Varly is an amazing athlete, but his mechanics suck balls.
Coach "Archie" Irbe was brought in to address that, but I recall Irbe being a similar instinct/quickness over technique goalie when he played. Don't know how much of a technical help he'll be other than someone who can talk to Varly in Russian and help him keep his focus.
One Russian hockey player told me that the reason you don't see more Russian goalies in the NHL was that they get next to no training over there. Russian teams pretty much just throw them in the net and expect them to stop pucks. Nabokov, Khabibulin made it as NHL starters because they spent time in the minors over here getting coached up first.
Varlamov will be interesting to watch, but they're going to have to manage his confidence levels, because he went from being outstanding to putrid against the Leafs the other night...he's going to make some incredible saves, but he'll give up some god-awful goals, too. The key to his long-term success will be making sure that his confidence stays up and that he keeps making the refinements that will allow him to make the critical saves when it matters most. Again- I'm often in awe of his athletic prowess- you should see some of the wacky shyte he does at practice. BUT- the wheels came off for him last year in Game 7 and his numbers haven't been all that good so far. If he keeps giving up a lot of goals as he has, his game could suffer as a result.
lol