Coming off a dominant season featuring a league-high seven shutouts, the Vezina finalist secures his elite status among the NHL’s premier netminders despite a challenging defensive landscape.
New York Islanders netminder Ilya Sorokin was at it again in 2025-26, finishing as a Vezina finalst for the second time in his NHL career.
Sorokin, 31, posted a 2.68 GAA and a .906 SV% with a league-leading seven shutouts in 55 games, with a 29-24-2 record. His GSAE sat at 25.3, which was the best in the NHL behind Boston Bruins' netminder Jeremy Swayman (28.8) and Washington captains netminder Logan Thompson (29.3).
He comes in at No. 4 on NHL Network's Top 10 Goalies Right Now list:
The three goalies ahead of him are New York Islanders netminder Igor Shesterkin at No. 3, Winnipeg Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck at No. 2 and coming in at No. 1 is the goaltender who beat Sorokin out for the Vezina, Tampa Bay Lightning's starter Andrei Vasilevskiy:
It's a debatable list and had Sorokin willed the Islanders into the playoffs -- he did all he could behind a questionable defense -- he likely finishes higher on the list, especially ahead of his Russian pal Shesterkin.
