Islanders goalie prospect Ilya Sorokin may be coming to America
Ilya Sorokin warms up before the men's ice hockey gold-medal game against Germany at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics at Gangneung Hockey Centre on Feb. 25, 2018 in Gangneung, South Korea. Credit: Getty Images/Harry How
Ilya Sorokin, the Islanders’ presumed goalie of the future, finally might be coming to North America to join the organization.
Igor Eronko, who covers the KHL for the Russian daily Sport-Express, reported via Twitter on Sunday that Sorokin has opted not to re-sign with CSKA Moscow and instead will sign a deal with the Islanders after his current contract expires on April 30.
The Islanders selected Sorokin, who will turn 25 on Aug. 4, in the third round of the 2014 draft. He has spent six seasons with CSKA Moscow, leading that squad to the Gagarin Cup in 2019 and being named the league’s playoff MVP.
The Islanders had no immediate reaction to the report on Sorokin’s future. But in a question-and-answer session with fans posted on the team’s website on March 21, president and general manager Lou Lamoriello indicated that the Islanders had “every indication that he will be here for next season.”
Lamoriello declined to elaborate on a timetable for negotiating with Sorokin while speaking to Newsday on April 2, noting, “We’ll handle that at the appropriate time.”
Sorokin is friends with fellow Russian netminder Igor Shesterkin, who went 10-2-0 with a 2.52 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage as a Rangers rookie this season, supplanting Henrik Lundqvist as the No. 1 goalie.
The 6-2, 176-pound Sorokin has played in 245 KHL regular-season games, going 135-64-14 with one shootout loss and three ties, according to the league’s website. He compiled a 1.69 GAA average and a .930 save percentage.
Upon signing a four-year, $20 million deal on July 1, current Islanders goalie Semyon Varlamov said of his fellow Russian, “He’s the best goalie playing in the KHL.”
It was expected that Varlamov’s familiarity with his countryman might help entice Sorokin to join the Islanders.
The Islanders are likely to be seeking a second goalie to pair with Varlamov next season. Thomas Greiss is an impending unrestricted free agent as he concludes a three-year, $10 million deal.
Of course, the Islanders could look to re-sign Greiss or another veteran NHL goalie on a one-year deal and start Sorokin with Bridgeport in the AHL, allowing him to adjust to the smaller North American rinks.
That was the strategy the Rangers took with Shesterkin last season after he joined the organization after five KHL seasons with St. Petersburg SKA. Shesterkin forced his way into the Rangers’ lineup in January after stellar AHL play with Hartford.
Not all ice surfaces in the KHL are uniform, so Sorokin has played on smaller rinks.
“You don’t notice it when you’re in the zone,” he told KHL reporter Gillian Kemmerer in January. “But when you fall out from the game rhythm, every change affects you because one day you play at a Canadian-sized rink — it’s small and compact — and the next day, you move to a big city with a big rink, and that means a different game strategy. So you get mixed up a bit.”
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
