Soshnikov also overlapped with Matt Martin during Martin's two-year stint with the Maple Leafs. The two played together for a stretch during the 2016-17 season and Martin was pleasantly surprised to see Soshnikov walk into Northwell Health Ice Center at the onset of camp. The days of apartment hunting for new teammates, like Martin did for Leo Komarov in 2018, may be behind him now that he's a parent.
"He's kind of a high motor guy and obviously a smaller guy, but a good skill set and plays with a little bit of an edge as well," Martin said. "He hounds the puck, the kind of people you want in the locker room on your team. He's a good person, happy to have him here. I haven't seen him in a long time, so when he walked in the room, I didn't even know he was signed yet, but always good to see familiar faces."
The native of Nizhny Tagil, Russia has some more familiarity with the Islanders growing Russian contingent. Soshnikov played against Ilya Sorokin and Alexander Romanov when the latter two were teammates with CSKA Moscow in 2019-20. Soshnikov and Sorokin have also crossed paths on the Russian national team.
"He's a quick, good hands, smart player," Sorokin said, adding that having more Russian speakers was beneficial for he and Romanov. "Good guy too."