NY Islanders head coach Patrick Roy says Ilya Sorokin had back surgery

Ever since NHL insider Elliotte Friedman shared that he heard that New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin was "battling something" on his 32 Thoughts podcast, many were speculating precisely what that meant. Some social media rumors were wildly off-base, while others worried that it could be an injury that resulted in Sorokin missing time to start the regular season.

General Manager and President of Hockey Operations Lou Lamoriello confirmed that there was indeed "something" the franchise goaltender was battling but didn't divulge much more. "Ilya Sorokin had a little injury during summer training (upper body)," said Lamoriello last week. "He is skating. We are not worried it will extend into the season."

In typical Lamoriello fashion, he wouldn't volunteer more details than that, saving most of his comments to dismiss the baseless notion that Sorokin's battle was mental in nature after a disappointing end to his 2023-24 season. “There is no one with more impeccable character and mental toughness than Ilya Sorokin," Lamoriello said. "I was shocked. I had no knowledge of anything that was rumored out there.”

However, head coach Patrick Roy provided more detail on Monday at the team's 16th Annual Golf Outing, sharing that Sorokin had back surgery. That, on the surface, sounds more alarming than the basic "upper body" injury that Lamoriello had told the media.

“So, the surgery that he had for his back, it's not the perfect thing, but I think he'll be fine,
said Roy as reported by NHL.com. "And I do believe that we have such a good medical staff that'll take care of him. They'll make sure that when he's ready, he'll help us."

Back surgeries vary considerably in severity. Depending on when it happened this summer, it is reasonable to understand why the Islanders believe Sorokin will be ready for the start of the season in about a month. Of course, surgery is still surgery, and there's nothing routine about it. Until we see Sorokin on the ice in game action, it will be hard to be fully assured that he is 100% healthy and ready to take on the same workload he had the previous two seasons.