Regarding New York Islanders star netminder Ilya Sorokin, the cat is out of the bag.
The 29-year-old goaltender, who is entering the first of an eight-year deal worth $8.25 million annually, suffered an offseason upper-body, which general manager Lou Lamoriello shared with us this past Friday.
Related: Islanders General Manager Lou Lamoriello On Ilya Sorokin Injury: ‘Nothing We Are Concerned About’
We learned more on Monday, accidentally, at the team’s charity golf outing, when head coach Patrick Roy discussed Sorokin’s struggles from a year ago and his level of confidence in him.
“I’m not concerned because we have two very good goaltenders,” Roy said. “In the exit meeting with Ilya … he knows what he has to do, and he knows that I’m with him. He knows I’m trusting him, and he knows that he’s going to be an important player on our team.
“So, the surgery that he had for his back, it’s not the perfect thing, but I think he’ll be fine. And I do believe that we have such a good medical staff that’ll take care of him. They’ll make sure that when he’s ready, he’ll help us.”
“He knows what he has to do, and he knows that I’m with him. He knows I’m trusting him.”#Isles HC Patrick Roy is not concerned about Ilya Sorokin, who is looking to bounce back after a tough season and offseason back surgery @NHLdotcom https://t.co/beAyUw2UPL
— Stefen Rosner (@stefen_rosner) September 16, 2024
Over the last two seasons, Islanders backup goaltender Semyon Varlamov has missed time with various injuries, leading to Lane Lambert running Sorokin into the ground.
The Islanders did recall goalies in back-to-back years when Varlamov was on the shelf, Cory Schneider in 2022-23 and Ken Appleby in 2023-24.
Although Schneider used to be considered an elite netminder before injuries derailed his career, neither was a viable option to man an NHL crease, and that hurt the team.
Jakub Skarek, a 24-year-old with one more year remaining on his deal, has failed to develop into an NHL option despite spending four years in the system.
Although we don’t know if Sorokin was suffering from anything during a career-worst 2023-24 campaign, which saw him get demoted to the backup down the stretch and in the playoffs, not having someone to give him a breather when Varlamov was out likely played a part in his struggles.
The Islanders realized they had to address their goaltender depth, and they did just that this summer.
In March, while the Islanders were in Carolina for the playoffs, they signed former Ottawa Senators netminder Marcus Hogberg to a two-year deal to be an option if one of the two NHL tendies got hurt.
Then, at the 2024 NHL Draft, the Islanders used their fourth and fifth-round picks on goaltenders, drafting Dmitry Gamzin out of the KHL and Marcus Gidlof out of Sweden.
Those two join Tristan Lennox (2021 third round) and Henrik Tikkanen (2020 seventh round) as the Islanders goaltending prospects.
But the Islanders weren’t done just yet.
The Islanders also brought in 35-year-old Long Island native Keith Kinkaid — my old goalie coach — to camp on a professional tryout.
Here’s the training camp goalie depth chart in list form:
-
Sorokin
-
Varlamov
-
Hogberg
-
Kinkaid
-
Skarek
-
Tikkanen
-
Lennox
Gidlof and Gazmin remained overseas.
“We learn by experience, no matter how old we get,” Lamoriello said last Friday. “Last year, we got caught a little with depth, so we made sure we have depth in our goaltending. As far as who that will be, I think we all know who number one and number two are… and then after that, I’m excited to see the competition, and I’m hoping we have a difficult choice to make, whoever that might be.”
Unless Skarek’s contract gets terminated or Sorokin isn’t ready for the start of the regular season despite the belief that he’ll be good to go, it’s unlikely that Kinkaid gets a contract out of this, given that Hogberg has signed.
Kinkaid is likely here just in case Sorokin isn’t able to participate in training camp, so each group — they run three groups during the game — has two goalies each.
Lennox suffered an injury during rookie camp and has missed the last three days of skates, so it’s possible the Islanders only have five goalies at camp, which complicates things, but that’s a problem for another day.
Gidlof and Gazmin remained overseas.
You can never have too many goalies, and this summer, the Islanders made sure that they are set for the present and the future.
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