Soshnikov Shooting his Shot with Islanders

Nikita Soshnikov came back to North America looking for a shot.
He sure made an impression with his first.
Soshnikov opened the scoring on Tuesday night, snapping a wrister top corner clean past Vitek Vanecek in the first period. It was the type of snipe that turned a few heads in the press box and on the ice.

"Amazing goal," Aatu Räty said. "I guess he's a shooter."

Soshnikov signed a
one-year deal to join the Islanders on Sept. 21
as the Russian forward makes a bid to get back to the NHL after spending the past three seasons in the KHL. Soshnikov was more of a grinder in his previous 87 games of NHL experience with Toronto and St. Louis, but tapped into more of a top-six role in Russia. The 28-year-old had 48 points in 58 games during the 2019-20 season with Ufa, 15 points in 22 games with Omsk last season, plus another eight points in 13 playoff games.
"Playing in the top six in KHL definitely helped me a little bit with terms of like making plays and skill wise," Soshnikov said. "NHL is a fast game, so I still have to be physical and be on the puck playing hard plus keeping my skill and shot speed."
Part of his decision to sign with the Islanders - a team returning 14 forwards who played at least 30 games last season - was driven by his familiarity with Islanders President and General Manager Lou Lamoriello. Lamoriello was the Toronto Maple Leafs GM during Soshnikov's three years with the organization from 2015-18. Soshnikov played 70 games with the Maple Leafs over that span and 77 with the Toronto Marlies in the AHL.
"I've known Lou from before, so there were no doubts in my mind," Soshnikov said. "It's going to be a fair judgement for me and that's all I needed. I'm happy to join the team."

Soshnikov also overlapped with Matt Martin during Martin's two-year stint with the Maple Leafs. The two played together for a stretch during the 2016-17 season and Martin was pleasantly surprised to see Soshnikov walk into Northwell Health Ice Center at the onset of camp. The days of apartment hunting for new teammates, like Martin did for Leo Komarov in 2018, may be behind him now that he's a parent.
"He's kind of a high motor guy and obviously a smaller guy, but a good skill set and plays with a little bit of an edge as well," Martin said. "He hounds the puck, the kind of people you want in the locker room on your team. He's a good person, happy to have him here. I haven't seen him in a long time, so when he walked in the room, I didn't even know he was signed yet, but always good to see familiar faces."
The native of Nizhny Tagil, Russia has some more familiarity with the Islanders growing Russian contingent. Soshnikov played against Ilya Sorokin and Alexander Romanov when the latter two were teammates with CSKA Moscow in 2019-20. Soshnikov and Sorokin have also crossed paths on the Russian national team.
"He's a quick, good hands, smart player," Sorokin said, adding that having more Russian speakers was beneficial for he and Romanov. "Good guy too."

Soshnikov still has his work cut out for him with the Islanders depth at forward, plus prospects like Simon Holmstrom, Raty and William Dufour all looking to make an impression. While his goal on Tuesday offered a glimpse of his skill set, Head Coach Lane Lambert said he wants to continue to see Soshnikov use his speed and bring some tenacity.
"I like his skating," Lambert said. "He's quick. He thinks and sees the game pretty well.
"I think his strength right now is that speed and his ability to get in on pucks and battle for pucks," Lambert added. "Obviously the last couple of years has helped his skill game, but certainly, the focus is for him to get it in on pucks."