News of Sorokin's death reached North America thanks to Instagram. The account 'hockey worldwide' shared the news, sending their condolences to his family in the process.
Sorokin came up through the Russian system but was never drafted to the NHL. Sadly, he never made the KHL, the top Russian league either. He did, however, get into a good amount of games at the VHL level, roughly equivalent to the AHL in North America. Like the AHL, the VHL serves as a second-tier league and developmental league for the KHL. Sorokin spent parts of 6 seasons in the league appearing in 92 career games.
He was never known for his offensive capabilities though and registered just 4 goals and 9 points in those games. He also had a successful junior career though, appearing in 204 career games at the MHL level. This is roughly equivalent to the CHL or USHL. In those games, he recorded 9 goals and 46 assists for 55 points.
During the 2016-17 season, he even wore an 'A' as an alternate captain for Reaktor Nizhnekamsk. That season was the best of his career as he would also get into 17 playoff contests where he was a legitimate force, scoring 9 points. Unfortunately, it was never enough for him to crack a KHL roster, let alone an NHL one.
As far as we can tell, he was not related to New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin.
The House of Hockey crew would like to send our deepest condolences to Sorokin's family in this difficult time. He was taken from this world far too early. May he rest in peace.
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