If you stayed up late on Tuesday night to catch some Olympic hockey, you could maybe catch a glimpse of the Islanders’ most intriguing, most NHL-ready prospect. Not on the ice, mind you, but at the end of the Olympic Athletes of Russia bench, cooling his heels as the backup goaltender.



Ilya Sorokin is the prospect the Islanders desperately want to have in North America. Having him here next season would lessen or perhaps even solve a lot of issues with an organization that hasn’t gotten its goaltending sorted out since Billy Smith hung up his axe three decades ago.



But the 22-year-old Sorokin chose to sign a three-year extension with CSKA, his Moscow-based Kontinental Hockey League team, this past summer rather than come to Long Island to battle for a roster spot. The appeal of winning gold in PyeongChang in what is likely Russia’s best shot at that coveted medal certainly was a factor, but to commit beyond this season left the Islanders brass...