The Islanders opened training camp on Thursday without Semyon Varlamov and Pierre Engvall.
Varlamov, who had knee surgery last season, has been skating on his own but was not ready to join the team. While he was described by a spokesman as progressing, there was no timeline given for his return.
Until Varlamov is back, David Rittich will slot in as the backup goalie behind Ilya Sorokin.
Semyon Varlamov is missing the start of Islanders training camp. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST“For me, it’s a never-ending story,” Rittich told The Post. “It’s work hard, work your balls off, do your best on the ice, off the ice.”
Engvall had a previously undisclosed hip surgery over the summer and will miss 2-3 weeks of practice, the team said.
Given that timeline, it would be somewhat of a surprise if the winger was ready for the regular season, though that was not explicitly ruled out.
Pierre Engvall had hip surgery in the offseason. Heather Khalifa for the NY PostEngvall had a battle in store to make the opening night roster, so missing the first few weeks of camp will hurt his chances of starting the season with the Islanders.
