Islanders recall goalie under emergency conditions

The Islanders recalled netminder Ken Appleby from AHL Bridgeport under emergency conditions on Thursday. Semyon Varlamov, who made six saves on seven shots in relief of Ilya Sorokin in Wednesday night’s 7-0 loss to the Penguins, did not practice with the team Thursday for maintenance purposes. His status for Friday’s game against the Capitals is uncertain.

The team also assigned defenseman Grant Hutton to Bridgeport, which will likely be reversed tomorrow. Hutton is the team’s seventh defenseman for the time being, as Scott Mayfield, Adam Pelech, and Ryan Pulock are all on injured reserve. The Islanders have been returning him to Bridgeport on off-days to reduce his time spent on the roster and draw out his waiver-exempt status as long as possible.

Appleby has three NHL games to his name, all coming with the Devils in January 2018. Now 28 years old, Appleby stopped 52 of 55 shots faced for a .945 SV% across one start and two relief appearances.

The undrafted free agent has spent time in both the AHL and ECHL since. After making his debut with the Devils, Appleby spent one season under contract with the Jets before spending the entire 2019-10 campaign in the ECHL with the Florida Everblades. He put his name back on the NHL radar there, posting a .913 SV% in 42 games before the league paused operations in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He parlayed that performance into a two-way contract with the Islanders signed near the end of the 2020-21 campaign, where he’s remained since. Now in his fourth season, Appleby has primarily been the team’s fifth-string goalie behind Sorokin, Varlamov, Cory Schneider, and Jakub Škarek, resulting in most of his playing time coming with the Islanders’ ECHL affiliate in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Appleby has been upgraded to full-time AHL status in 2023-24 with Schneider no longer in the organization, serving as Škarek’s backup and posting a .898 SV% in ten games. While the younger Škarek has received more starts in Bridgeport, he’s been the worse statistical netminder, posting a difficult-to-swallow 3-13-2 record and .877 SV%.

The 6-foot-4 Ontarian is in the final season of a two-year, two-way extension, earning him $130K in guaranteed salary this year. He will be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end.