Early on in the New York Islanders warm up goaltender Semyon Varlamov took a shot up high and skated off the ice. It was announced that Varlamov will be scratched from Saturday night’s game and rookie Ilya Sorokin will make his NHL debut against the New York Rangers.
Semyon Varlamov incident just a few minutes ago pic.twitter.com/i5hvNIJjKW
— Rob Taub (@RTaub_) January 16, 2021
Ilya Sorokin to Make Debut Against the Rangers
Ilya Sorokin was a third-round draft pick for the Islanders in the 2014 NHL entry draft. He has spent every season since his drafting playing for Novokuznetsk Metallurg and CSKA Moscow of the KHL. In his nine seasons over in Russia, he has appeared in 244 games. In those games he put up some impressive numbers He hosts a 1.70 goals-against-average, on top of a .930 save percentage.
The Islanders were unsure that he would make the trip over to North America. However, losing goaltender Thomas Greiss to the Detroit Red Wings in free agency opened the door for the goalie. At 25 years old he already has valuable professional experience. He was with the Islanders in the bubble and signed a one-year deal before the 2019-20 season restarted.
What This Means for the Future
There is no word on what Varlamov’s injury is like, making the time table for his return is very much unknown. For tonight’s game against the rangers, veteran netminder Cory Schneider will serve as the backup. In terms of goaltending depth for the organization, Schneider was the third goalie deep after finalizing a contract this week. They do not have another goalie on their taxi squad, so if they want one more with them they’d need to call someone up. That player will most likely be 21 years old Jakub Skarek, a 2018 third-round draft pick for the team. He spent his time last season splitting games between the AHL and ECHL affiliates for the Islanders. This season he has played four games on loan for Peliitat of the Mestis league in Finland.
Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images
