All-Stars Appreciate Nelson and Sorokin

Sitting at a podium just off Fort Lauderdale Beach, Brock Nelson was both literally getting his day in the sun and figuratively.
Nelson is a first-time All-Star, one of three New York Islanders to represent the league at this year's All-Star Game, along with Ilya Sorokin and recent acquisition Bo Horvat. Nelson's long been heralded as one of the game's underrated players, flying under the radar despite scoring 37 goals last season and leading the Islanders with 46 points this season.

Popping up on the All-Star radar is a good way to get rid of the underrated label, but Nelson's game has been appreciated by his peers for some time. Just ask Horvat, who doesn't know a lot about Long Island at this point, but knows a thing or two about Nelson.
"I've always really, really liked Brock's game," Horvat said. "I've talked about his game a lot. Just the way he's able to score a lot of goals, but he's also a 200 foot player that I respect a lot. It's kind of similar style of how I like to play. You put him out in any key situation, like face-offs and killing penalties and obviously 37 goals last year. It's no slouch and he's off to a great start again. [I have] a lot of respect for his game and look forward to meeting him."

Philadelphia Flyers center Kevin Hayes has played with Nelson at the 2014 and 2018 IIHF World Championships, so he's been in the know for some time. It helps also having played against each other as Metropolitan Division opponents for the duration of their careers.
"I've played against him for a while now, and I wouldn't say he's underrated because I think he's really good," Hayes said. "I think he flies under the radar a little bit."
Nelson co-leads the Islanders with 19 goals this season and will fittingly be participating in the accuracy shooting competition. That's more than fine for the first-time all-star, who joked that he's just glad he didn't end up in the fastest skater competition.

Ilya Sorokin is also a first-time NHL all-star, though the goaltender found his way to the midseason showcase in only his third year, and his play has caught the league's attention quickly. Since entering the league in 2020-21, Sorokin's 14 shutouts lead the NHL and his .923 SV% ranks third.
"Whenever I'm shooting on him, he's just so quick," Carolina Hurricanes winger Andrei Svechnikov said. "He reads the game so well. It's just so hard to score on him."
Svechnikov appreciated Sorokin's game back when the goaltender was a regular participant at the KHL All-Star Game.
"He was unreal in the KHL," Svechnikov said.
(A quick refresher: Sorokin was 134-64-22 with a 1.70 GAA, a .930 SV% and 44 shutouts in Russia and 50-17-0 in the playoffs with a 1.37 GAA, a .940SV% and 16 shutouts.)

Andrei Vasilevskiy also knows Sorokin from his time with the Russian national team and described him as a super humble and hard-working. Sorokin and Vasilevskiy crossed paths in the 2017 IIHF Worlds and in 2018.
Vasilevskiy can relate to coming over from the KHL and the adjustment period, so he appreciates how Sorokin has managed to perform at an all-star level.
"For the few months after the KHL it's like new league and a new world for you," Vasilevskiy said. "So obviously it's tough, but now he's a man now. He's having a pretty good year and last year he was pretty good, so I'm happy for him."
Jack Hughes has seen a lot of Nelson and Sorokin, especially after eight meetings with the Islanders in the abbreviated 56-game season two years ago. The Devils center complimented Nelson's ranginess and goal scoring, while also acknowledging that Sorokin was having a "special" year. That said, Tri-State rivalries run deep, so perhaps the best compliment you can get from a division rival is being hard to play against, which Hughes allowed.
"I don't want to hype them up too much," Hughes said. "They're Islanders guys, you know, but those are two pretty good players."