Former New York Islanders winger Andrew Ladd didn’t need long to realize Ilya Sorokin was going to be special. In fact, he knew it before Sorokin ever played an NHL game.
Appearing on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast, Ladd shared a behind-the-scenes story from the 2020 COVID bubble—Sorokin’s very first days on North American ice. According to Ladd, two goalies in his entire career ever gave him that instant “this guy is going to be elite” feeling: Connor Hellebuyck and Sorokin. “You could tell right away as soon as you shoot on him,” Ladd said. “There’s been two goalies where I was like… these guys are gonna be good.”
Sorokin had just arrived from the KHL and, Ladd recalled, the Islanders’ goalie coaches absolutely worked him to exhaustion on his first day. “They almost made him puke,” he said, but what impressed Ladd wasn’t the skill – it was Sorokin’s mindset.
The next day, Sorokin approached Ladd after practice asking him to stay on the ice and shoot pucks. Ladd fired five from the top of the circle and scored four times. Sorokin, frustrated, demanded they do it again. The second round, Ladd scored two. Sorokin asked again.
“After that,” Ladd said, “I couldn’t score on him ever again.”
What stood out most was Sorokin’s ability to absorb information instantly—how shooters released the puck, how to adjust angles on the smaller NHL rink, how to correct mistakes in real time.
“He would collect the information on how you release the puck and he would figure you out,” Ladd said. “His ability to problem solve… there was a determination in him where I was like, ‘Holy crap, this guy wants to be really good.’ And physically he had all the tools.”
Today, Sorokin is one of the NHL’s top goaltenders, and the Islanders’ backbone. According to Ladd, none of this is surprising.
He saw it coming from the very first shot.