"He's doing great, actually. It's almost a miracle," Darche said Wednesday. "Well, it's not a miracle because he's really put in the work. He's been back here for at least a month. He's on the ice four to five times a week, no medication, no pain, anything like that.
"So, right now, we expect him to be -- I mean, he's going to be a full participant in camp. He's going to play preseason games, and hopefully he's ready to give us a lot of games this year."
Varlamov is one of four Islanders with major injuries who should be back for camp with forwards Kyle Palmieri and Pierre Engvall, and defenseman Alexander Romanov, all ready to go.
Palmieri hasn't played since he tore his right ACL in a game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Nov. 28. The 35-year-old had 18 points (six goals, 12 assists) in 25 games last season.
"Kyle Palmieri's been skating all summer. He's been here all summer," Darche said. "He looks great, fully healthy."
Romanov had season-ending shoulder surgery in late November, days after he was boarded behind the net by Dallas Stars forward Mikko Rantanen with 28 seconds remaining in a 3-2 win at American Airlines Center on Nov. 18. He had one assist in 15 games last season.
"Romanov, he's been back for three weeks. He's 12 pounds lighter," Darche said. "That's as good as I've seen him, the way he's moving on the ice. I challenged him at the end of the year, and he put in the work this summer."
Darche said had the Islanders made the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2025-26, Romanov could've returned. Instead, they finished seven points behind the Philadelphia Flyers for third place in the Metropolitan Division.
"Romanov probably would have come back -- we thought Game 1, but at the end there was a little setback. We thought maybe halfway through the first round we had made the playoffs. But now he looks great. As I said, he slimmed down."
Engvall missed all of last season. He sustained a season-ending ankle injury before the start of camp after having offseason hip surgery.
Getting Varlamov back may be the biggest development.
The Islanders struggled to get production from their backup position without Varlamov, putting pressure on No. 1 goalie Ilya Sorokin, who was 29-24-2 with a 2.68 goals-against average, .906 save percentage and an NHL-high seven shutouts. David Rittich was the primary backup, going 14-10-3 with a 2.76 GAA, .894 save percentage and two shutouts.
From March 5 until the penultimate game of the season, Sorokin played 18 of the Islanders' 19 games.
The Islanders also signed Vitek Vanecek to a one-year contract July 1. The 30-year-old was 5-13-3 with a 2.93 GAA, .883 save percentage and one shutout in 22 games (19 starts) for the Utah Mammoth last season.
"We kind of overused Ilya (down the stretch) and (Varlamov) is so well-liked around the room," Darche said. "His collaboration with Ilya is awesome. So, right now, everything looks great."
