Darche provides an update on Horvat's injury status, Romanov's recovery timeline, and Varlamov's step-by-step progress on the ice.
NASHVILLE -- Before the New York Islanders hit the ice for morning skate in Nashville, we spoke with general manager Mathieu Darche. He provided the latest on the Islanders' injured players, outside of Kyle Palmieri, who is out for the season with a torn ACL.
Bo Horvat, who had missed the previous two games with a lower-body injury, was expected to join the team on their seven-game road trip, but those plans have changed.
"We didn’t bring him with us right away. Initially, we thought we would, but we decided to keep him home," Darche said. "He might join us on the trip just for some treatment. It was just easier for everyone to do that in New York. I definitely expect him back way before the Olympic break. Ideally, at the end of this trip — but if it’s not, it’s not the end of the world. We just want to make sure we do it right so he doesn’t take a step back.”
Was the injury he sustained against the Utah Mammoth the same as the one he sustained against the Anaheim Ducks a few weeks prior?
"It’s a similar thing, without necessarily being linked,' Darche said. "If you saw the two injuries, they were completely different movements, but they irritated the same area. Our doctors think there’s a strong chance it still would have happened. It’s not that he came back too early. Even in the last few days, he wasn’t getting treatment on the previous injury. It’s just bad luck that it happened in the same part of the body.”
When it comes to defenseman Alexander Romanov, who had right shoulder surgery after sustaining an injury back on Nov. 18 against the Dallas Stars, how is he doing?
“He’s actually progressing really, really well. His shoulder is coming along," Darche said. "I challenged him to a YMCA last time to show me the moves, but the ‘Y’ wouldn’t go up yet. No, he’s progressing really, really well.”
The original timeline for Romanov was 5-6 months. Darche said that if Romanov was to return this season, it would be during the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Now to goaltender Semyon Varlamov, who hasn't played since Nov. 29 of 2024. The grizzled veteran underwent lower-body surgery to repair the injury and had told us before summer break that he expected he would be ready to go for this season.
“You see him when you come to Northwell — he’s on the ice, he does everything. He’s doing a bit more on the ice right now," Darche said. "You can see more movements. There are no setbacks by any means, but it’s one of those injuries where you can’t predict the progress. It’s not a three-to-four-week injury. It’s step by step.”
Ultimately, that wasn't the case, which led to the Islanders going out and signing backup netmidner David Rittich to a one-year, $1 million deal. And Rittich has been fantastic, especially when starting netminder Ilya Sorokin had to miss time.
“That’s the reason we signed David Rittich, because we didn’t know what to expect," Darche said.
His situation won’t affect what I do with David right now, because we don’t have an end game with Varly.”
The only injured player not discussed was forward Pierre Engvall, who had ankle surgery after trying to work his way back from hip surgery. He is out for the season.
The Islanders battle the Nashville Predators on Thursday night at 8 PM ET. This game is an ESPN+/Hulu exclusive.