New York Islanders Prospect Ilya Sorokin Extends Russian Contract

The New York Islanders 21-year old Russian Goalie Prospect Ilya Sorokin has extended his contract with CSKA Moskva for three years.

In the 2014 NHL Draft the New York Islanders selected two quality goalies in Ilya Sorokin and Linus Soderstrom. One of those goalies made the trip over for minicamp this offseason, while the other upped his deal to stay with his KHL team.

Ilya Sorokin has signed a three-year extension to stay with CSKA Moskva. After posting an impressive .929 save percentage and 1.61 goals against average many Isles fans were hoping that he would leave Russia after next year.

That seems increasingly unlikely after signing an extension. The Islanders were very high on Sorokin as they selected him in the third round of the 2014 draft.

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He’s lived up to the hype, as you saw his numbers last year were very good. They were even better as a 20-year old in 2015-2016 when he put up videogame-like numbers. A .953 save percentage and a 1.06 goals against average.

The first real action we got to see of Sorokin came at the World Juniors this year. He represented his country in the tournament playing in two games. In those two games he did not have a goal against and had a 1.000 save percentage.

Unfortunately, that’s the risk you take drafting foreign players, especially KHL players. There’s no guarantee that they ever come over to the states to play and that certainly looks to be the case with Sorokin.

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The Islanders should shift their focus to Linus Soderstrom now who has a contract here and seems like the choice for Thomas Greiss’ replacement in a couple of years.