Islanders to decide goalie battle between Varlamov, Greiss in camp

Barry Trotz said training camp will decide whether Semyon Varlamov or Thomas Greiss will be the starting goalie for the New York Islanders against the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Qualifiers.

"We're going to go with the guys that are most ready and will help us win," the Islanders coach said Saturday.

The Islanders will begin training camp Monday as part of Phase 3 of the NHL Return to Play Plan.

RELATED: [Islanders training camp preview | Stanley Cup Qualifiers schedule]

New York went 35-23-10 (.588 points percentage) in the regular season and will enter the qualifiers as the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference. It will play the No. 10 seed, Florida (35-26-8, .565), beginning Aug. 1 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto in one of eight best-of-5 qualifier series.

The winner of the series will advance to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and the loser will have a chance (12.5 percent) to win the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft in the Second Phase of the NHL Draft Lottery, which will be held Aug. 10.

"I think just like anything, I'm going to let camp dictate who's going to be the guy," Trotz said. "I don't think I can make a bad decision. Both of them have had good success against the Panthers, both of them had identical-type years. So from that standpoint, I'm just going to let it play out.

"They're both preparing very diligently at this point, so that's one area I'm not worried about a whole lot right now."

Varlamov, who signed a four-year, $20 million contract with the Islanders July 1, 2019, is 8-3-1 with a 2.65 goals-against average and .922 save percentage in 12 games against the Panthers. Greiss is 5-2-1 in eight games against Florida and had a 1.79 GAA and .944 save percentage in six games when the Islanders eliminated the Panthers in the 2016 Eastern Conference First Round.

The goalies nearly split the workload during the regular season. Varlamov (19-14-6, 2.62 GAA, .914 save percentage) started 39 games; Greiss (16-9-4, 2.74 GAA, .913 save percentage), who can become an unrestricted free agent after the season, made 29 starts.

Trotz said other positions would also be won at training camp.

"We're going to let it play out a little bit," Trotz said. "I think you have to go in there with a plan, and some of that plan is based on history. And then I think there's going to be some opportunity as well for some guys who can grab a spot that maybe they've been injured or maybe they didn't have the year that they thought, they can grab some ice time. We're going to go into that first game with the knowledge of some of the past, the knowledge of the present and what we see, and the knowledge of what we need to beat the Panthers and try to have all the boxes checked for all the roles that are on our team and all the things that we may [need].

"It is preparation, a playoff preparation, but there is an evaluation process for some spots as well and who might play with who. But we have to start with a foundation, and some of that foundation is in the history."

The NHL and NHL Players' Association ratified plans Friday to resume play Aug. 1 at centralized hubs in Toronto and Edmonton as part of the NHL Return Play Plan, as well as a four-year extension of the NHL/NHLPA Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Because of the circumstances surrounding these playoffs, Trotz said whichever of the 24 teams competing wins the Stanley Cup could find it to be extra special.

"The great thing about this one, I know a lot of people have said would be an asterisk or anything like that, I don't think there should be," Trotz said. "You've still got to go and get through four rounds of some very good hockey teams. Everybody's going to remember this one. This one's going to be remembered forever. You can mention this year, and everybody will know it'll be the pandemic year and they'll know who the Stanley Cup champion was.

"That's what makes it great sometimes, the unusual and the sacrifice and all the things you have to do. If it wasn't unusual and you didn't make any sacrifice, you wouldn't remember it. That's why I think it's going to be special."