The Philadelphia Flyers are reportedly trying to bring over a top Russian prospect before his KHL contract has expired, again.
Yegor Zavragin has been one of the best young netminders overseas and is putting up historic numbers in the SKA St. Petersburg organization, whether it is at the junior level, the second division, or in the KHL. He has ultimately proven to be an exceptional prospect almost immediately after the Flyers nabbed the previously unknown player in the third round of the 2023 NHL Draft, and the hype has grown a whole lot.
But, it was generally accepted across the Flyers fan base that we won’t be seeing the 20-year-old goalie for a little bit, as Zavragin’s contract in the KHL did not expire until after the 2026-27 season. Well, that might all be changing.
Flyers signing top goaltender prospect Zavragin to ELC
According to Hockey News Hub, which has quickly become one of the most trusted sources for everything going on in Russian hockey after breaking several pieces of news overseas, the Flyers are going to be signing Zavragin to an entry-level contract and it could be very soon.
Reports are out saying #LetsGoFlyers prospect SKA goaltender Yegor Zavragin will sign his entry-level contract with the Philadelphia Flyers.
— Hockey News Hub (@HockeyNewsHub) April 10, 2026
Still has a year left on his current contract.
His agency has denied the reports.
I'm trying to confirm.
This is Russia. You never know.
Zavragin has appeared in 12 games for SKA St. Petersburg this season, earning a .919 save percentage and a 2.63 goals against average. The young netminder also appeared in 18 games at the VHL level (Russia’s second division) and had a mind-boggling .949 save percentage and a 1.44 goals against average — clearly showing that he belonged in the best domestic level.
There was no timeline mentioned in the very brief report, but since Zavragin’s season has been over for a few weeks now — he last played on March 20 in the MHL — it could happen at any time, the sides just have to come to an agreement. Whether that is some sort of guarantee that Zavragin would play at a certain level if he’s not in the KHL, or given some opportunity that 20-year-old goaltenders don’t normally get; whatever it is, the Flyers have previous experience prying players away from Russian to then sign with the Flyers.
The most obvious example is of course Matvei Michkov, as he was able to leave the KHL with two years still left on his contract and come over before last season. It was a total surprise, but there were reports that he wanted to come over to the NHL earlier than expected after his father died and saw an opportunity to make an impact on the team.
While there is no known personal grief that Zavragin is going through that is causing this potential early escape from the KHL, there are plenty of reasons why we could see this contract being signed very soon.
Why Flyers might be able to sign Zavragin early
It’s obvious when just looking at his stats for this season that Zavragin is clearly too good for any level below the KHL, with those insane stats in the second division. But, what’s unfortunate for him is that SKA St. Petersburg also has a another highly touted goalie prospect in the crease — the Blue Jackets’ 22-year-old prospect Sergei Ivanov who appeared in 29 games this season — and have their own 23-year-old Artemi Plehskov, who led the team with a .939 save percentage in 32 appearances this season.
Those two have had a better season than Zavragin, but are also at least two years older. So, it’s a very crowded crease and due to the Flyers prospect being the youngest one, he’s been shafted to third string or sent down to the VHL. And even leading up to the end of his season, the last time Zavragin made an appearance in the KHL was all the way back on December 28.
Clearly, there doesn’t seem to be a plan for Zavragin in place since he was most likely going to leave after next season anyways. With such limited opportunity to do anything this past season, having the conversation of him coming to North America a year earlier makes all the sense in the world.
Should this happen, it just all depends on what the depth chart looks like.
The Flyers currently have 24-year-old Aleksei Kolosov and 20-yaer-old Carson Bjarnason as their tandem down with the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Kolosov is a restricted free agent this season, as Bjarnason still has two years left on his own entry-level contract. Feasibly, Kolosov’s .897 save percentage with the Phantoms this season has not earned him much security and if they need to open up a spot for Zavragin in the organization, then that feels like the most likely possibility.
Hypothetically, this can still work and let their top goalie prospect play just a step away from the NHL, while also addressing the backup position with a major upgrade on Sam Ersson this summer to support Dan Vladar with the Flyers, as two young netminders cook in the minors.
This could get interesting.
