Islanders GM issues updates on multiple long-term injuries

New York Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello met with the media on Saturday morning to provide updates on the teams endless injury list, captured by NHL.coms Rachel Luscher .

Most notably, Lamoriello shared that backup goaltender Semyon Varlamov has stopped skating on his own or taking shots after a setback in his lower-body injury.

Lamoriello dubbed Varlamov as now out indefinitely and referred to his recovery as a total rehab situation.

Varlamov has been out of the lineup for over two months, but very little about his injury has come to the surface.

His last appearance was an overtime loss to the Washington Capitals on Nov.

29 where Varlamov despite allowing five goals didnt seem to suffer a noticeable injury.

But he was pulled from skating the following morning, moved to injured reserve on Dec.

14, then moved to long-term injured reserve five days later.

He seemed to be on the rebound when the new year rolled around, returning to skating and individual drills on Jan.

2.

But after a month of light action, Varlamov still needs more time to recover.

Hell head back to the shelf, forcing the Islanders to continue searching for a backup.

Unfortunately, that search will be made significantly tougher by an injury to Varlamovs fill-in, Marcus Hogberg , who Lamoriello shared will miss the next four weeks with an upper-body injury.

Hogberg was originally injured on Jan.

26 and moved to injured reserve the following day.

Hell now sit out through the two-week break 4-Nations Face-Off from Feb.

9 to Feb.

22.

Hogberg was in the midst of a small resurgence before going down with injury.

He made his return to North American pros with a two-way deal with the Islanders this summer, after spending the last three seasons starting for Linkopings HC of Swedens SHL.

Hogberg started the year with middling numbers in the AHL a 2-5-3 record and .898 save percentage in 11 games but found his momentum in the wake of Varlamovs injury.

Starter Ilya Sorokin has been New Yorks bell-cow, but in seven games relieving him, Hogberg has managed a dazzling, team-leading .947 save percentage.

Its the highest save percentage of his North American career, ignoring sample size.

But now, Hogberg will join Varlamov on the absentee list and force the Islanders to find yet another replacement.

After succeeding him as AHL starter, Jakub Skarek has also filled Hogbergs role of NHL backup in light of his injury.

Skarek hasnt yet made his NHL debut, but he nonetheless seems cushy at the top flight with Henrik Tikkanen and Hunter Miska both posting save percentages below .840 in their own elevated, minor-league roles.

Moving out of the net, Lamoriello also shared that the team is still unsure when defenseman Mike Reilly will return after undergoing a heart procedure in November.

Reilly has been skating on his own since Dec.

14 just over a month after his surgery but hasnt progressed since then.

Lamoriello added that Reillys situation will be dictated by his doctors.

The 31-year-old defenseman is in his second season with the Islanders.

He scored a career-high 24 points in 59 games last season, serving as an impactful third-pair option for a deprived Islanders defense.

He seemed headed for a cushier role this year but struggled to manage any scoring through the first 11 games of the season then fell to injury.

Reilly seems to have a winding recovery ahead of him, which could limit his chance to earn another deal when his $1.25M cap hit expires this summer.

Ending on a positive note, top Islanders defensemen Noah Dobson and Ryan Pulock are both expected to return to skating drills during the 4-Nations break, per Andrew Gross of Newsday Sports .

Dobson has missed the Islanders last four games and earned a spot on long-term injured reserve with a lower-body injury; while Pulock has missed two games and been placed on standard IR with an upper-body injury.

The pair of absences have driven the Islanders to acquire both Scott Perunovich and Adam Boqvist via trade and waivers respectively.

This news will lock the new acquisitions into the lineup until the two-week break but hopefully, the blue-line can return to full health soon after that.

This article first appeared on Pro Hockey Rumors and was syndicated with permission..

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