When the Philadelphia Flyers drafted Russian goalie prospect Egor Zavragin 87th overall in the third round of the 2023 NHL Draft, nobody thought much of it.
At the time, Carter Hart was heading into the final year of his contract, and it was still unclear whether Cal Petersen, Felix Sandstrom, or Sam Ersson would win the job as the Flyers’ backup goaltender.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Hart was not retained by the Flyers upon the expiry of his contract as he and his legal team continue the process of fighting the sexual assault charge levied against him stemming from the 2018 Hockey Canada incident, which leaves Ersson, who has two years remaining on his contract, as the starter going forward.
Fast forward to the start of the 2024-25 season, and Zavragin, who was a relative unknown this time last year, is establishing himself as one of the world’s best goalie prospects.
That is a big deal for a Flyers organization that has perpetually dealt with uncertainty at the position for the better part of the last two decades.
Zavragin, 19, was supposed to spend this season with KHL outfit HC Sochi on loan from powerhouse SKA St. Petersburg, but those plans have come to an abrupt halt.
After just six games, in which he went 3-3-0 with a 2.21 GAA, a .941 save percentage, and one shutout, SKA made the decision on Wednesday morning to terminate Zavragin’s loan to Sochi.
Now, the Flyers prospect joins a group that has Artemi Pleshkov and Nikita Serebryakov sharing the crease.
Zavragin has an identifiable path to regular playing time in the sense that Serebryakov hasn’t exactly played well in his five games.
The 28-year-old posted a 2.00 GAA, a .935 save percentage, and five shutouts en route to a 28-9-3 record for SKA last season, but is just 1-2-0 with a 3.70 GAA and .874 save percentage so far this year. As a result, Pleshkov has leapfrogged Serebryakov and could force the KHL veteran to find a new team.
As for Zavragin, it says a lot that head coach Roman Rotenberg would bring the 19-year-old in, seemingly as part of an immediate solution to the team’s struggles defensively and in goal.
The Flyers suddenly find themselves with a superstar goalie prospect who was virtually unbeatable at every level he’s played at in Russia, and now Zavragin has a big opportunity to continue that trend for one of the KHL’s most popular teams.
