The Florida Panthers have another big-framed goalie quietly working his way through the pipeline, and Denis Gabdrakhmanov is starting to stack up real milestones.
Florida took Gabdrakhmanov in the seventh round, 201st overall, in the 2024 NHL Draft at the Sphere in Paradise, Nevada, a selection that barely registered at the time outside prospect circles. Since then, he’s kept moving.
In his draft season, Gabdrakhmanov played 40 games for Tyumenski Legion, the most appearances by any goaltender in Russia’s MHL in 2023-24. He finished 10-20-7 with a 2.55 goals-against average, a .924 save percentage and one shutout.
The next year brought more of the same steady work in Tyumen. Gabdrakhmanov spent most of 2024-25 with Tyumenski Legion, going 10-14-2 with a 2.89 goals-against average, one shutout and a jump to a .930 save percentage. He also got his first taste of pro hockey with Rubin Tyumen in the VHL, making five appearances and going 2-0 with a 1.49 goals-against average and a .940 save percentage.
He even saw postseason duty with Rubin Tyumen, appearing in four of six games during a first-round loss to SKA-Neva. In that series, he went 1-2 with a .942 save percentage and a 1.57 goals-against average.
Gabdrakhmanov first showed up at Florida’s development camp in the summer of 2025, one of five goalies invited. He was back again this summer in Fort Lauderdale and shared Team White’s net with Tyler Muszelik in a 4-1 win over Team Red in the final day’s 3-on-3 scrimmage.
The 21-year-old then took another step by opening the 2026-27 season in the KHL with HC Sibir Novosibirsk as one of the backup goaltenders. He made his top-flight debut on September 7 in the second game of the campaign, coming on for 6:18 of second-period relief and allowing two goals on four shots in a 7-1 loss to Barys Astana.
Gabdrakhmanov’s first full season in the second tier of Russia’s hockey pyramid came in 2025-26, when he played 33 games for Rubin Tyumen and went 11-10-7 with a 2.13 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage. He also recorded his first two shutouts in the league. In the playoffs, he made two relief appearances in a six-game first-round loss to HC Ryazan and stopped all 14 shots he faced.
At 6-foot-5, he doesn’t match the height of Cooper Black or Louis-Antoine Denault, but he’s still another tall goalie developing in Florida’s system. There isn’t much of a scouting paper trail on him yet, but the fact that he’s already earned a KHL roster spot with only 38 regular-season VHL games behind him says plenty.
So does Florida’s decision to bring him to development camp in back-to-back summers. The next question is whether he can stick with Sibir all season or needs more time with Dynamo-Altay in Barnaul.
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