Islanders Hire KHL Goalie Coach With Sorokin Ties

The New York Islanders have announced the promotion of Chris Terreri to director of goaltending for the organization. Mitch Korn had been in the role since arriving in the summer of 2018 with Barry Trotz. He departed earlier this week to rejoin Trotz in Nashville. Additionally, the Islanders announced today that Sergei Naumovs, formerly of CSKA Moscow, is the new goaltending coach of the Bridgeport Islanders. Terreri had been the Bridgeport goalie since the summer of 2018 as well.

Islanders fans will recognize CSKA Moscow as Ilya Sorokin’s team. Naumovs coached Sorokin during his final two years in Russia. CSKA Moscow won the Gagarin Cup in 2019, with Naumovs coaching Sorokin. Sorokin won the playoffs MVP for the KHL that season.

The Predators announced Korn’s arrival 24 hours ago, and the Islanders wasted no time filling in the gaps and announcing the staff changes.

There has still been no update on the fate of assistant coaches John MacLean and Doug Houda, whom Patrick Roy inherited. Roy already added Benoit Desrosiers to the staff during the regular season. At this point, the safe bet is to assume the rest of the staff will remain in place.

For the Islanders, adding Naumovs fills a need for Bridgeport while allowing Sorokin to work with his former goalie coach throughout the summer and early part of training camp. Sorokin lost all confidence in the latter part of the season.

After facing almost 40 shots a game under Lane Lambert, Sorokin had begun to struggle. The load he had to carry was bearing down hard, and by the time Roy entered, it was too late. Sorokin still had flashes but was allowing plenty of uncharacteristic goals.

Hiring Naumovs adds another set of eyes to help Sorokin. The bonus of being someone who has worked with Sorokin before is a huge plus. That can only add to the level of comfort Sorokin may need. For the Islanders to be successful next year, it’s an absolute must to have Sorokin back at his best.

Their crosstown rivals, the New York Rangers, had Igor Shesterkin had an up-and-down year last season, and he entered this season a bit shakily. Jonathan Quick took the reigns for almost a month while the Rangers brought over Shesterkin’s KHL goalie coach to help him figure things out while he rested.

It’s safe to say that approach worked. Igor is the only reason they’re still playing hockey right now, as they easily could’ve lost to the Hurricanes in round two without Shesterkin’s heroics, much less this current series against the Panthers.

The Islanders need Sorokin to reset this summer and reclaim his Vezina finalist form. This team will go as far as Ilya Sorokin can take them.