Free Agency: Trade Murmurs Around Semyon Varlamov, Christopher Gibson Moves on

Could Semyon Varlamov actually be moved to free up cap space for the New York Islanders?

The idea is certainly out there. Elliotte Friedman included a small nugget about the idea a few weeks back and on Friday Newsday’s Andrew Gross reported he had heard similar gossip about the idea.

Take this for what it's worth but…
hearing one option #Isles may be considering is trying to move Semyon Varlamov and then re-signing Thomas Greiss to pair with Ilya Sorokin.
Again, nothing concrete. But got nothing else for you right now.

— Andrew Gross (@AGrossNewsday) October 9, 2020

In that scenario, the Islanders would move Semyon Varlamov and re-sign Thomas Greiss. The latter would come at a cheaper price than the three-year, $10 million contract he is coming off of.

Varlamov just completed the first year of a four-year, $20 million contract he signed last summer. The first two years of the deal include a full no-trade clause and then a modified no-trade clause in the final two years, so working out any sort of trade would be difficult.

Semyon Varlamov is a goaltender that Lou Lamoriello and the Islanders goaltending staff have liked for some time and had been viewed by many, including Lamoriello, as someone who could mentor Ilya Sorokin during his first season in North America.

Varlamov and Greiss both played well for the Islanders this season, Varlamov had a majority of the starts during the postseason.

Christopher Gibson’s time as a member of the New York Islanders organization has come to an end.

The goaltender signed a one-year, two-way contract the Tampa Bay Lightning organization on Friday. It ended a five-year run that Gibson had with the Islanders.

Gibson was acquired in 2015 in a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs and spent a majority of the time with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. He did appear in 14 games NHL Games with the Islanders, picking up three wins and a .904 save percentage.