The Philadelphia Flyers are working on this whole rebuild thing. Currently near the bottom of the entire NHL in the overall standings and poised to be one of the first teams making a selection in the first round of the NHL Draft for the third time in the last four years, they’re going through this process.
But at the end of the day, a good hockey team is not a good one without a good goaltender in between the pipes and the Flyers have made sure to keep a steady pile of young talent in that area. Among the other young netminders in the Philadelphia system, 19-year-old Yegor Zavragin has quickly risen to the top.
And he’s not just some solid prospect that this team is hoping to play some NHL games for them. If he stays on the path he currently is on, Zavragin is going to be one of the better starters in the top hockey league in the world.
The 6-foot-2 netminder was drafted in the third round of the 2023 NHL Draft by the Flyers and was largely unknown among even the not-so-casual prospect fans. Goaltenders are already a mystery, but plucking a then 17-year-old who has only been playing in the Russian junior league and one single game in the second professional division, appears to have been a shrewd move for the Flyers.
Since being drafted, Zavragin has sprinted up the ranks. He was able to establish himself in the VHL (that second professional division we just mentioned) the year after with a mind-boggling .943 save percentage in 17 games for Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk after starting the year in the MHL. We all thought that he would eventually be eased into the KHL after that. Maybe starting in the VHL but then eventually having a big goal of starting a couple games in the top Russian league by year’s end. Essentially, hoping that by this time right now, we would catch a glimpse of Zavragin in the KHL.
Well, at just barely 19 years old, Zavragin was traded to one of the best teams in the league with the most resources, SKA St. Petersburg, and then loaned to HK Sochi to get more playing time — a similar situation we saw play out with some kid named Matvei Michkov. Zavragin was given the starting position for Sochi and just plainly dominated.
With no high expectations, Zavragin played six games and earned a .941 save percentage. He was a brick wall. SKA St. Petersburg had enough of seeing their own player shine for a different team and quickly recalled him from loan and put him in between their own pipes. Thirty-five appearances later, Zavragin has now earned a .911 save percentage and a 2.60 goals against average with SKA and proved that his stellar performances were not a fluke.
It’s not normal for a goaltender so young to be a KHL starter. Even when it comes to skaters, KHL teams are notorious for handing top prospects limited ice-time even right after being selected in the top five of the NHL Draft. But when it comes with Zavragin — and maybe it was because he signed a three-year contract to stay overseas — he has forced SKA’s hand to make him the main netminder.
Because this is not so common, there is a limited few 19-year-old netminders, two years after draft eligibility, to play more than 10 games in the KHL. Only 13 have done what Zavragin has done, and when you look at the names, it’s several of the best goaltenders in the world.
A quick peek at the top goalies sorted by save percentage, that have played over 10 KHL games in their Draft+2 seasons:
| Player | Season | GP | GAA | Sv% |
| Ilya Samsonov | 2016-17 | 27 | 2.13 | .936 |
| Sergei Ivanov | 2023-24 | 36 | 2.52 | .930 |
| Sergei Bobrovsky | 2008-09 | 32 | 2.49 | .927 |
| Denis Kostin | 2014-15 | 18 | 2.17 | .923 |
| Andrei Vasilevskiy | 2013-14 | 28 | 2.21 | .923 |
| Yegor Zavragin | 2024-25 | 41 | 2.54 | .917 |
| Ilya Sorokin | 2014-15 | 28 | 2.83 | .910 |
| Aleksei Kolosov | 2021-22 | 22 | 2.90 | .906 |
Yeah, Zavragin is a monster. Not only has he firmly established himself among the company of greats like Andrei Vasilevskiy, Ilya Sorokin, and Sergei Bobrovsky, he’s downright comparable. Sure, he doesn’t have the raw save percentage that is comparable to the eventual Hall-of-Famers, but considering that he has already played in way more games than any of them, and his save percentage has not sunk into the ground from fatigue, just shows us that something special is going on.
For the outliers and the less common names, Sergei Ivanov is a Columbus Blue Jackets prospect that is also a SKA St. Petersburg contracted goalie, but he was sent on loan to Admiral Vladivostock last season, and now is on loan again to HK Sochi where he has a .911 save percentage in 38 appearances. And after a stellar 18 games for Denis Kostin, he has just now been able to establish himself as a KHL starter (and a very good one). For several years, he was in between the VHL and KHL, and considering that he has gone undrafted even after those crazy 18 games, he probably just wants to stay home no matter what.
Plainly, just by being a designated starter in the KHL at 19 years old, Zavragin is doing something special. The fact that he is not looking out of place and has already appeared in the most games for a goaltender his age in league history, is taking it to the next level.
The Flyers will have to wait two more seasons for him to arrive — there most likely will not be any Michkov-esque contract termination here — but he is more than worth the wait. Possibly having an instantly good NHL netminder at 22 years old feels like the ultimate luxury and all signs are pointing to that being a reality.
