The wait for Ilya Sorokin to arrive on Long Island began in 2014, when the Islanders selected the Russian goaltender in the third round of the NHL Draft. As the years went on, Islanders Country began to wonder if Sorokin would ever leave the KHL and come over to North America – but during the 2019-20 season, rumors began to circulate that Sorokin was ready to accept the challenge of playing in the National Hockey League, and the excitement began to build on Long Island.
Fans began to realize that the player affectionately nicknamed the “White Whale” was going to be a New York Islander. That became reality when the signing of Sorokin was announced on July 13th, 2020, the netminder ineligible to play but coming to join the Islanders in the playoff bubble as they made a run to the Eastern Conference Final.
Sorokin made his NHL debut last season and was a part of the Islanders’ run to the Stanley Cup Semifinal, and the feeling began to set in that, sooner rather than later, Sorokin was going to become the Isles’ number one goaltender.
With the Islanders struggling this season, there have been rumors swirling that the team could deal Semyon Varlamov at the trading deadline, but the timeline of Sorokin becoming the number goaltender may have moved up a bit. Varlamov is currently in COVID-19 protocol and has to remain in Canada for six days, so Sorokin will be between the pipes Tuesday night in Buffalo – and given how the schedule looks, he could be the guy for every game until Varlamov returns.
“If there’s any silver lining it’s that we don’t have any back-to-backs or anything like that,” said Islanders Head Coach Barry Trotz. “Soroky can play the games.”
Sorokin burst onto the NHL scene last season with a brilliant rookie campaign in which he went 13-6-3 with three shutouts and a 2.17 goals against average. This season, the 26-year-old is 14-10-5 with four shutouts and a 2.34 goals against average.
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In his brief NHL career, Sorokin has already shown the ability to be an electrifying goalie and has won playoff games. He started this season as the Isles’ number one netminder while Varlamov was continuing to recover from an injury and now, he’s going to be the starter again – and as the team continues to find a way to get back in the playoff race, they have all the confidence in the world that Sorokin is a key ingredient for the winning formula.
“He’s been unbelievable for us this year,” said forward Casey Cizikas. “He’s given us a chance to win every single night. It’s fun playing in front of him.”
Fun is an appropriate word to describe Sorokin, and not just the feeling that the Islanders and their fans have when they watch him play. Sorokin hit the ground running when he was with the team for the 2020 playoffs even though he couldn’t play, acclimating himself to the North American game in practice and diligently learning how to speak English.
As Sorokin continued to grow on the ice and in the locker room, everybody on the team began to realize just how special this young man was, and now he’s more than just one of the guys – the players absolutely adore him.
“He’s such a good person,” said Trotz. “It’s very easy to like Soroky. He’s hockey all the time. He’s got a good sense of humor. The guys love him, which is always very helpful as a goaltender. He’s just a low-maintenance, very good goaltender.”
“He’s only gotten better since the first day he’s been here,” said Cizikas. “He’s kind of clicked with our group right away. He’s a funny person once you get to know him. His game has been growing.”
At the end of the day, Sorokin is one of the best young goalies in the NHL, and he has the makeup to be not just the Islanders’ franchise goalie, but also one of the premier netminders in the league. If you watched film of his playing days in Russia, it was easy to see that Sorokin could stop the puck with a routine save or one in spectacular fashion.
As Trotz described, Sorokin’s game had “explosiveness” and “exceptional” lateral movement, and he could make any save because he was “physically gifted.” What Sorokin had to learn, though, was that the North American game had more traffic in front of the net, more physical play because of the smaller ice surface, and more, as Trotz pointed out, “randomness and unpredictability” as opposed to what he experienced in the KHL.
“You have to be mentally and positionally really sound to have success,” said Trotz. “I think (Sorokin has) learned that. He's adjusted to it. I call it connecting the dots a little bit easier for reading plays.”
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While Varlamov remains in Canada for the next little while, Sorokin will have to connect a lot of those dots as the Islanders continue to try to get back into contention for a playoff spot. Cory Schneider has been summoned from Bridgeport of the AHL, but Sorokin is going to be the guy, presumably between the pipes for upcoming home games at UBS Arena against the Bruins on Thursday night and against the Canadiens Sunday afternoon.
You’ll be seeing a lot of number 30.
“Soroky has been a rock for us all season long and going back to last season was unbelievable,” said Martin. “I think all goalies look for rhythm in their game and obviously we’ll probably be leaning on him a little bit here and he’s definitely up for the challenge.”
Ilya Sorokin is No. 1 for now, and depending on how he plays, he could remain No. 1 for the rest of the season – and if Varlamov is dealt at the trading deadline, there will be no further questions about it.
It was a long wait for the “White Whale” to get here, but it won’t be long now before he’s the Islanders’ clear-cut number one netminder…and that time could very well be right now.
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