Why the Rangers care about an Islander goalie
New York Rangers fans need to get used to hearing the name Ilya Sorokin, Islanders goalie prospect
While the New York Rangers are sure that they have the best young goaltender in the NHL in Igor Shesterkin, the New York Islanders feel the same about Ilya Sorokin. It could rekindle a long, bitter rivalry and could revive memories of Billy Smith and Chico Resch.
Sorokin has been making headlines this spring with the speculation that he will be joining the Islanders at long last, after being drafted in the third round of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. Finally freed from his KHL contract, reports in the spring were that he was about the join the Islanders. This week, it was reported that he had changed his representation.
Islanders prospect goalie, Ilya Sorokin has changed North American agents and is now represented by @HockeyAgent1
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) June 9, 2020
HockeyAgent1 is Dan Milstein of Gold Star Hockey. Due to the large number of Russian players leaving the KHL, Milstein was recently barred from representing KHL players (in Russia only). Speculation is that this is a sure sign that Sorokin is coming to North America, though there have also been reports that he has re-opened talks with CSKA Moscow.
Both players were selected in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. Sorokin was selected in the third round, #78 overall. Shesterkin was picked by the Rangers in the fourth round, #118 overall. The similarities between Sorokin and Shesterkin are uncanny and they have been rivals for years.
The rivalry
Shesterkin and Sorokin are both 24 years old, though Sorokin is almost five months older, born on August 4, 1995 with Shesterkin born on December 30. Sorokin is an inch taller than the 6’1″ Shesterkin and the Ranger weighs 183 pounds to Sorokin’s 176 pounds.
Both goalies played in the same development leagues in Russia, the VHL and MHL in the same years, making their debuts in the 2012-13 season. Shesterkin had the better year and was selected to play for the Russian U18 team. Though Russia lost the bronze medal game, Shesterkin starred with a 2.26 Goals Against Average (GAA) and .937 save percentage (SV%).
Both goalies were selected for Team Russia at the 2015 U20 WJC. Shesterkin outplayed his rival, going 3-1-0 with a 1.98 GAA and .938 SV%. Sorokin had a 0-2-0 record with a 2.66 GAA and .886 SV%.
To add to the intrigue, Shesterkin was yanked from the gold medal game with Canada after allowing two goals on the first three shots. He was replaced by Sorokin who allowed three more Canadian goals on 18 shots as Canada won the championship game 5-4.
Sorokin made it to the KHL for good in the 2015-16 season. He played 28 games for CSKA Moscow, going 17-7-4 with a 1.06 GAA and a .953 SV%. Sorokin was hailed as the best goalie in the league and twice was selected best goalie of the month.
Shesterkin followed him to the KHL with SKA St. Petersburg the following season and the two goalies were KHL rivals for three straight seasons. One thing about the KHL is that they rely on a two-goalie system so it’s rare for a goalie to play more than 40 games in their 62 game season.
Here’s how they compared in the three regular seasons:
2016-17 Season (56 games)
G W-L GAA SV% SHO
Shesterkin 39 27-4-6 1.64 .937 8
Sorokin 39 25-7-6 1.61 .929 5
2017-18 Season (56 games)
G W-L GAA SV% SHO
Shesterkin 28 18-4-4 1.70 .933 7
Sorokin 37 25-8-4 1.59 .931 8
2018-19 Season (62 games)
G W-L GAA SV% SHO
Shesterkin 28 24-4-0 1.11 .953 10
Sorokin 40 28-6-4 1.16 .940 11
Playoff rivals
When it comes to the playoffs, Shesterkin was a member of the Gagarin Cup championship SKA Petersburg squad in 2016-17, but he was the back up to goalie Mikko Koskinen who had a fabulous playoff (12-1, 1.64 GAA, .938 SV%).
SKA St. Petersburg finished third in the Gagarin Cup the next two season while CSKA Moscow finished second in 2017-18 and won the title in 2018-19. Sorokin was the top goalie for CSKA both seasons.
The only playoff where the two goalies went head-to-head was in 2019. It was in the Gagarin Cup Western Conference Finals when CSKA Moscow, the top team in the league faced SKA St. Petersburg, the second best team that finished only three points behind their rivals.
There is a misconception that Shesterkin had a bad playoff last year, but the opposite is true. He was suspended for one game and when back-up Magnus Hellberg played well, SKA went with the hot hand while Shesterkin sat. You can read the full story here.
The real story is that Shesterkin took over in the series after Hellberg lost the first game, 2-1 in Moscow. Shesterkin hadn’t played in four weeks, but he was the starting goalie for SKA in the last six games of the series.
So, for six games it Shesterkin vs. Sorokin and they ended up in a virtual tie, statistically.
G W-L GAA SV% Goals Shots
Shesterkin 6 3-3 1.79 .914 11 128
Sorokin 6 3-3 1.68 .924 10 131
Sorokin was actually pulled from Game Four of the series after he allowed two goals in less than a minute in the third period. He was replaced by Lars Johansson in a game that SKA won 3-1.
The home team won every game in this series and one wonders if the one month layoff hurt Shesterkin in the game that he returned to action, a 3-1 loss.
In the next round, CSKA Moscow went on to win the Gagarin Cup in a four game sweep over Avangard Omsk. Sorokin was lights out in that series, allowing only four goals in four games and posting two shutouts.
Sorokin’s future
The Islanders have been accused of making some bizarre personnel moves when it came to their goalies. They were widely criticized for allowing Robin Lehner to depart via free agency the year he was a Vezina Trophy finalist and he won the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. As result, the Isles had to go out and sign free agent Semyon Varlamov.
There’s a method to the Islanders’ seeming madness. Their second goalie, Thomas Greiss, is an unrestricted free agent this summer, leaving a spot open for Sorokin. Who better to mentor a young Russian goalie than Varlamov, a veteran of 12 NHL seasons. Not only that, both Varlamov and Sorokin are from central Russia, far from the big urban hubs like Moscow and St. Petersburg.
It would be a huge disappointment for the Islanders if Sorokin spurns them and returns to the KHL. The uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic are not helping as he could be facing a long stint in the AHL if he signs with the Islanders as the NHL won’t resume play until close to the new year.
Additionally, there are reports that Sorokin wants to sign before the postseason and make the team for the playoffs so he can burn the first year of his Entry Level Contract.
Let the rivalry begin!
No matter what happens in the 2019-20 postseason, next year should be the first year that the rivalry will extend to the NHL. If Sorokin signs, both goalies will be Calder Trophy candidates and can look forward to four head-to-head meetings in the regular season.
The Hockey News Future Watch ranked Igor Shesterkin as the 3rd best prospect of any NHL team. Where was Sorokin? He was ranked 22nd overall, just before Ranger prospect Vitali Kravtsov, ranked 23rd. That has to rankle Sorokin and will be incentive for him to do better than his longtime rival.
The Rangers haven’t had a metropolitan area goalie rivalry like this since the glory days of Martin Brodeur who dueled two generations of Ranger goalies. Both Mike Richter and Henrik Lundqvist faced off against Brodeur in the Stanley Cup Playoffs three times each. Richter prevailed each time while Brodeur won two of three series against Lundqvist.
Ranger fans, remember that name, Ilya Sorokin. It’s a name that Igor Shesterkin is sure to think about a lot and even more in the coming seasons. The good news is that the Ranger goalie has won 10 of 12 NHL starts with a 2.52 GAA and a .932 SV%. That’s ten wins more than Sorokin has.