Philadelphia Flyers
Flyers Prospect Tasked With Saving His Team’s Season
While the Philadelphia Flyers continue their fight toward a postseason berth, another one of their players continues that same fight elsewhere.
Belarusian goalie prospect Alexei Kolosov qualified for the KHL playoffs with Dinamo Minsk, but the Flyers will have to wait a wee bit longer to see him start his quest for the Gagarin Cup.
However, elsewhere in Russia, Yegor Zavragin has been tasked with saving Yugra Khanty Mansiysk’s season after they fell into a 2-0 hole in the playoffs against HK Tambov.
After losing 2-0 and 4-3 in their first two games, Yugra turned away from 34-year-old Vladimir Sokhatsky and replaced him with the 18-year-old Zavragin. The Flyers prospect has won two of his three appearances since the change, allowing no more than two goals in any of the games.
Zavragin stopped 51 of 54 shots across two Yugra wins against Tambov on Feb. 26 and Feb. 27 but lost in Yugra’s most recent game on March 1, where he stopped 24 of 26 shots in a 3-1 loss. In total, the Flyers’ 2023 third-round pick has stopped 75 of 80 shots – good for a .938 save percentage.
With goaltending that good, you would figure that it is rather difficult to lose games – especially in the playoffs. Evidently, that is not the case for the Flyers’ Zavragin.
In general, the teenage goaltender has been excellent this season, losing in regulation only twice in 26 appearances across the VHL and MHL. In the VHL, Zavragin was 13-1-0 with a 1.60 GAA, a .943 save percentage, and three shutouts. In the MHL, Zavragin went 6-1-2 with a 1.63 GAA, a .945 save percentage, and two shutouts.
With Kolosov expected to graduate from the KHL and join the Flyers’ ranks in the coming weeks, it would be no surprise to see the young Zavragin jump up into the KHL next. The 18-year-old has smoked his competition in Russia’s next two leagues, so a step up in competition is due after this postseason run.
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Though Alexei Kolosov, is a little less than 6’1″ in height, his skill and quickness in goal may be the ticket the Flyers need in backing up Ersson down the stretch and hopefully into the play-offs.
Wishful thinking. European goalies stand to benefit from a year in the AHL simply to adapt to the different rink size. EXTREMELY rare that a rookie from the KHL jumps right into NHL action.