NY Islanders Ilya Sorokin finishes Top-10 in Hart Voting; NHL Second All-Star Team

New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin didn't leave Nashville with any hardware, but he did receive plenty of accolades for his 2022-23 season. While Sorokin finsihed runner-up to Linus Ullmark fof the Boston Bruins for the Vezina Trophy, awarded to the league's top goaltender, his extraordinary season was reciignized in other ways on Monday night.

The 27-year-old, who is entering the final year of his three-year $12M contract, finished 9th in Hart Trophy voting for the league's most valuable player, receiving 127 points which included four second-place and 10 third-place votes. Interestingly enough, Sorokin finished ahead of Ullmark in voting for the Hart Trophy as the Vezina Trophy winner finished 10th, with 61 points.

In some ways, Sorokin was more deserving of the Hart than he was the Vezina as the Islanders not only aren't a playoff team without him, they're likely not a playoff contender. The team struggled in front of him most of the season as they tried to adapt to Lane Lambert's new system which had them less defensively rigid for most of the year. Consistently facing a significant number of high-danger shots, Sorokin became the darling of the advanced analytics followers for his goals saved above expected numbers.

Later in the night, Sorokin was named to the NHL's second All-Star team with Ullmark earning First All-Star team honors. The other first All-Star team members include Hart Trophy winner Connor McDavid, Jason Robertson, David Pastrnak, Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson and Adam Fox. The second team includes Artemi Panarin, Leon Draisaitl, Matthew Tkachuk, Hampus Lindholm and Cale Makar.