Islanders’ Lou Lamoriello “not concerned” about Ilya Sorokin injury
New York Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin is looking to bounce back from the worst season of his career. After a potential injury was floated by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, fans were concerned that 2024-25 would be another rough year for him. General Manager Lou Lamoriello confirmed there is an injury but said he’s not concerned on Friday.
“During summer training, he had a little bit of a thing. He is skating, but there’s nothing we are concerned about,” Lamoriello said, per Stefen Rosner of the Hockey News. “Will he miss the first day (of training camp), the first couple of days? Maybe, but I’m going to leave that up to the training staff.”
All things considered, this is great news for Islanders fans. Sorokin is the most important player on their team and they cannot afford to have him repeat his performance from 2023-24. He posted his career worst in save percentage, goals-against average, shutouts, and quality start percentage. Sorokin lost his starting job to Semyon Varlamov down the stretch and into the playoffs.
While there was no injury confirmed during the season last year, the Friedman report led to fans assuming he was hurt during the year. That did not get ruled out on Friday, but that is not the issue he is dealing with now. The upper-body injury he is fighting was suffered in off-season training.
Islanders’ chances rely on Ilya Sorokin
Dennis Schneidler-Imagn Images
Since he came to North America from Russia, Sorokin has been one of the best goalies in the league. He placed second in voting for the Vezina Trophy for top goalie in 2023 and sixth in 2022. The team is built around him being one of the best goalies in the world and he was not that in 2024. If he gets back to a Vezina-caliber season, expect the Islanders to make the playoffs again.
The Islanders were able to make the playoffs in 2024 because they had a top-shelf backup goalie. Semyon Varlamov is a proven veteran and remains the Islanders’ backup despite other teams desperately needing goaltending help. If this Sorokin injury is more serious than Lamoriello is letting on, Varlamov can help the team stick around the playoff conversation.
Also in this press conference, Lamoriello announced that Matt Martin would be joining the Islanders on a professional tryout contract (PTO). That means that the 15-year veteran will be joining the team in training camp and trying to make the squad. His long-time linemate Cal Clutterbuck did not get the same offer.
While the Islanders are still four weeks away from opening day, they got great news on their star goaltender. If Ilya Sorokin is healthy, New York will challenge for a playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division. They did not get the best season out of him last year and needed a hot run does the stretch just to get into the dance.
Expect Ilya Sorokin to be in the net for opening night at UBS Arena for the Islanders. Their defense and goaltending will need to be stout for them to make the playoffs.
The post Islanders’ Lou Lamoriello “not concerned” about Ilya Sorokin injury appeared first on ClutchPoints.
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