Ilya Sorokin can drag the Islanders a long way all by himself. The problem is that New York leaned on that reality far too hard last season, and it showed. If the Islanders want a different outcome in 2026-27, they have to stop asking their goaltenders to survive on an island.
Sorokin’s numbers looked ordinary at first glance: a .905 save percentage and a 2.68 goals-against average. Those marks placed him 16th and 19th, respectively, among NHL goalies who played at least 20 games. But the surface stats only tell part of the story.
By the more revealing measures, Sorokin was outstanding. Money Puck had him third in the NHL in goals saved above expected at 25.3, which means he stopped 25 more goals than an average goalie would have.
His goals saved above expected per 60, at 0.471, also ranked third among goalies who played at least 50 games. In plain terms, he was stealing roughly a goal every other game.
That level of work earned him a second-place finish in Vezina Trophy voting, and it nearly carried the Islanders into the playoffs. He was one of the league’s best starting goalies, and he spent much of the season masking everything happening in front of him.
The workload was massive. Sorokin played 55 games, the 11th-most in the league.
Only Andrei Vasilevskiy and Lukas Dostal played more and still made the playoffs. But those two didn’t have to absorb the same kind of shot volume Sorokin faced.
New York was a mess defensively. Sorokin saw 1,530 shots against, which ranked ninth in the NHL, and he made 1,386 saves, eighth-most in the league.
At 5-on-5, the Islanders posted an expected goals against per 60 of 2.93, the third-worst mark in the NHL behind the Vancouver Canucks and Chicago Blackhawks. That’s a blunt measure, but the message is clear: they were giving up far too much.
Sorokin still dragged the actual damage down. The Islanders’ 5-on-5 goals against per 60 sat at 2.42, good for 14th in the NHL and just behind the eventual Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes.
It was even slightly better than the vanquished Eastern Conference Finalists, the Montreal Canadiens. That’s the kind of cover Sorokin provides.
He is paid to hide flaws like that.
But there’s a limit to what one goalie can erase. The issues weren’t confined to one pair or one line; they stretched across the roster. That points to either a roster-building problem or a coaching problem, and Pete DeBoer’s arrival behind the bench could bring a different approach when training camp opens next month.
There may not be an easy external fix waiting in late August and early September. Trades require a partner, and general manager Mathieu Darche may have a tough time finding one willing to help reshape the defense. The free-agent market has been picked over, which leaves the Islanders looking inward for answers.
Cutting Sorokin’s workload sounds logical, but it doesn’t really solve the problem. Any goalie behind this defense is going to face a brutal night.
Sorokin is just better equipped to survive it. That means the Islanders can’t treat rest as the answer while the structure in front of their net stays the same.
Whether the starter is Sorokin, David Rittich or Semyon Varlamov, the burden will still be there.
If the Islanders want to get back to the playoffs, they have to do a better job in front of their goalies. If they don’t, Sorokin may keep bailing them out - and still end up burned out by the end of it.
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