Sorokin agrees to terms with Islanders through next season

Ilya Sorokin agreed to terms on a one-year, entry-level contract and a one-year contract extension for the 2020-21 season with the New York Islanders on Tuesday.

Sorokin, a third-round pick (No. 78) by New York in the 2014 NHL Draft, is not eligible to play during the Stanley Cup Qualifiers or Stanley Cup Playoffs, but the 24-year-old goalie can participate in training camp and travel with the Islanders on July 26 to Toronto, where the Eastern Conference Qualifiers will begin Aug. 1.

"It is part of the plan to get him [from Russia to North America]," general manager Lou Lamoriello said Tuesday. "Because we have the practice time we do have, and we certainly have the number of players we have here and we also have the ice time that our goaltending coaches can work with him, get a better understanding of his talents, and he can get a better understanding of what's expected."

This season will count toward Sorokin's service time in the NHL, and he can become a restricted free agent after next season.

The Islanders have goalie Semyon Varlamov under contract through 2022-23, but goalie Thomas Greiss can become an unrestricted free agent after this season. Sorokin is open to playing for Bridgeport in the American Hockey League, according to Lamoriello, who said he expects a good relationship between Varlamov and Sorokin.

"They are friends, they know each other, so I'm sure that he'll lean on him," Lamoriello said. "But Varly is a very personable person. The relationship and friendship that he's had with Thomas Greiss here has been impeccable. Varly, like Thomas, they're people persons; they communicate very well. He'll answer any questions he possibly can, and we're very fortunate. Right now, we have three, in my opinion, outstanding goaltenders. I don't think you can ever have enough goaltending."

Varlamov said he is looking forward to Sorokin joining the Islanders.

"Me and Ilya have a great relationship," Varlamov said. "I met him a long time ago and had a chance to spend some time playing for the national team. It's great for him to sign a deal and it's great for the organization in the long term. But at this point, I'm focusing on playoffs. We have three goalies right now at training camp -- me, Greiss and [Christopher] Gibson -- so we're all getting ready for the playoffs. I just want to focus on the present, not on the future. But to sign a deal, it's great for him. I'm happy for him."

Lamoriello acknowledged it took longer than expected to get Sorokin under contract with the NHL pausing the season March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus.

"When I first came here (in 2018), I had spoken to Ilya, but it was his decision to sign a two-year contract (with CSKA Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League), which meant that he was unable to come here for those two years," Lamoriello said. "He had no out clause, whether he wanted to come or not. Once that contract expired, we were talking to him, and it was his intention to turn pro in the NHL.

"But as we all know, the pandemic took over. And then it was just simply trying to see exactly what was going to transpire and what the future was with reference to the scheduling. Fortunately, everything worked out. We were able to get him to make a decision to come, and he is under contract for '20-21 and then we will have two more (arbitration-eligible) years after that with him."

Sorokin was 26-10-3 with a 1.50 goals-against average, a .935 save percentage and nine shutouts in 40 games this season. He was tied for second in wins, third in GAA, tied for fourth in save percentage and first in shutouts among KHL goalies to play at least 20 games.

He won the Gagarin Cup with CSKA Moscow last season and was named MVP of the KHL playoffs after he went 16-4 with a 1.20 goals-against average, a .956 save percentage and five shutouts. His 16 career shutouts are the most in KHL playoff history.

The window for Sorokin to sign with the Islanders opened at 12 p.m. ET on Monday (the third day after the NHL/NHL Players' Association Collective Bargaining Agreement went into effect); they had until 5 p.m. ET on Wednesday (the fifth day after the CBA went into effect). The NHL and NHLPA each ratified a four-year extension to the CBA on July 10. It will run through the 2025-26 season.

New York (35-23-10, .588 points percentage) enters the Qualifiers as the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference. It will play the No. 10 seed, the Florida Panthers (35-26-8, .565), in one of eight best-of-5 series, with the winner advancing to the playoffs and the loser having a chance at the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft in the Second Phase of the NHL Draft Lottery on Aug. 10.