Vitek Vanecek making case to be third goalie as Islanders weigh Semyon Varlamovs health risk

Vitek Vanecek is in the unenviable position of having his fate largely out of his control.The netminder, who signed with the Islanders on a one-year, $1 million deal this offseason, doesn’t need to beat out Semyon Varlamov so much as he needs the organization to decide that carrying a third goaltender on the roster is necessary due to the combined risk of Varlamov’s health and losing Vanecek on waivers.That was more or less acknowledged outright by coach Pete DeBoer following Sunday’s 2-1 preseason defeat to the Devils, in which Vanecek played the duration and turned aside 20 shots.“It’s been discussed, and it does handcuff you,” DeBoer said when asked about the possibility of keeping three netminders on the 23-man roster.“I think that’s all gonna depend on how Varly’s doing, how he’s feeling and things like that.

I don’t think, in talking with Mathieu [Darche], that we want to go there, but it’s on the table if we have to.”Varlamov, who should see action in two of the last three preseason games, has shown nothing in camp that indicates he won’t be ready.He is moving well, stopping shots and looking like himself.The Islanders are not going to deny him the chance to back up Ilya Sorokin as long as that holds true.

Varlamov has astonished the entire organization with his dedication to returning to the ice following two partial knee replacements.The Islanders are not going to be the reason his attempt fails.Nevertheless, there is a practical element to this.

Nobody knows what the demands of an 84-game season — the travel, the practices, the 25 to 30 games the Islanders hope to get from their backup spot — will do to Varlamov’s knees.There are no comparable cases to what Varlamov is attempting.This also comes in the context of the Islanders having overused Sorokin in the past two seasons.

The lack of a viable backup while Varlamov was hurt was one of the biggest factors in the Islanders missing the playoffs both seasons.Vanecek held...