Darche said. “It flared up, and he did a few treatments over the summer, and we just want to manage it. Now it flared up a little bit more in the last couple weeks. Sometimes it happens, and it goes away, and it's fine the rest of the time, so we're just going to manage it.”
Barzal led the Islanders with 72 points (19G, 53A) last season, marking the third-highest point total in his nine full NHL seasons.
Head Coach Pete DeBoer previously expressed his desire for Barzal to play center, so with Barzal out, Darche said Calum Ritchie is expected to get a look down the middle at camp.
“He's got the hockey IQ, and he's came in in good shape,” Darche said of Ritchie. “We're excited to say he's a big body that can move the puck. He’s going to get an opportunity.”
Darche on Semyon Varlamov
Semyon Varlamov was taking shots on the ice while Darche was speaking to reporters and participated in a regular practice. The Islanders netminder is healthy for the first time in nearly two years after undergoing multiple knee surgeries. Darche said the 38-year-old could end up being a “case study” for the doctors who performed his surgery.
“The work that Varly's put in is really impressive,” Darche said. “Honestly, it's almost inspiring to our guys because he could have rolled into the sunset, right? [He could have] just collected the last two years of his contract… but the way he's worked, and he's done all that, and he feels great. But let's see how he feels now.”
Darche said Varlamov, who last played an NHL game on Nov. 29, 2024, will be monitored during Training Camp and preseason games and did not rule out carrying three goalies at the end of camp with Vitek Vanecek also in the fold.
Darche on Pierre Engvall
Darche touched on Pierre Engvall, who is back on the ice with the team for the first time since the 2024-25 season. Engvall missed the entirety of last season due to ankle surgery to fix a lingering ailment.
“Engvall, for his size, he's a specimen physically,” Darche said. “He's been here for a couple weeks now. He looks good on the ice, and we'll see how he plays. There are no issues medically.”
Engvall last played an NHL game on Apr. 17, 2025. He recorded 15 points (8G, 7A) through 62 games for the Islanders in the 2024-25 season. Engvall has 52 points (23G, 29A) in 154 games with the Islanders over three seasons.
