Eyes On Isles
Fansided

Ilya Sorokin has ground to make up to set an Islanders record in this stat

Ilya Sorokin's playing career is far from over, and he's already set one career record for the New York Islanders. Now the question is, can he hit another one?
ByTodd Matthews|
Apr 15, 2025; Elmont, New York, USA; New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin (30) takes a water break before the first period against the Washington Capitals at UBS Arena. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images
Apr 15, 2025; Elmont, New York, USA; New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin (30) takes a water break before the first period against the Washington Capitals at UBS Arena. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images | John Jones-Imagn Images

If Ilya Sorokin keeps up his elite play in the net, he'll retire as the all-time leader in career save percentage. A franchise record Semyon Varlamov shares with him, as both have a whopping 0.916 percentage so far.

If that's not epic enough, Sorokin's also close to passing Varlamov and Glenn Resch in career GAA. Heading into 2025-26, he's sitting there with a 2.58 GAA, good for third in New York Islanders history. Resch sports a 2.56, so Sorokin's close.

Sorokin, who's spent five seasons in the NHL so far, has a long, long way to go in his career. But he's more than proven that he can be an elite netminder, with a quality starts percentage of 0.665 and 22 career shutouts.

But the previous two seasons gave fans a pause, as his GAA ballooned to 2.86 and his save percentage dropped to just 0.908. In today's game, those numbers aren't bad, but Sorokin's play's held to a much higher standard, given his early-career dominance with the Isles.

Will Ilya Sorokin give fans vintage play in 2025-26 and beyond to snag a few records?

The funny thing about goaltenders is that they don't always chase records like skaters do. In some cases, they hold onto their records and they alone control whether they keep them. If Sorokin has another few less-than-stellar campaigns in the near future, he'll give up his all-time career record in save percentage.

His career GAA will also suffer, and there's a chance he'll drop on the all-time records list. But it doesn't mean all hope's lost, since Sorokin can chase those ahead him in career saves, where he ranks fourth.

Sorokin's gaining in all-time career saves for the Isles but he's got ground to make up

Familiar names like Billy Smith, Rick DiPietro, and Glenn Resch are ahead of Sorokin. And if Sorokin makes enough saves this season (249), he'll take the third spot. Yeah, if he stays healthy, he'll pass Resch in the first quarter of the season.

As for taking over the record one day? It'll be a stretch, since Smith has 17,075 career saves, and I'll leave you to do the math if you want to project when Sorokin would have a chance to pass that up. He'll need another 10,000 saves and at least another seven years in the NHL for that one.

Still, we'll see if Sorokin's up to the challenge of sustaining his career save percentage and bumping up his GAA to claim the top spot this season. But the fun part is, he'll need to keep up that pace for as long as he's on the Island.

More from Eyes on Isles

Home/Islanders History