Semyon Varlamov

Varlamov grew up in Kuybyshev, developing his skills under the VVS hockey program. Before learning to skate properly, he started playing in net at the age of eight, preferring the goalie stick to the inferior bandy sticks that mite-level players were using at the time.[1] The young goalie moved to Yaroslavl in his early teens and quickly established himself as the club's dominant goalie.[2] During the 2004–05 season, Varlamov made his debut on Lokomotiv's junior farm club, Lokomotiv-2, playing as backup to Ivan Kasutin in the 1st League (Russia 3). During the summer of 2005, Kasutin was loaned to Penza, effectively making Varlamov the starting goalie for the 2005–06 season. In 2008, he helped lead Lokomotiv Yaroslavl to the Russian Super League finals.[3]

Varlamov at Capitals convention in September 2009

After having been drafted by the Washington Capitals 23rd overall in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, Varlamov was signed by the Capitals to a three-year, entry-level contract on 11 July 2007. He came to North America for the 2008–09 season and played, for the most part, with the Capitals' minor league affiliate, the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL). Varlamov was called up, however, on several occasions during the season and played his first NHL game on 13 December 2008, against the Montreal Canadiens. Making 32 saves, he won his debut 2–1 and was named the first star of the game. His home debut in Washington came five days later on 18 December against the St. Louis Blues, where he made 29 saves on 31 shots and was named the second star of the game in a 4–2 Capitals win. After regular Capitals backup Brent Johnson was sidelined with a hip injury in February 2009, Varlamov assumed the backup position behind José Théodore.[3][4] He went 4–0–1 with a 2.37 goals against average (GAA) and .918 save percentage in six games with the Capitals, while also going 19–7–1 in 27 games with the Bears in the AHL.[5]

During the first round of the 2009 playoffs against the New York Rangers, Varlamov replaced José Théodore after he allowed four goals to lose Game 1.[6] He subsequently made his NHL playoff debut on 18 April 2009, losing the second game of the series 1–0. He went on to win Game 3 4–0 on 20 April, recording his first career NHL shutout. On 24 April, Game 5 of the series, Varlamov achieved his second shutout by the same score, 4–0. He won the next two games 5–3 and 2–1, respectively, to help the Washington Capitals advance to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 1998. In Game 1 of the second round against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Varlamov made a spectacular save on Sidney Crosby that NHL pundits dubbed "the save of the playoffs."[7] In Game 7 of that series, after allowing four early goals, he was pulled in favor of deposed starter José Théodore in which the Capitals were ultimately eliminated 6–2 by the eventual Stanley Cup champions.

Varlamov with the Capitals in March 2010

The next season, Théodore began the season as the starter, with Varlamov able to challenge for the spot. After a hot start, just as it seemed he would supplant Theodore, Varlamov was injured. Varlamov was sent down to the Hershey Bears of the AHL by the Capitals on 29 December 2009, to begin his rehabilitation starts. Varlamov was later recalled from the Bears on 1 March 2010. Théodore remained the starter, but just as it was the year before, Varlamov made most of the playoff starts. Théodore was not retained after the season, seemingly making Varlamov the official starter. However, he eventually lost out to rookie Michal Neuvirth, and Neuvirth was instead Théodore's successor. On 9 July 2010, it was announced that Varlamov changed his jersey number from the recognizable number 40 to number 1.

On 1 July 2011, Varlamov was traded to the Colorado Avalanche for a first-round draft pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft and a second-round pick in either 2012 or 2013.[8] As a restricted free agent at the time of his trade, he was then signed to a three-year, $8.5 million contract with the Avalanche the following day, marking his projection as the Avalanche's starting goaltender.[9]

The start of the 2011–12 season proved successful for Varlamov and the Avalanche, but a disastrous November put the club back to the bottom of the Northwest Division. Varlamov was often benched in favor of veteran backup Jean-Sébastien Giguère, originally brought in by the Avalanche to mentor the young Russian. With Giguère's exemplary effort in net, Colorado climbed back within the race for bottom playoff spots in the Western Conference. On 15 February 2012, Giguère pulled his groin in the first period against the Vancouver Canucks. Varlamov replaced Giguère in a losing effort. He soon reaffirmed his position as starter, and kept his club in playoff contention.

On 5 April 2012, the 81st game of the season, in a must-win situation for the Avalanche's playoff hopes, Varlamov made his career-high eighth consecutive start and let up four goals in a 5–2 loss against the last-placed Columbus Blue Jackets at Pepsi Center. Two of the goals came from Columbus captain Rick Nash, the other two from rookie Cam Atkinson, who notched his first career hat-trick with an empty-net goal after Varlamov was pulled in favor of an extra skater at the end of the game. The loss ended Colorado's playoff bid. This game finished his season with a .913 save percentage and a 2.59 GAA with a 26–24–3 record. Despite his well-known contempt for the post-overtime tiebreaker, Varlamov went undefeated in the shootout in the 2011–12 season, winning all eight of his contests and allowing only two goals in 24 attempts.

Varlamov with the Avalanche in December 2013

With the 2012–13 NHL lockout cancelling the start of the NHL season, Varlamov signed a lockout contract to return to his Russian club, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, on 27 September 2012.[10] Used as one of three main goaltenders on the Lokomotiv roster, Varlamov impressed early in his debut Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) season.[11] Despite suffering a knee injury, Varlamov played in 16 games and led the KHL in GAA and save percentage before the conclusion of the NHL lockout called for his return to the Avalanche on 6 January 2013.[12][13]

Varlamov struggled during the lockout-shortened 2012–13 season, only posting 11 wins in 35 games played and ending the season with a career-worst 3.02 GAA and .903 save percentage[14] as the Avalanche missed the playoffs again and finished last in the Western Conference.[15]

On 30 January 2014, Varlamov signed a five-year contract extension with the Avalanche worth $29.5 million.[16]

On 26 January 2017, it was announced that Varlamov would not return for the 2016–17 season after undergoing hip surgery for what was previously thought to be a groin injury.[17] Varlamov returned for the 2017–18 season but was again injured near the end of the season,[18] allowing for Jonathan Bernier to start for the Avalanche during the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs.[19]

On 1 July 2019, Varlamov signed as a free agent to a four-year contract with the New York Islanders worth $20 million.[20][21]

He became the first goaltender in Islanders history to record back to back shutouts in the playoffs, after shutting out his former team in the Washington Capitals in Game 5 of the First Round of the 2020 playoffs and then the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 1 of the Second Round.[22] On 26 August 2020, he surpassed Billy Smith for the longest playoff shutout streak in Islanders history.[23]

On 6 February 2021, Varlamov played his 500th NHL game as the Islanders won 4–3 against the Pittsburgh Penguins.[24] On 8 February, Varlamov became the first Islanders goaltender with consecutive shutouts in a season against the New York Rangers.[25] On 1 May, Varlamov broke Chico Resch's record for the longest shutout streak in Islanders history, after shutting out the rival Rangers 3–0.[26]

On July 1, 2023, Varlamov signed a four-year, $11 million contract extension with the Islanders.[27]

When Varlamov first started playing for the Capitals, his name was most often pronounced VAR-la-mov. However, Varlamov has since corrected journalists and the Capitals television team, who mentioned it often during Game 4 of the 2009 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. The correct pronunciation is var-LA-mov, similar to the syllable emphasis of the last names of fellow Russian netminders Evgeni Nabokov and Ilya Bryzgalov.

On 5 August 2009, Varlamov registered a change of spelling of his first name with the NHL, "for the upcoming season and foreseeable future," from the incorrect "Simeon" to "Semyon."[38] In the Russian alphabet, Varlamov's first name is spelled "Семён." The Russian letter (ё), equates to the sound (yo) in English. Other transliterated variations in use include Semen (as it is written in the NHL 09 video game), Semyen, Simyan, Simyon, etc.

In response to attempts by Varlamov and other Russian players to correct the spellings of their names, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) came out with a standardized code in 2011 for transliterating names from the Cyrillic to the Latin script.[39]