For the second time in his career, Ilya Sorokin came agonizingly close to winning the NHL's highest honor for a goaltender.
And for the second time, he finished as the runner-up.
The New York Islanders star netminder placed second in voting for the 2025-26 Vezina Trophy, which was awarded Saturday to Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Jeremy Swayman finished third.
For much of the season, however, it looked like the award was Sorokin's to lose.
The Islanders goaltender was widely viewed as the Vezina frontrunner through the first two-thirds of the year, consistently stealing games and carrying a team that struggled to generate offense on a nightly basis. While rookie sensation Matthew Schaefer provided a spark, it was Sorokin who remained the backbone of the Islanders' playoff push.
The problem was the workload.
Lightning’s Andrei Vasilevskiy wins the Vezina Trophy as NHL’s top goalie in balloting by the league’s general managers. #Isles Ilya Sorokin was the runner-up, receiving eight first-place votes. He also finished second in 2023 (to Linus Ullmark) with three first-place votes. pic.twitter.com/5NsKX9UytW
— Andrew Gross (@AGrossNewsday) June 6, 2026
As the season wore on, Sorokin was asked to shoulder an increasingly heavy burden. With the Islanders desperately trying to stay in the Eastern Conference playoff race, the goaltender logged significant minutes while facing a barrage of high-danger chances. By the final stretch, the effects appeared to show.
At the same time, the Islanders began sliding down the standings.
What once looked like a playoff-bound team collapsed late, ultimately missing the postseason for the second consecutive season. As the losses piled up, Sorokin's Vezina momentum faded while Vasilevskiy helped guide Tampa Bay to another strong finish.
That should not overshadow what Sorokin accomplished.
Being named a Vezina finalist is no longer an occasional achievement for him. It is becoming the expectation. He has firmly established himself among the NHL's elite goaltenders and remains one of the few players capable of single-handedly changing the outcome of a game.
The Vezina may have slipped away again, but the bigger story remains unchanged.
The Islanders still have one of hockey's best goaltenders. If the organization can build a stronger team in front of him and better manage his workload, there is every reason to believe Sorokin's next trip to the Vezina podium could end with him holding the trophy.
