With the NHL season on hold due to the rapidly-spreading Coronavirus outbreak, I thought it would be a good time to take a look back at the seasons that the Islanders’ prospects were having in the North American leagues or elsewhere. For this edition, let’s take a look back at how the Islanders’ goaltending prospects were performing in their respective leagues prior to the worldwide sports shutdown.
Before I get into it, the question arises. Who am I counting as a prospect? Well, I am using the same system as my Islanders’ Prospect Pyramid earlier this season, which says that anyone under the age of 25 (unless they turned 25 this season), and has not fulfilled rookie requirements, per the NHL, is considered a prospect. So, let’s get into it. Here is the breakdown of the Islanders’ goaltending prospects from this season.

Jakub Skarek:

The first of three goaltenders that we are going to take a look at is Jakub Skarek. Skarek, 20, is wrapping up his first season in North America after the 2018 third-round pick spent the year bouncing between the Worcester Railers of the ECHL and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the AHL. Skarek had a tough time adjusting to North American ice, and it definitely showed as he did not perform well this year. In 14 games with the Railers, he had a 3-9-2 record with a 3.73 Goals Against Average and a .879% Save Percentage, and with the Sound Tigers, he wasn’t much better, finishing 3-10-1 with a 3.27 Goals Against Average and a .888% Save Percentage. Part of the puzzle could be that he did not have the support in front of him that was expected as both the Railers and the Sound Tigers had problems on both sides of the game this year.

Linus Soderstrom:

Now, this is a tough one to wrap my head around. After missing the entire 2018-19 season due to injuries, Linus Soderstrom was supposed to be sharing the net in Worcester with Evan Buitenhuis and Skarek this season, but due to a multitude of injuries to the Islanders’ goaltending depth including Christopher Gibson, Soderstrom was set to see a ton of time in net for Worcester. Well, that wasn’t the case, as the 23-year-old did not see much ice time this year due to even more injury troubles. The 2014 fourth-round pick only played in four games this season, going 1-3-0 with a 4.49 Goals Against Average and a .870% Save Percentage. It looks like Soderstrom will be ready ahead of next season, but he needs to stay healthy if he wants to get a look with the Islanders.

Ilya Sorokin:

I don’t think much needs to be said here. The White Whale is coming to North America, and the Islanders fanbase couldn’t be happier. The 24-year-old was a third-round pick of the Islanders back in 2014, and he has dominated the Russian competition ever since. As mentioned in my article from two weeks ago, Sorokin played in 40 games this past season, going 26-10-3 with a 1.50 Goals Against Average and a .935% Save Percentage. Sorokin will likely serve as a 1B or backup to countrymate Semyon Varlamov as the tandem next season, as it looks like Thomas Greiss’s tenure on the Island may come to a close at the end of the season.
The Islanders’ goaltending looks set for the future with the depth they have at the position between prospects and signees, and these three will be part of that future. Make sure to check back next time when we take a look at the defenseman in the Islanders’ system!

SEF