“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.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
Varlamov is one of four Islanders with major injuries who should be back for camp with forwards Kyle Palmieri<\/a> and Pierre Engvall<\/a>, and defenseman Alexander Romanov<\/a>, all ready to go.\u00a0<\/p>\n 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. \u00a0<\/p>\n “Kyle Palmieri’s been skating all summer. He’s been here all summer,” Darche said. “He looks great, fully healthy.”<\/p>\n Romanov had season-ending shoulder surgery in late November, days after he was boarded behind the net by Dallas Stars forward Mikko Rantanen<\/a>\u00a0with 28 seconds remaining in a 3-2 win at American Airlines Center on Nov. 18. He had one assist in 15 games last season.\u00a0<\/p>\n “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.”<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n “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.”<\/p>\n Engvall missed all of last season. He sustained a season-ending ankle injury before the start of camp after having offseason hip surgery.\u00a0<\/p>\n Getting Varlamov back may be the biggest development.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Islanders struggled to get production from their backup position without Varlamov, putting pressure on No. 1 goalie Ilya Sorokin<\/a>, who was 29-24-2 with a 2.68 goals-against average, .906 save percentage and an NHL-high seven shutouts. David Rittich<\/a>\u00a0was the primary backup, going 14-10-3 with a 2.76 GAA, .894 save percentage and two shutouts.<\/p>\n From March 5 until the penultimate game of the season, Sorokin played 18 of the Islanders’ 19 games.\u00a0<\/p>\n