Top Philadelphia Flyers prospect and SKA St. Petersburg goalie Egor Zavragin continues to build on an impressive debut season in the KHL, accomplishing a rare feat that has only been done twice.
Coming up big for SKA in the Gagarin Cup playoffs, Zavragin, 19, helped seal a Game 3 win against Dynamo Moscow with an assist on Pavel Akolzin’s empty-net goal, but it wasn’t just any ordinary assist.
With his assist on the empty-netter, the Flyers prospect became just the third goalie in SKA history to record an assist in the KHL regular season and Gagarin Cup playoffs in the same season, joining former Edmonton Oilers goalie Mikko Koskinen and Nikita Serebryakov, who he replaced earlier this season, as the only goalies to achieve this, according to SKA PR.
Serebryakov (2023-24) and Koskinen (2016-17) were both 28 years old and well-established starting KHL goalies when they earned their assists, making Zavragin comfortably the youngest to achieve this feat.
The Flyers’ top goalie prospect is currently serving as SKA’s starting goalie in the Gagarin Cup playoffs, though he was pulled at the end of the first period after allowing three goals on 14 shots in a 5-4 loss to Dynamo on Wednesday.
Before Game 4, though, Zavragin had stopped 104 of the first 112 shots he faced in his debut Gagarin Cup campaign, which comes out to a .929 save percentage.
It’s hard to place blame on the 19-year-old, as he had faced 37, 37, and 38 shots on goal in his first three games against Dynamo, respectively.
In the aforementioned 5-4 Game 4 loss, Zavragin’s backup, Artemi Pleshkov, faced 42 shots in relief in just two periods, stopping 41.
Essentially, it matters not which goalie is commanding the crease when that is the caliber of defense they’re getting.
Additionally, SKA managed just one goal in each of their first two games, leaving Zavragin high and dry there.
In any case, the Flyers hold Zavragin in really high regard, and for good reason.
The 2023 third-round pick finished his debut KHL campaign with a 20-14-3 record, a 2.50 GAA, a .917 save percentage, and four shutouts in 43 games between SKA and HC Sochi.
In four postseason appearances, Zavragin is 1-2-0 with a 3.22 GAA and a .913 save percentage.
