If the New York Islanders are going to make any kind of real playoff noise this season, the path runs straight through Ilya Sorokin.
That’s not a new storyline, but it’s the one that matters most. Sorokin was good enough in 2025-26 to finish second in Vezina Trophy voting and third in All-Star voting, even though the overall numbers weren’t at the level of his very best work.
He led the league with seven shutouts, but he also finished with a .906 save percentage and a 2.68 goals-against average, which ranked eighth and ninth among goaltenders with more than 40 games played. Sorokin himself felt he didn’t deserve the Vezina nomination after the Islanders missed the playoffs.
Now the Islanders are trying to flip the script in 2026-27, and that means Sorokin has to be the steady force in net again.
His track record with New York shows why the Islanders lean on him so heavily. In 308 games with the club, Sorokin has gone 154-113-38, stopped 8,313 shots, posted a .914 save percentage and recorded 29 shutouts. He has also logged 17,982:08 in the crease and even picked up seven points along the way.
The challenge ahead is obvious. Getting through the Eastern Conference and into the Finals means dealing with teams that can score in bunches.
The defending champions, the Carolina Hurricanes, finished 2025-26 with a +56 goal differential. The Penguins and Flyers, who both advanced out of the Metropolitan Division, finished at +25 and +7.
Every Atlantic Division playoff team finished in the positive as well, and the most eye-catching number of all came from the Western Conference’s top club, the Colorado Avalanche, at +99.
If the Islanders end up facing a team like the Tampa Bay Lightning or the Montréal Canadians, the goaltending has to hold up. Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov put up 130 points in the 2025-26 regular season, while Montréal’s Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki combined for 189 points last season.
That’s where Sorokin’s history becomes even more important. During his time with the Islanders, the team has reached the playoffs three times.
In two of those seasons, Sorokin finished with a goals-against average of 2.34 or lower. In all three, his save percentage was above .906.
The Islanders’ best postseason stretches have come when Sorokin has been sharp and efficient.
And there isn’t much margin for error behind him. Semyon Varlamov, last season’s backup, has been sidelined since double knee surgery.
Even if he returns healthy, he likely won’t play more than 20 or 30 games next season. The 39-year-old hasn’t appeared in more than 30 games since 2021-22.
The only other healthy goalie in the mix is Vitek Vanecek, who arrived as a free agent from the Utah Mammoth. He’s not expected to take over the starting job, which leaves Sorokin as the clear anchor. With Varlamov and Vanecek available to lighten the load, the Islanders are hoping Sorokin gets enough support - and enough rest - to carry them back to the playoffs.
In Other News...
Why The Islanders Never Needed An Ondrej Palat Buyout
The Islanders second and final buyout window for the offseason closed Monday night, and with it came the end of any realistic talk about an Ondrej Palat escape hatch. Palat is still on the books for one more year at a $6 million cap hit, and after a rough 2025-26 season, he remains a tricky case because his no-move clause blocks a waiver or AHL assignment.
Still, the club never appeared to need that kind of fix. The Islanders have enough cap space to cover rookie bonuses and keep the roster flexible, which is why the buyout question felt more like an accounting exercise than an urgent roster decision. Palats situation is still worth watching, but for now the team has chosen to live with the contract rather than pay to move on from it. [Read more 🡒]
Islanders Front Office Shift Says A Lot About Darches Plan
The Islanders latest front-office move offers another look at how theyre trying to reshape the organization under Mathieu Darche. Evan Gold has been hired as assistant general manager and will also serve as general manager of the teams AHL affiliate in Hamilton, giving the Isles a direct hand in the day-to-day bridge between the NHL roster and the development pipeline.
Chris Lamoriello is staying in the organization, but shifting his focus to player personnel and scouting, which helps clarify how the responsibilities are being sorted out. Gold arrives with experience from the Bruins and Providence Bruins, and the structure suggests Darche wants a tighter, more deliberate alignment from the top level down through the minors. [Read more 🡒]
Sorokin Knows One Islanders Weakness Could Cost Them Big
Ilya Sorokin has been one of the Islanders biggest strengths in net, but the shootout remains the one area where his track record has left room for concern. Over the course of his NHL career, he has gone 9-16 in shootouts with a .645 save percentage, a reminder that even elite goaltending can unravel once regulation ends and the ice shrinks into a skills contest.
Sorokin said his better results last season came after he changed his approach and started waiting instead of reacting too early to a shooters movements, a small adjustment that can make a big difference in a format decided by patience and reads. He also leaned on advice from fellow Russian Yegor Chinakhov about shootout tactics, which only adds to the sense that this is an area the Islanders are still trying to sharpen before it costs them points they cant afford to lose. [Read more 🡒]