New York Islanders: Potential goalie options not named Lehner or Bob
From the inside
The reason why the Islanders re-signing Lehner or throwing the world at Bobrovsky is so important is because of the limited options that exist around those two. I already got into goalies they could sign from the NHL as a whole, but the problem lies within their system. The Islanders have even fewer options from their own prospect pool.
Yes, there is Christopher Gibson who has spent time in the NYI crease before. I have also written narratives about why he should be given more reps, and it is for this reason. He might be a “last resort” option. If Lehner walks, and nothing else sticks, then it might have to be Greiss and Gibson doing all the work.
I say this because the resources aren’t perfect. Outside of Gibson, here are the goalies listed who attended Islanders mini-camp, which is a horrible measuring stick in terms who will be NHL ready soon.
- Evan Buitenhuis
- Peyton Jones
- Strauss Mann
- Jakub Skarek
- Linus Soderstrom
Soderstrom could be playing in the NHL with Bridgeport this season but he was drafted in 2014 and there is no reason to believe he is a viable option if he were to even emerge into the NHL. In a year or so it might be different.
So, that leaves really Gibson and fellow Sound Tiger, Jeremy Smith, which, yeah, no. So, the options are not ideal from within. The Islanders future goaltending group is not exactly ready to make an impact quite like, or even close to the one that Robin Lehner had last year.
What’s a blessing and a curse is Illya Sorokin. He has been playing in his native Russia and is the biggest goalie name for the Islanders outside of Lehner and Greiss. He is supposed to be talented yet he might never come over to North America. The blessing here is that if he does it will be because he will be offered good money and a shot at the starting job.
So, an option within could see us relying on Sorokin who hasn’t played an NHL game yet, so that wouldn’t be ideal. Yikes. That leaves the best option if all else fails would be a Greiss-Gibson platoon.