Could The New York Islanders Shop Semyon Varlamov This Summer?

Semyon Varlamov frequently surfaced as a trade candidate leading up to last month's trade deadline. While the 33-year-old goaltender remains with the New York Islanders, speculation persists over his future. 

Varlamov has shared the Islanders' goaltending duties with Ilya Sorokin over the past two years. This season, however, the 26-year-old Sorokin has earned the bulk of the starts, sitting among the league leaders with a 2.31 goals-against average, a .928 save percentage and seven shutouts.

The Athletic's Kevin Kurz recently suggested the Islanders should lean more heavily on Sorokin over the remainder of their schedule to see how he handles the workload. If he performs well, Kurz speculated they could consider moving Varlamov in the off-season.

Cap Friendly shows Varlamov carrying a $5-million salary-cap hit through 2022-23. An injury hampered his performance earlier this season but he's put up solid overall numbers with a 2.86 GAA and .914 save percentage. While Kurz acknowledged early indications suggesting the Isles would retain Varlamov, shipping him out in a cost-cutting move would free up valuable cap room to address other roster needs.

Varlamov has considerable experience as a starting goaltender. He could draw interest from clubs that fail to sign pending free-agent netminders such as Minnesota's Marc-Andre Fleury, Colorado's Darcy Kuemper or Toronto's Jack Campbell. Suitors could include the Buffalo Sabres, Chicago Blackhawks and New Jersey Devils.

Complicating things, however, is Varlamov's 16-team no-trade clause, giving him some measure of control over where he'll play next season. If the Isles cannot find a suitable trade partner, he could be sharing the goalie duties with Sorokin again next season.