Sorokin will be ready for Islanders season opener, GM says

ELMONT, NY -- Ilya Sorokin will be ready for the start of the regular season, New York Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello said Sunday.

The 29-year-old goalie had back surgery after he was injured during offseason workouts.

Semyon Varlamov could start the opener for the Islanders against the Utah Hockey Club at UBS Arena on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; Utah16, MSGSN).

"We'll see how it goes tomorrow after today, and then the next day and the next day," Islanders coach Patrick Roy said of Sorokin. "We'll make our decisions based on that."

Sorokin was only expected to miss the first few days of camp, per Lamoriello, but the timeline changed. He missed an entire week of training camp, returning to practice Oct. 3, and did not play in any of the six preseason games.

"When he's ready, he's ready," Lamoriello said. "I think that the [recovery] process has been exactly what we hoped it would be. And if you want to say we extended it a period of time, we did what had to be done to make sure he was totally 100 percent."

Sorokin has not played since Game 3 of the Eastern Conference First Round on April 25, when he was pulled after allowing three goals on 14 shots in a 3-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. New York lost the best-of-7 series in five games.

"I can't control [missing preseason]. I can't change anything," Sorokin said, "so I'm working without having any preseason games. I'm trying to do a lot of mental work, taking this moment to work on my [mental game].

"You are trying to get back your timing. You can find your timing in practice. You don't need a game to do that. It's good that I'm facing a lot of shots. Sometimes, I realize that I need to make a move earlier or later. It's all about timing, but the more I practice, the better I feel."

The Islanders are taking their time with Sorokin, who's entering the first season of an eight-year contract he signed July 1, 2023. Given the injury and the surgery, Sorokin being on the NHL roster to begin the season and looking comfortable on the ice is a positive.

"You can see his competitive juices are back," Islanders forward Mathew Barzal said. "He was like a caged dog being injured and not being on the ice, so it's nice to see him running, and he seems back to normal."

The Islanders waived forward Pierre Engvall, who was to begin the second season of a seven-year contract he signed July 1, 2023.

"I think that what happened, simplistically, is that he's a top six, top nine forward, and Maxim Tsyplakov earned his way into that role," Lamoriello said. "Basically, we have to make the best decisions for the best lineup we can put together. It's as simple as that. It's not that he did anything wrong, but he basically lost the job at this point. He is not a bottom-six player."

Goalie Marcus Hogberg was placed on waivers. The 29-year-old signed a two-year contract May 7. Forwards Hudson Fasching, Liam Foudy and Fredrik Karlstrom, defensemen Samuel Bolduc and Grant Hutton, and goalie Jakub Skarek were also waived.

Forward Matt Martin will remain on his professional tryout contract.