NY Islanders' Ilya Sorokin Correctly Seen as Legitimate Vezina Contender

Will this finally be the year that New York Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin can win the Vezina Trophy?

Apr 12, 2026; Elmont, New York, USA; New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin (30) during the first period against the Montréal Canadiens at UBS Arena. Mandatory Credit: Alexander Wohl-Imagn Images / IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

With training camp starting up for the New York Islanders, the team will be hoping to have some good preparation leading into the season. As a team that wants to compete, they will fortunately have one of the best players in the league at a key position. 

As the regular season gets set to start at the end of the month for the Islanders, the team is going to be very busy over the next couple of weeks preparing for the season. 

Peter DeBoer is going to have a lot of decisions to make regarding the roster and lineups, and the team has already had some unfortunate injury news with Mathew Barzal not skating for a couple of weeks. New York certainly needs their star forward to be healthy, but whether or not he will be ready for Opening Night against the Toronto Maple Leafs is uncertain at this point. 

While Barzal is critical to the offense, the Islanders do have the luxury of having one of the best goalies in the league with Ilya Sorokin between the pipes. Coming off a fantastic year, he will be hoping to replicate it and potentially even build on it. 

Joe Yerdon of Bleacher Report recently ranked the top contenders for the Vezina Trophy. For the Islanders, their star goalie Ilya Sorokin was ranked second. 

Sorokin Can Win Vezina

Apr 11, 2026; Elmont, New York, USA; New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin (30) makes a save in the third period against the Ottawa Senators at UBS Arena. Mandatory Credit: Alexander Wohl-Imagn Images / IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The 31-year-old is coming off one of the best seasons of his career, and he was a major reason why the Islanders nearly made the playoffs last year. During the 2025-26 campaign, he totaled a 29-24-2 record, 2.68 GAA, and seven shutouts. 

The fantastic season resulted in Sorokin coming in second for the Vezina last year, and he will certainly be hoping to win the award this coming season. 

Sorokin has quickly become one of the best goalies in the league and has now twice been a runner-up for the award. During the last five seasons, he has been in the Top 10 in voting every time. 

For the Islanders, the play of Sorokin is key. This is a team that isn’t known for their offensive firepower and playing good defense and having one of the best goalies in the league is their identity. 

Overall, if the Islanders are going to be successful this season, that will mean that Sorokin has had yet another great year. Hopefully, with two runner-ups already, he will be able to break through and win the Vezina this coming campaign.