The biggest news surrounding the New York Islanders in recent weeks has involved Ilya Sorokin. There were questions about whether he was entering training camp injured or limited by an injury. Then the Islanders confirmed he had back surgery in the offseason and has been recovering since.
The immediate reactions, at least from the fanbase, are speculative. How many games will Sorokin miss to start the season and how long will it take to recover from surgery? The subsequent question is a retroactive one: How long has Sorokin been injured and playing with an issue that required surgery?
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These questions ignore the big picture with the Islanders’ starting goaltender and their unit as a whole. The surgery is a reminder for the Islanders and their coaching staff that they must pay close attention to a position that will make or break their 2024-25 season. In 2022-23, goaltending was the Islanders’ strength, and last season, it nearly left them out of the playoffs. By all means, it’s the X-Factor this season.
Sorokin Will Return To Form
The offseason surgery explains why Sorokin struggled down the stretch last season. An injured back can make a goaltender who relies on quick movement and flexibility rather than size look hapless in the net. He did, and it’s why the Islanders had to turn to Semyon Varlamov in the final regular season games to secure a spot in the playoffs.
There’s no telling when the injury occurred and if there was a game in which Sorokin started to feel its impact. However, there’s a noticeable drop off in his final 10 starts where the injury or the workload from the season started to take its toll. In those games, he had a .903 save percentage (SV%) and a 3.00 goals-against average (GAA), forcing the Islanders to bench him. It didn’t help that his one playoff appearance was also a disaster as he allowed three goals on only 14 shots and failed to finish the Game 3 loss against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Sorokin will head into the new season looking more like the elite goaltender the team saw in his first three seasons in the NHL and not the one everyone saw last season. When he was playing at 80 or even 70 percent, as he was at the end of last season, he was a weak link. At full strength, he can carry the Islanders and he will do so this season… but with a catch.
Islanders Must Think Long Term With Sorokin
This is particularly important as the season begins. Even if Sorokin’s surgery was early in the offseason, he won’t be at his best in the first few games or possibly the first month of action. It’s why the Islanders must ease him into the season and the starting role, not throw him into the fire and overwork him from opening night.
The 82-game season is a long one, spanning six-and-a-half-months with only a break in the middle (usually the All-Star Break but this season a break for the 4 Nations Face-Off) to provide rest for the players. The Islanders need Sorokin to play his best in March, April, and the playoffs, when the games matter the most. It’s why Varlamov should see plenty of starts in the first month of the season and possibly until Thanksgiving (when teams are unofficially declared destined for greatness or doomed.)
The additional long-term aspect is Sorokin’s ability with the team beyond this season. The Islanders gave him an eight-year extension in the 2023 offseason and the contract kicks in starting this season. They must make sure it’s worthwhile and not a deal that ages poorly. Running Sorokin into the ground will provide the opposite outcome.
Instead, the Islanders can think of the big picture, which is that Sorokin will give them a chance every season as their primary starter to lead them to the Cup. The Florida Panthers are a recent reminder of that as they gave Sergei Bobrovsky a lucrative seven-year deal in the 2019 offseason. Did the contract look good at first? No. Did it look good for the first few seasons? Also no. Did it work out in the long run? Considering Bobrovsky was dominant in the net to help them to the 2024 Stanley Cup title, absolutely!
Islanders Must Use Goaltending Duo Correctly
The big takeaway from the surgery and last season as a whole is that the Islanders must turn to a duo in the net this season. Sorokin needs a reliable backup. Last season, he was overworked and even if he wasn’t playing through injury, something that certainly was the case early on, he wasn’t playing at the same level the team expected he would be.
Varlamov is 36 years old but still capable of splitting starts. That’s not what the Islanders want since Sorokin is one of the best in the game and leaving him on the bench for half the season is a waste of his talent (plus, you don’t pay him to carry the weight and then ask him to split starts.) The Islanders will however need Varlamov to start at least 30 games to keep Sorokin fresh, not just for the entire season but also the playoffs.
The other important part of protecting Sorokin is having the defense help him out. He can’t face as many shots as he did last season and still perform at a high level. Head coach Patrick Roy’s system will help him out as the team will play with structure and discipline but the defensemen must step up. They can’t give up easy scoring chances and odd-man rushes and expect Sorokin to remain elite. The recent surgery is a reminder of how fragile the position is and how things can unravel even for a Vezina Trophy-caliber goaltender.
