Yegor Zavragin sits at No. 8 in the Flyers’ 2026 Top 25 Under 25, and that makes him the highest-ranked goalie on the list. After SKA St. Petersburg had him as surplus to requirements, he was moved to Metallurg Magnitogorsk in the KHL offseason and is heading into another fight for a starting job at the top level of Russian hockey.
The 20-year-old spent 2025-26 bouncing between the KHL and the VHL. With SKA St.
Petersburg and SKA-VMF St. Petersburg, he logged 12 games in the KHL with a 2.63 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage, then added 18 VHL appearances with a 1.44 GAA and a .949 save percentage.
Those VHL numbers led the league in save percentage.
The problem for Zavragin was that his KHL season never really turned into the jump forward SKA needed. He was in a crowded crease with Artemi Pleshkov and Blue Jackets prospect Sergei Ivanov, and even though his numbers were solid for a 20-year-old in that league, they weren’t enough to separate him from the competition.
His .919 save percentage ranked 15th among KHL goalies, ahead of names like Zachary Fucale, Alexandar Georgiyev, and Ilya Samsonov, but Pleshkov and Ivanov were even better, ranking first and seventh in that same category. Zavragin eventually lost the backup role and finished the year as the third goalie, which made the season feel like a step backward after he had played 37 games for St.
Petersburg the year before with a 2.55 GAA and a .912 save percentage.
The VHL stint reminded everyone that he was too good for that level. At the same time, it also underscored the frustration of seeing a goalie with obvious upside stuck below a place where he could be challenged more consistently, and probably just as well served by AHL-style competition.
Now he lands at HC Metallurg for 2026-27, a team that finished first in the KHL Eastern Conference last season with a 37-12 regular-season record. This setup looks different from the one he left behind. Metallurg’s Ilya Nabokov and Alexander Smolin both posted lower save percentages than Zavragin did last season, and with Nabokov not returning, there’s a real opening for him to grab the starting job right away.
Metallurg dealt captain Alexei Maklyukov to get Zavragin and defenseman Yegor Zelenov, which says plenty about how they view him. For Zavragin, this shapes up as a major year. He’ll be 21 when the season starts, and if he can beat out the other options and put up numbers similar to what he showed with HK Sochi, he can push himself back into the conversation as one of the most intriguing goaltending prospects outside the NHL.
From the Flyers’ perspective, the picture has changed since the start of the season. Zavragin once looked like the organization’s clearest answer in goal, but Dan Vladar’s rise into a true No. 1 role and the possible addition of Joseph Woll have made the NHL situation much steadier for now.
That doesn’t close the door on Zavragin. If anything, it may give him room to develop before he has to face North American pressure head-on.
Down the line, he could get a runway at the AHL level, possibly even forming an interesting Phantoms tandem with Carson Bjarnason.
The long-term view still leaves room for optimism. Goaltenders are tough to project across leagues and countries, but the source here is clear: with more seasoning, Zavragin should at least become a serviceable NHL backup.
The raw talent is still there, and if the transition goes smoothly, he has a real chance to become an impactful NHL starter. He can get overactive in the crease and streaky at times, but he is also still only 20 and playing in the second-best pro league in the world.
Clean up the rough edges, and he could be in line to take over an NHL net in the near future.
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