Islanders goalie Semyon Varlamov is out indefinitely, says GM Lou Lamoriello

TAMPA, Fla. — Lou Lamoriello has spent the better part of a week revamping his defense corps because of injuries to Noah Dobson and Ryan Pulock and rookie Isaiah George’s inconsistent play, which led to the 20-year-old being sent back to AHL Bridgeport.

But goaltending is a concern, too. The Islanders’ president and general manager revealed on Saturday that Semyon Varlamov (lower body, long-term injured reserve) is no longer facing shots or skating on his own and that there’s no timeline for an eventual return.

Previously, Lamoriello expressed optimism that Varlamov would resume practicing with the team in mid-January.

“He’ll be out indefinitely,” Lamoriello said Saturday. “That’s a total rehab situation at this point. He hasn’t been [taking shots]. We’ve held him off the ice right now.”

Lamoriello added that backup goalie Marcus Hogberg (upper body, injured reserve) might be available when the season resumes Feb. 23 after a two-week break for the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament. Lamoriello said he expects Dobson (lower body, LTIR) and Pulock (upper body, IR) to resume skating during the hiatus.

Lamoriello signed Tony DeAngelo as a free agent out of the KHL, acquired Scott Perunovich from the Blues and claimed Adam Boqvist — who was to make his Islanders debut on Saturday night against the Lightning at Amalie Arena — off waivers from the Panthers.

George had one goal and three assists in 33 NHL games after being recalled from Bridgeport four games into his professional career. But coach Patrick Roy benched him for long stretches during his last two games.

“I actually sat down with him and spent quite a bit of time with him on the plane and told him that we brought him up really early,” Lamoriello said. “He just did a tremendous job here. What happened was he started to make a couple of mistakes and they snowballed and confidence gets in the way. Then the recovery period of that sometimes takes a little longer.”

“He was the youngest defenseman in the league at this point, and I thought he did really well,” Roy said. “It was a great experience for him. It’s important to go through the highs and the lows of this position. It’s hard for the younger guys to jump in as a defenseman. But thank God we had him. He helped us to stay around the .500 mark when we had a lot of guys missing.”

A stone-faced Lamoriello — albeit with a slight smirk — remained silent when he was asked if he had any chats with DeAngelo about the expectations of fitting in with the Islanders’ culture. In the past, DeAngelo has been very opinionated on social media.

Lamoriello also remained noncommittal when asked about the just-announced significant rise to the salary cap over the next three seasons and the recent spate of big trades around the NHL with regard to how he will approach the March 7 trade deadline.

The salary cap will increase $7.5 million to $95.5 million next season, then jump to $104 million in 2026-27 and $113.5 million the following season.

“Just because you get money available, you don’t spend it,” Lamoriello said. “The focus is on what we’re doing right now. If you can get better, you’re going to get better. But every decision today has to affect tomorrow, and that has to be a concern also.”

The Islanders earned their season-high seventh straight win on Saturday night, a 3-2 overtime victory over Tampa Bay, making it more likely that Lamoriello will look to buy rather than sell, even with top-six forwards Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri as pending unrestricted free agents.

“We’re playing more as a unit,” Lamoriello said. “There are no hesitations in decisions. That’s what it should be. You should just play free.”

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.