Sorokin, this is Schwarzenegger.
“I’ll be back,” the goalie said Friday after a season in which he didn’t look like the Terminator at all.
Ilya Sorokin’s fall from Vezina Trophy runner-up status to league average to his retirement after allowing three goals on 14 shots in his only playoff start is hard for anyone to explain, including him -even.
But as the long summer begins for the Islanders, the goal for the next four months is obvious for Sorokin: get his game back.
“I want to start skating on Monday,” he said. “Of course, the season is very fresh in my mind.”
Despite being Semyon Varlamov’s replacement for the final stretch, Sorokin finished the regular season having faced more shots than any goaltender except Nashville’s Juuse Saros, who played in eight games of more than him.
That, in addition to Sorokin’s 62 games played in 2022-23, offers a potential explanation for why his play has gone haywire.
“I think it depends on a lot of factors,” Sorokin said. “It was tough, parts of January, February, a lot of games. I think for all goalkeepers, these are small details. You should control the details.
Varlamov, who has proven himself more than capable of handling a larger workload than has been thrust upon him over the past two seasons, offered a vision that functioned as an indirect critique of the team’s rotation management. Lane Lambert in the net.
“I know Ilya is capable of playing 60 (matches), I know I am capable of playing 60 too,” he said. “But I personally think if you play your number one goalie for 60 or 65 games, I don’t think he’s going to be fresh to move forward and play in the playoffs. If you want to go further in the playoffs, you need to make sure your starter, the No. 1 goalie, feels good and fresh.
Regardless, he was confident that Sorokin would indeed return in the fall.
“For me, he’s still one of the top five goalies in the league,” Varlamov said. “And I’m sure he’ll continue to play well for this organization, for this team, and he just needed to mentally reset, get away from hockey, not think about hockey. Make sure you have a good summer of training, then come back mentally refreshed and physically fit next season.
Oliver Wahlstrom, a restricted free agent this summer, did not respond when asked if he wanted to return to the Islanders after failing to remain in the lineup this season.
“We’ll see. It’s a decision between me and Lou (Lamoriello),” he said. ” We talked a lot. He helps me a lot through the ups and downs. We’ll see how it goes.
Although Lamoriello would not commit to whether the assistant coaching staff would be back next season, he said he expects director of goaltending Mitch Korn to return.
New York Post
