Islanders keep Marshall Warren in the fold as Sorokin earns Vezina runner-up finish

The New York Islanders continued building toward the next season on Saturday, signing defenseman Marshall Warren to a one-year, two-way (NHL/AHL) contract. The move keeps a homegrown prospect inside the organization’s long-term pipeline, with Warren coming off an NHL stint that included three assists in eight games, plus a productive AHL season for Bridgeport.

Warren, 25, is a Long Island native and emerged as one of Bridgeport’s more reliable contributors during his second professional season with the club. In 56 AHL games, he totaled 32 points, including six goals and 26 assists. The Islanders’ announcement also emphasized that he led all Bridgeport defensemen in scoring and ranked second on the team in assists, a profile that fits the kind of defensive-zone support and puck-moving production NHL teams typically seek from their second-level blueline options.

The new contract also reflects the Islanders’ comfort with where Warren has developed his game since turning pro. Over 111 career AHL games with the organization, he has 49 points (10 goals, 39 assists). Before his professional career, Warren posted 18 points (four goals, 14 assists) in 41 games at the University of Michigan and later spent four seasons at Boston College, where he captained the Eagles as a senior and helped them win the Hockey East regular-season title during his freshman year.

On the awards side of the Islanders’ news cycle, goaltender Ilya Sorokin finished runner-up for the Vezina Trophy, recognizing the NHL’s top goalie. The league announced that Andrei Vasilevskiy won the award, while Sorokin was the runner-up, collecting eight first-place votes and 51 points to finish ahead of Boston’s Jeremy Swayman.

Sorokin’s Vezina run was rooted in specific high-leverage performance. In the NHL’s release naming the finalists, Sorokin was credited with leading the league in high-danger saves (452) and posting a high-danger save percentage of.864. That mix of volume and quality matters for a team in the thick of playoff hockey, because it is a reliable indicator of a goalie’s ability to limit damage when the opponent generates clean, dangerous looks.

The timing also illustrates the NHL calendar’s overlap between postseason attention and front-office planning. With Stanley Cup Final Game 3 scheduled for Saturday, June 6 at 8:00 p.m. ET at T-Mobile Arena, the Islanders were simultaneously preparing for the next roster cycle rather than waiting for the playoffs to end.

For New York, the immediate takeaway is straightforward. Warren’s contract preserves organizational depth on defense and offers a realistic path for him to compete for NHL minutes, while Sorokin’s runner-up finish underscores the continuing value of elite goaltending as the club looks to push further in future playoff runs.