On the surface, it’s easy to offer to a comparison of Russian goaltenders Ilya Sorokin and Igor Shestyorkin. They were born months apart, picked within one round of each other in the same draft to teams from the New York area (Sorokin to the Islanders and Shestyorkin to the Rangers), and have been playing regular minutes in the KHL since they were 18 years old.

In the prospect world, they are two of the highest-profile goalies to come from Russia in the last 10 years – alongside names like Andrei Vasilevskiy and Ilya Samsonov. This is a big deal for a country that has only had five goaltenders reach 100 wins in the NHL in their history.

Recently, the two ‘tenders have been duelling in the KHL with jaw-dropping save percentage numbers. Shestyorkin finished with a .937 last season with SKA St. Petersburg, and currently holds a .930 in 27 games. Sorokin had a .929 with CSKA Moscow last year, and has followed it up with a .930 this year.

Shestyorkin notably outplayed Sorokin at the 2015 World Juniors, but it has been Sorokin who has been getting the call more often at the two most recent World Championships. With the Olympic Games approaching, and both goalies on the Russian roster….err, I mean “Olympic Athletes From Russia” roster – things should only continue to get more interesting. Early reports have given veteran Vasily Koshechkin the inside track on the starting job, but it’s still a storyline to keep an eye on.

The two goaltenders are obviously very close in terms of their development and overall ceiling, but how do they differ stylistically? Which goaltender has a better shot at translating to the North American game? We’ll attempt to answer some of those questions.