The New York Islanders announced two transactions at the end of the day that are curious yet were widely expected for a day or more: Tom Kuhnhackl (which broke a couple of days ago) and Semyon Varlamov, a free agent goalie who is coming off a struggling year with the Colorado Avalanche.
The Varlamov deal is for four years, and was talked about among the hockey press for at least a day. For some reason, that’s how the Islanders landed on their next goalie while their incumbent Vezina finalist Robin Lehner, who is younger and coming off a much better season, signed for just one year with the Chicago Blackhawks.