Ilya Sorokin Reflects on Islanders’ Missed Playoffs and Future Improvements

The 2025-26 season for the New York Islanders did not unfold as many had envisioned. After a promising start, the team faltered down the stretch, ultimately missing the playoffs. However, amidst the disappointment, glimmers of hope emerged for the franchise.

Matthew Schaefer solidified his status as a franchise cornerstone, proving to be a generational defenseman for the Islanders. Meanwhile, Cal Ritchie excelled in the latter half of the season, contributing to the team’s youth movement that is gaining momentum.

Ilya Sorokin, a Vezina Finalist, had an impressive season overall, but like his teammates, he experienced a decline in performance as the campaign drew to a close. In a recent interview with Russian outlet Sport Express, Sorokin candidly discussed the team’s playoff absence.

“There’s not much good news, of course,” Sorokin admitted. “Now, with the benefit of hindsight, it’s probably hard to say it was a blow. But we need to change something in our training system and learn from it. I’m sure both the coaching staff and the players understand this. Our fans have much higher expectations of the squad.”

It seems Sorokin was alluding to the system implemented by former head coach Patrick Roy, which prioritized offensive play but often left the team vulnerable to counterattacks.

Taking responsibility, Sorokin reflected on his role in the team’s struggles. “Ultimately, it was those one or two saves that could have given us extra points and put us in the playoffs,” he stated. “We can say whatever we want now, but the main thing is to figure out why it didn’t happen.”

With summer on the horizon, Sorokin is focused on improvement. “That’s what summer is for—work. I think at some point I was a bit lacking in physicality. Towards the end of the season, I started playing practically every game in a row, and perhaps I was no longer feeling fresh,” he acknowledged. As the season wore on, Sorokin became the team’s backbone, especially as David Rittich struggled and Semyon Varlamov was sidelined, leading the Islanders to rely heavily on his talents.

As Sorokin pointed out, a long summer lies ahead. The Islanders have the opportunity to regroup and enhance their performance, with Sorokin at the forefront of that effort.

Note: This recap is an independently written summary based on publicly available reporting.