The Islanders have been waiting for Ilya Sorokin to come to North America for several years now. It appears as if the wait may soon be over. Sport-Express’ Igor Eronko reports (Twitter link) that Sorokin has turned down an extension offer from CSKA Moscow of the KHL, paving the way for him to sign with New York at the expiration of his current deal at the end of the month.
Sorokin was a third-round pick (78th overall) back in 2014 and has quickly outperformed that slot as he has become of the top goaltenders outside of North America. This season, he posted a .935 SV% with a GAA of 1.50 and if you think those are impressive, they’re actually both worse than 2018-19 (.940 SV% and 1.16 GAA). He was off to a stellar start in the playoffs as well with a .966 SV% and a 0.73 GAA before the postseason was eventually called. While the KHL is a lower-scoring league, those are still appealing results and it’s no surprise that CSKA tried to get Sorokin to sign an extension.
Instead, it appears that the 24-year-old now has his sights set on the NHL where he should make his mark right away with the Islanders. Assuming a deal gets done, it’s safe to pencil him in alongside Semyon Varlamov as New York’s tandem for next season. That makes it seem unlikely on the surface that Thomas Greiss, a pending unrestricted free agent, will be back in the fold.
On the surface, it might seem like Sorokin would be leaving some money on the table in the short term as he’ll be restricted to a one-year, entry-level deal. However, this stoppage could potentially present an opportunity for Sorokin to burn that year quickly. As he was on the Islanders’ reserve list at the trade deadline, he’d be eligible to play if play resumes. Accordingly, they could burn that year right away and get him out of the entry-level system quickly which is what Columbus did with Elvis Merzlikins just last season.
Accordingly, it may take a bit of time yet for an NHL deal to be announced as Sorokin’s side would undoubtedly want to wait to see what happens with the rest of this season and playoffs before putting pen to paper on a contract. However, it appears that the wait to bring him to North America is about to come to an end.