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.
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.
Engvall 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.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
