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New York Islanders Daily: Ilya Sorokin Excited About Lamoriello and NHL

By Matt O'Leary

GANGNEUNG, SOUTH KOREA - FEBRUARY 25: Ilya Sorokin #31 of Olympic Athlete from Russia warms up before the Men's Ice Hockey Gold Medal Game against Germany on day sixteen of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at Gangneung Hockey Centre on February 25, 2018 in Gangneung, South Korea. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
GANGNEUNG, SOUTH KOREA - FEBRUARY 25: Ilya Sorokin #31 of Olympic Athlete from Russia warms up before the Men's Ice Hockey Gold Medal Game against Germany on day sixteen of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at Gangneung Hockey Centre on February 25, 2018 in Gangneung, South Korea. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
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New York Islanders General Manager, Lou Lamoriello, has spoken with Ilya Sorokin and he’s excited about playing in the NHL.

Since being drafted in 2014, Ilya Sorokin has been what some would call a “White Whale” for the New York Islanders. He was selected in the third round but the Islanders knew he would be staying in the KHL for the foreseeable future.

His coming out party was 2015-2016 when he put on an absolute clinic as a 20-year-old in the KHL. He had a .953 save percentage and a 1.06 goals against average. That’s something you see in a video game.

Sorokin could’ve came to the US in 2017 but he instead decided to re-sign with his KHL team for three more years. At that point Sorokin seemed like a lost cause, but that could’ve changed with the hiring of Lamoriello.

According to NHL.com Lou Lamoriello has spoken with Sorokin himself.

"“I’ve talked to him myself, and he’s excited about coming to the National Hockey League,” Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello said. “I know that he was free to come (in 2017) and then re-signed. There’s always different reasons why people do it, but I’m comfortable at the conversation I’ve had with him, and also his representative. We look forward to getting him sometime along the way here.”"

Well, that seemed to come out of the blue. If you remember not too long ago a report from a Russian writer came out that Ilya Sorokin wanted no part of Garth Snow. Can’t say I blame the kid there.

Now with Lou Lamoriello, Barry Trotz, and Mitch Korn, Sorokin seems genuinely interested in coming over here, which would likely be in 2020 when his KHL deal is up. The Islanders could use a goalie of the future, and Sorokin might just be that guy in two years.

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