Islanders coach Barry Trotz recently described Semyon Varlamov’s season as “choppy” and it was hard to do much but nod your head in agreement.

Varlamov did nothing to disprove that Thursday as the Islanders dropped a 4-3 decision to the Canucks at UBS Arena. The Islanders blew a pair of leads in an all-too-familiar spiral, failing to get the netminder his first win since mid-January and falling to 20-23-8.

“The effort’s there,” Trotz said. “And they’re a really good group to work with. But we’re not getting the results.”

The second of the Islanders’ blown leads came in the game’s final period. After the Islanders took a 3-2 lead early in the third, the Canucks began playing with a newfound energy. At 9:34 of the third, that finally translated to a goal when Nils Hoglander redirected Conor Garland’s pass to an unguarded back post and into the net.

Less than a minute later, Varlamov was beaten on his near-side by Vasily Podkolzin’s wrist shot, which secured the Canucks a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

“We had some good spurts where we were really good, but a couple of letdowns especially in the third led to a couple goals against,” Noah Dobson said. “I think we just gotta try and find that effort where we’re going good for a full 60.”

If Thursday was a sort of audition for Varlamov — and that is how his starts can be viewed leading into the March 21 trade deadline — it wasn’t his best effort. He stopped 34 of 38 shots, playing well in spurts but letting in some he’d rather have back.

“We finally gave him more than one goal,” Trotz said. “I thought Varly was pretty good for us. … I feel like he’s catching up to the train a little bit of how much time he’s missed this year and the stops and starts of our season.”

Varlamov’s future was not at the top of mind for Trotz following the loss. Turnovers, which he said led to multiple goals including Hoglander’s, were.

“There’s an old saying, turnovers are like ex-wives,” Trotz said. “You have too many, they cost you a lot. They cost you more and more. And it’s so true and that was the second period.”

The moment Trotz referenced in the second came at 7:19, when the Islanders failed to clear their defensive zone. Following that, Vancouver’s Travis Hamonic appeared to trip Sebastian Aho behind the net, and the Islanders — seemingly expecting a whistle — slowed up just long enough for Brad Hunt to blast a slap shot off Varlamov and in, tying the game at one.

The whistle never came. And as the Islanders tried to regroup, the Canucks took a 2-1 lead after J.T. Miller tipped Brock Boeser’s shot past Varlamov at 11:50 of the second,

To the Islanders’ credit, they did eventually get back on their feet thanks to goals from Kyle Palmieri and Anthony Beauvillier which gave them a 3-2 lead early in the third, but the momentum didn’t last.

The question more relevant to what’s become a forgettable season is how long their goaltending tandem will last.

At this point, the No. 1 goaltender title has long been claimed by Ilya Sorokin. The question swirling around Varlamov, under contract at $5 million average annual value through the end of next season, is whether the Islanders move him to a contender over the next three weeks.

The answer, in part, will depend on how the Islanders play between now and then, as well as whether they believe another goaltender in the organization — 35-year-old Cory Schneider and 22-year-old Jakub Skarek are both currently with AHL Bridgeport — can back up Sorokin.

Sorokin, doubtless, is the Islanders’ future. Whether Varlamov’s future is with the Islanders, though, has yet to be determined.