The Pittsburgh Penguins came out of the 2026 NHL Draft with one of the stronger hauls in the league, but one pick could end up drawing more attention than most. Buried in the fifth round at No. 160, the Penguins took goaltender Matvei Nikonovich, a name that may not have jumped off the page on draft day but has the kind of profile that can turn heads later.
Late-round goalies rarely get much love, and Nikonovich is no exception. Still, the numbers he put up in the Rus-MHL with Tolyatti Ladia suggest there’s real substance here.
Over two seasons, he took a clear step forward, and last season he delivered a 20-14-4 record with a 1.96 goals-against average, a .939 save percentage and two shutouts in 38 games. Tolyatti Ladia finished third in the Silver Division of the Eastern Conference.
At 6-foot-1 and 150 pounds, Nikonovich isn’t a giant in net, but the Penguins like what he brings anyway. He’s athletic, precise with his angles, square to the puck and strong at controlling rebounds.
The report on him also points to his ability to handle traffic, with his vision and his work against deflections and screens standing out. And when the games get bigger, he has a habit of playing bigger.
"He was essentially a red-star player by (Director of goaltending) Jon Elkin," said Penguins vice president of player personnel Wes Clark. "He was high on (Elkin's) board, and we knew there was a chance he'd be available late."
Nikonovich’s road to this point has already been unusual. The Minsk, Belarus native came through the Dinamo Minsk system, was let go in 2024 and moved to Russia on his own at 16. From there, he landed with Ladia Togliatti and, in a year, went from a third-string goalie to one of the Rus-MHL’s top netminders.
What comes next is less certain. Ladia Togliatti, his 2025-26 team, has disbanded, though he remains under contract with its KHL parent club.
That kind of shuffle is not new in Russian hockey, and the expectation is that he’ll keep playing somewhere. He may take a step back before he gets to North America, and the Penguins could decide to leave him in Russia for another season or two before bringing him over.
However it plays out, the organization clearly sees a goalie with upside. Nikonovich has already shown he can adjust quickly, and if he keeps trending the way he has, the Penguins may have found more than a fifth-round flyer.
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