Washington Capitals place Semyon Varlamov on injured reserve
Washington Capitals goaltender Semyon Varlamov has been placed on injured reserve. The Capitals open their season on Friday against the Atlanta Thrashers, and it is believed that Michal
Neuvirth will begin the season as the Capitals starting goalie.
The Capitals have not disclosed the nature of Varlamov’s injury, but the goalie told
CSN's Corey Masisak it was a groin injury dogging him. The 22-year-old goalie has not played since a 22 September pre-season game in which he logged 30 minutes of ice time.
Varlamov does have a history of injury in his short NHL career, missing time last season with a sprained left knee, a strained groin and a minor sprain in his left medial collateral ligament.
Head coach Bruce Boudreau said that this wasn't as bad though.
"It's not going to take anywhere near as long and don't think it's bad as it was in previous years. It was just something that we wanted to make sure didn't get as bad as in previous years," said Boudreau.
Varlamov’s placement on the injured reserve is retroactive to his appearance in the September 22 game. By making the move retroactive, he is eligible to be placed back on the roster at
any time.
Moving Varlamov to injured reserve allows the Capitals to add goalie Dany Sabourin to their roster. The move will also allow Varlamov to travel with the team to Atlanta as players on injured
reserve can travel with their respective teams.
The Capitals home opener is Saturday against the New Jersey Devils. When asked if Varlamov would be ready for that game, Capitals Boudreau said, “I don’t know. I doubt it, but who can
tell. We’ll see how tomorrow’s (Thursday’s) practice goes, and then we’ll take him to Atlanta and see how he goes in Atlanta, and then we’ll make decisions. It’s a decision we don’t have to make until Saturday, so I would rather not.”
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