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Devils May Have Found Long-Term Goaltending Solution in Mikhail Yegorov

Goalie prospect Mikhail Yegorov is turning heads at Boston University and may be the New Jersey Devils’ long-term solution in net.

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Boston University Terriers goaltender, New Jersey Devils prospect Mikhail Yegorov. Credit: Fia McCarty, Boston University

On the second day of the NHL Draft, the New Jersey Devils made a surprising move: They traded defenseman John Marino to the Utah Hockey Club in exchange for two second-round picks.



That exchange included the 49th overall pick in the draft, which the Devils used to select Russian goaltender Mikhail Yegorov.

Yegorov was NHL Central Scouting’s No.1 ranked prospect goaltender in North America after playing his draft year season with the Omaha Lancers of the USHL. Statistically, his draft year left a lot to be desired, but scouts raved about his size and athleticism.

Yegorov’s start to the 2024-25 season yielded positive results, considering he was backstopping the worst team in the USHL by a wide margin. Despite playing behind a poor Lancers team, Yegorov still found his way to USHL Goalie of the Week honors, as well as posting fantastic numbers considering the challenges he was facing every night.

RELATED: New Jersey Devils’ 2024 Draft Class Showing Signs of Potential

 

His stint with the Lancers all culminated in a record-breaking New Year’s Eve contest, where he broke the franchise record for saves with a whopping 66. Despite a Herculean effort, Yegorov and the Lancers lost the game 4-1.

Just a few weeks later, it was announced that he would leave Omaha early for the greener pastures of Boston University, where he was originally set to enroll for the start of the 2025-26 season. Despite the state of the team, Yegorov left the Lancers with an impressive 3.12 Goals Against Average and a 0.912 Save Percentage.

Life moved fast when he arrived at BU, taking the net just four days after joining the team. He would go on to lose his first game against rivals Boston College but would end up making 23 saves on 24 shots.

“He’s [Yegorov] here, I like the way he’s looked in practice. Just giving him an opportunity, and he was great,” said Boston University head coach and former Devil Jay Pandolfo. “In this environment, he’s never seen it, so I figured he’d actually be less nervous, not knowing about it.”

Since day one, “Big Mike” has been a steady force in goal for BU. Through three games to start his collegiate career, he has put up a 1.35 GAA and a 0.944 SV%, while saving 68 saves on 72 shots, and looks to have firmly taken over the starter’s net for the Terriers.

While Yegorov and BU get set to take on BC in the Beanpot final, the sentiment amongst many Devils fans is that they are watching their future number one goalie developing in real time.

The position has been a major issue for the Devils over the last half-decade. After 20 legendary years of Martin Brodeur, and another six great years from Cory Schneider, it’s been a revolving door of mediocre, to downright putrid goaltending.

This summer General Manager Tom Fitzgerald put a band-aid over the problem when he acquired Jacob Markstrom over the offseason. And while Markstrom has been playing at a Vezina-caliber level this season, he’s also 35 years old and has just one more year remaining on his contract.

READ: Devils Top Five Prospects Stocks Are Rising

 

A succession plan is/was needed.

While it’s too early to anoint him the next Igor Shesterkin or Andrei Vasilevskiy, Yegorov’s rapid development over the past few months has been promising enough to make him the early favorite to take over the Devils net within the next few seasons.

Young goalies in the Devils system like Nico Daws, Isaac Poulter, and Jakub Malek have all shown promise that they could provide some form of a solution in goal for the Devils in the future, but Yegorov’s combination of size, athleticism, pedigree, and statistical output has thrust him to the top of the organization’s goalie hierarchy.

The 2025-26 season is set to be a monumental one for all the goalies within the organization. Jake Allen is set to become a free agent after the 2024-25 season. As mentioned, Markstrom has just one season remaining on his contract in what will be his age-36 season. Daws has performed admirably, yet inconsistently during his NHL stints. Poulter has put up good numbers in the AHL but has yet to make an appearance despite multiple call-ups. And Malek is set to come over after multiple years as a starter in Finland but is unproven in North America.

However, a strong 2025-26 season for Yegorov makes all their goaltender problems null and void. He immediately becomes the heir apparent to Markstrom and gives the Devils their own answer to Shesterkin of the New York Rangers or Ilya Sorokin of the New York Islanders.

Putting the weight of a championship window on the shoulders of a 19/20-year-old goalie is admittedly a lot, but Yegorov’s trajectory has done nothing but continue to trend at a 90-degree angle since the Devils drafted him in June.

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Brian Giovati

Way way way to early for that. I can understand the optimism but give him a full season at Boston before even mentioning that. Erik Portillo is 6’6″ & 225lbs. He was flat out dominant for 3yrs at Michigan & now he’s in his 2nd year in the AHL for the Ontario Reign. He’s 24yrs old with 1 NHL game.

Fantastic start but he’s never had video coaches analyzing every 1 of his games. If there’s a weakness it’s gonna get found & exploited.

Askarov, Cossa, Wallstedt, all extremely high end prospects. Cossa has 1 NHL game. Wallstedt has 5 NHL games. Askarov just played his 16th. They’re all 22yrs old. Yegorov is 18yrs old. He’s got 4yrs to get where they are. Slow way down on him. Markstrom has a half of this yr left & all of next. At the level he’s playing at there’s no reason to think he can’t be extended. If Yegorov is the heir apparent playing behind Markstrom would be a great start

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