The Future of New York Islanders Goaltending

It feels almost since Billy Smith of the early 80’s Islander dynasty, the team never had an elite long-term goaltender. Many would argue the best Isles goalie since Smith was Robin Lehner. 

Lehner struggled to maintain a starting role on the Senators and Sabres due to alcohol addiction, ADHD, and bipolar disease but broke out after signing a one-year deal with Isles in 2018. The Swedish netminder teamed up with Thomas Greiss, a tandem that would go on to win the William M. Jennings Trophy for lowest GAA in the league. His breakout season placed him as a Vezina candidate and helped the Islanders sweep the Pittsburgh Penguins and reach the second round, just their second series victory since 1993.

However, the Islanders did not want to give Lehner another short term contract, so Lehner went to Chicago and the Islander found a cheaper replacement; Semyon Varlamov, whose eight-year run with the Avs had come to an end.

In the first year of his four-year deal with the Isles, Varlamov had a decent season, seeing the ice in 45 of 68 Islanders regular-season games. But when discussing the future of Islanders goaltending, the consensus points to highly-touted KHL prospect Ilya Sorokin. 

The 24-year-old was drafted by the Islanders in the third round in the 2014 NHL Draft. He struggled to become a starter until he left Novokuznetsk Metallurg for CSKA Moscow in 2015. Posting a GAA under 1.62 and a Save % over .928 in each of his last 5 seasons in Moscow, Ilya has already been crowned the KHL goalie of the year award. So how does Sorokin bring his greatness to the Islanders?

Well, it’s complicated. The good news for the Islanders is that he seems to have no intention of resigning in Russia, and even switched his agent to Daniel Milstein who is known for representing Russian NHL stars such as Pavel Datsyuk, Artemi Panarin, and Nikita Kucherov. The plan was for Sorokin to join the Islanders in July of 2020 (Only the Islanders have the right to sign him). But with the outbreak of COVID-19, The 2020-2021 season likely won’t start until around January, and even by then, it’s unlikely 31 arenas can be used.

However, the effects of the virus have been more devastating to the NHL when placed in comparison to the Russian league. Sorokin may be forced to temporarily resign in Russia if their season starts in October or force being held to sit months out of competitive hockey. I doubt the NHL allows KHL signings this July for the upcoming playoffs, so expect the Isles to roll with Varlamov and Greiss heading into their matchup with the Florida Panthers. He should still be able to join the Islanders by the start of the 2020-2021 season, but with this year’s playoffs not starting until at least the end of July who knows when next season starts or what it will look like.

By: Ben Kule