With the opening of the free agent market in the National Hockey League quantity bright and even mind-blowing deals rolled over already at the end of the first few hours. The bosses of the Carolina Hurricanes swept through with a powerful hurricane, the new leaders of the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Nashville Predators announced themselves, other clubs also did not stand aside. News expected from the “New York Islanders”.
Mainly it concerned the goalkeeper's position. Namely — Seeds Varlamov, whose contract with the «islanders» expired at the end of the last season. There were speculations in the media about the possible return of the eminent Russian goalkeeper to Russia, but he will remain in New York. The illustrious 35-year-old veteran signed the Isles to a new four-year deal!
But the well-known hockey manager, president and general manager of the Islanders, Lou Lamorello, did not stop there. Together with the extension of cooperation with Varlamov, the boss of the “islanders” took care of maintaining another valuable (even very) asset in the team. Also a goalkeeper and also Russian — Ilya Sorokin.
Money for one of the best goalkeepers in the world was not spared from the word at all. Sorokin was given a check for 8 years and a total of $66 million! Ilya's caphit will be $8.25 million — according to this indicator, the Russian will enter the top 4 of the highest paid goalkeepers in the NHL today. Only Carey Price ($10.5 million), who, if not actually, but formally says goodbye to professional hockey for health reasons, as well as Russians Sergey Bobrovsky ($10 million) and Andrey Vasilevsky ($9.5 million) have more cap hits. It is important to note that Sorokin's new contract will come into force from the 2024/25 season. Ilya currently has his previous deal with the Isles for a cap hit of $4 million. It also expires at the end of the upcoming 2023/24 season.
According to the agent of the Russian goalkeeper Dan Milstein, it was important for his client to close the issue of a new contract in advance in order to fully concentrate on the game. The work of Milstein himself should also be noted — he once again knocked out a solid contract for the Russian NHL star.
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“The contract was signed a year in advance, and it was a priority for us to sign it this summer, so that during the season we would not think about the contract and our future, but play calmly. The dialogue lasted for three months, in the end he signed a good contract on acceptable terms for the player. The deal is good for both parties. Ilya is looking forward to the start of the new season,” said Milstein.
Ilya Sorokin deserved this money. There is no doubt about this. Since his debut in the NHL, the Russian goalkeeper has shown that he has a bright future in the best hockey league in the world. Last season Ilya confirmed this opinion.
Sorokin demonstrated a magnificent and even delightful game. It was thanks to his efforts that the Islanders, against the background of a number of problems, managed to get into the playoffs and even wrestle with one of the favorites of the Stanley Cup, the Carolina Hurricanes. According to the results of the regular season, Sorokin had 31 wins and a large percentage of reflected shots (92.4%), and also became the best in the number of dry games. Often, he made 40 saves in one match, and in the final segment of the regular season, he almost invariably took a place in the starting lineup. The load is crazy, but Ilya coped with it, for which he was highly appreciated by the National Hockey League.
Sorokin entered the top three finalists in the fight for the prestigious Vezina Trophy prize, which is awarded to the best goalkeeper of the regular season. The Russian in the dispute for the award lost only to the Swede Linus Ullmark, who scored 127 points in the voting of the general managers of the NHL clubs. Ilya had 70 points in his assets, which became the subject of great controversy and discussion in the hockey community. Many experts (including North American ones) felt that Sorokin deserved more and could well become the winner of Vezina. But for Ullmark, he played an equally phenomenal season in the performance of the Boston Bruins. Nevertheless, Ilya was rightfully ranked among the best, and the efforts of the Russian did not go unnoticed in the Islanders.
The club believes that Sorokin is the goalkeeper who is able to get big wins and who you should rely on. And they do it right. Ilya right now is one of the main stars of the league. It's not for nothing that he received votes in the Hart Trophy nomination, which is awarded to the most valuable player of the regular season, and also performed at the NHL All-Star Game. You can be sure that all this is just the beginning of a really long journey for another great Russian goalkeeper.