Islanders: Ilya Sorokin has a short window to sign for 2019-20

Ilya Sorokin has a short window if he’s going to sign with the New York Islanders for 2019-20.

On Monday, we found out that the NHL and NHLPA had agreed on an extension to the CBA and to Phase 3 & 4 RTP protocols. They also allowed players like New York Islanders prospect Ilya Sorokin to sign their ELC’s for the 2019-20 season.

The only caveat is that these players, once signed, cannot play in the qualifying round or the playoffs.

So teams like the Isles or the Minnesota Wild, who were hoping to see Kirill Kaprizov skate for them in the qualifying round, won’t have the chance to do so. For Sorokin, it’s not like he was going to step into the Isles squad during the play-in round or the playoffs anyways

But at least these players will have the chance to burn a year off their ELCs.

So when can we expect Sorokin to sign with the Isles now that he can burn his ELC without even having to play a game?

Short Window

Late on Monday, we found out that players like Sorokin, who want to sign for 2019-20 will have a short window in which to do so.

Romanov, Kaprizov, Sorokin, etc:
53-hour window to sign them, burn a year. Begins at noon ET the third day after the agreement is signed, ends 5pm ET the fifth day.
1) No signing bonus in first year
2) No 2020-21 signing bonus until Nov. 1
3) As we know, they cannot play
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) July 7, 2020

As it stands it’s believed that voting can be completed by the NHL and NHLPA and the CBA+RTP agreement can be signed by July 10th at the earliest. It could go later. The player vote will take a while to complete.

If everything is done by July 10, that means the Isles and Sorokin can sign a deal for 2019-20 as early as noon eastern on July 13. They’ll have until July 15 at 5 PM eastern.

Of course, as Bob McKenzie has constantly said during this period:

Universal reminder on all negotiations: It’s not done at all until it’s all done. G’nite. ?
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) July 6, 2020

So the dates I mentioned are still very fluid, but it gives you a good concept as to when Sorokin could put pen to paper with the Isles on that one-year ELC. Both sides effectively have a 53-hour window to sort out that ELC.

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Once that’s all done they basically have to immediately get to work on figuring out what his bridge deal will look like. Although, I’m sure Lou Lamoriello already has that tentatively sorted out.

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