Sorokin Worth the Wait for Islanders

Lou Lamoriello was always confident that he'd be able to sign Ilya Sorokin.
The Islanders President and GM delivered this week, first inking Sorokin to an entry-level deal for the rest of the 2019-20 season and then a
one-year contract extension for 2020-21
. With the contracts signed, the Islanders are bringing one of the top goalies outside the NHL to Long Island.

"There's no question that his stats and his resume speak for themselves as far as the success that he's had in the KHL, as well as the Olympics and World Championships,"
Lamoriello said via a conference call with reporters
. "We certainly feel highly of him, but as you know all those records go out the window when you come to the National Hockey League… He has the skills and talent to have success."
The Islanders felt so highly of their 2014 third-round pick that they signed him for the rest of the 2019-20 season, which he is ineligible to play in, to facilitate a transition to North America. The deal allowed Sorokin to finish his entry-level contract, become a restricted free agent and sign a more lucrative extension with the team. (Sorokin will still be an RFA when his extension expires in 2021.) All of this was incumbent on Sorokin showing his willingness to leave CSKA Moscow, the reigning KHL champions, where he played the past six seasons.
ISLES SIGN ILYA SOROKIN
WRITTEN COVERAGE
Sorokin Signs One-Year Extension
7 Facts: Ilya Sorokin
From Russia With Love
VIDEO COVERAGE
Lou Lamoriello Conference Call
Barry Trotz Zoom Call
Semyon Varlamov Zoom Call

"What we had to do was first have an understanding that he wanted to come," Lamoriello said. "And that if we did make a decision to burn a year that we would be able to sit down in good faith and negotiate a fair situation because of his status and his abilities and also with the unknown that he had not been here. I was comfortable with that with his previous agent and also his present agent, so he had to play a very big role in that, that he wanted to come or we would not have gone in this direction."
Sorokin is currently in Russia, but the 24-year-old is expected to come to North America in the near future to practice with the Islanders in their Phase 3 Training Camp, once the proper immigration and visa paperwork can be filed.
Lamoriello said the plan is to bring Sorokin to Toronto with the team for Phase 4 of the NHL's Return to Play plan, so he can practice and get acclimated with his new organization. Sorokin is not eligible to play in the qualifying round or postseason and while he will count against the 52-person limit teams can travel with, the Isles GM said he doesn't have to be counted against the 31-player limit.
"It is part of the plan to get him here," Lamoriello said. "We have the practice time, the players here and we also have the ice time that our goaltending coaches can work with him and get a better understanding of his talents and he can get a better understanding of what's expected. It is the intention to take him to the hub with the team, knowing that he cannot play. [He can] be with them, learn more about the environment because he has not been here."

Head Coach Barry Trotz said he was excited to welcome Sorokin into the fold and that the goaltender would benefit from working with Director of Goaltending Mitch Korn and Goaltending Coach Piero Greco.
"I'm like everyone else, I pull up the HockeyDB and I follow a couple of the sites in Russia and see some of the highlights," Trotz said. "I'm really excited for the organization and think he's been identified as a good prospect.
"I've seen the work that Mitch has done and I've seen the work that Piero has done," Trotz added. "I think if those two guys are your coaches, I think you're going to be put in the best situation to succeed in the National Hockey League."
Lamoriello and Trotz will also expect the Islanders players to help Sorokin's transition. Russian-speakers like Semyon Varlamov and Leo Komarov could be asked to help translate. Varlamov and Thomas Greiss, both goalies who've made successful transitions to North America, can impart their wisdom on the young netminder. Varlamov detailed the challenges he faced when coming overseas from Russia, which included learning English and adjusting to a smaller ice surface and more shots. He's a natural fit to mentor Sorokin and the two have a previous relationship from training together in Colorado and playing for the Russian national team.
"We'll use Leo, Leo speaks about five different languages," Trotz said. "We'll lean on each other. We'll lean on Varly obviously and he's a great resource, a real pro. There shouldn't be any issues [with language]."

While the practice time should benefit Sorokin, the goaltender is looking at a long layoff from his last game March 8 until his next one. The NHL has floated Dec. 1 as a target to begin the 2020-21 season, but the Islanders are hoping Sorokin can get game reps in the American Hockey League, should the AHL start its 2020-21 season before the NHL.
"That would be a possibility if the AHL started sooner, no question," Lamoriello said. "He's very open to whatever is best for his career and is very receptive to whatever the development process should be."
The priority is physically getting Sorokin to Long Island and on the ice with the team. Tuesday's signing marked the end of a multi-year process to lure the Russian goalie over from the KHL and now the fun part begins, as the Isles get to mold and develop a top prospect.
Some things are worth the wait.