Can a Penguins 22-Year-Old Become Their Next Franchise Goaltender After the 25-26 Season?

Now that the Pittsburgh Penguins AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, has been eliminated from the Calder Cup Playoffs, it’s safe to say that goaltender Sergei Murashov was one of the greatest players on that team. Making the AHL’s All-Rookie Team as well as being selected for the AHL’s All-Star event, the young goalie from Russia established himself as a cornerstone for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton both in the regular season and the playoffs. Through 38 regular-season games, Murashov had a 24-9-4 record, while posting a 2.20 goals-against average, a .919 save percentage, along with four shutouts. His success continued into the playoffs, as he had an 8-7 record to go along with a 2.11 goals-against average, .931 save percentage, and one shutout. At the NHL level, Murashov did not see much action behind Arturs Silovs and Tristan Jarry, and then saw even less once Jarry was traded to Edmonton and Stuart Skinner to the Penguins. Despite his limited NHL experience, the young goaltender did record one shutout in a 4-0 victory over the Nashville Predators.

Ahead of the 26-27 NHL season, one of the biggest questions for the Pens is their goaltending situation. With Skinner entering the offseason as an unrestricted free agent, it’s practically set in stone that he’ll leave the Steel City, and there are reports that the Ottawa Senators have already shown interest in the 27-year-old goalie. While the situation is slightly better, Silovs is a restricted free agent. Unless Pittsburgh matches whatever he receives, he’ll be gone, too. However, even if Silovs does stay, his play last season was not significantly better than Skinner’s, and the Penguins would still have a hole to fill with their backup goaltender. Goaltending proved to be a concern during the Penguins' playoff matchup against the Philadelphia Flyers, as they went down three games before making a change in net ahead of Game Four. Murashov has quickly excelled in the AHL, jumping from a decent-looking mid-round draft pick to an NHL-caliber goaltender in a very short time. He proved capable enough for Pittsburgh to comfortably let Jarry go, make Skinner become disposable, and even surpass his AHL teammate Joel Blomqvist, who’s also an All-Star. The Penguins could be in a great position to re-sign Silovs and bring Murashov up to form a strong goaltending duo.

​The Penguins have tried to form a unique combination of rolling with their veterans like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Rickard Rakell, and Erik Karlsson while also implementing a youth culture into the team. It proved to be decently successful, as the Penguins made the playoffs last season after entering the year with a seven percent chance to do so, while their AHL affiliate reached the Eastern Conference Finals of the Calder Cup Playoffs. The youth is needed for Pittsburgh’s continued success, and Murashov can come into the Steel City as one of the most influential and successful young players. The Athletic’s Josh Yohe believes that Murashov “absolutely has a higher ceiling as an NHL goaltender than anyone the Penguins have employed since a healthy Matt Murray.” He is a great talent, has a ton of maturity for his age, and is viewed as “special” by several of his AHL teammates. He’s young, leaving lots of questions to be answered, but whether he’s ready to be a starting NHL goaltender is not one of those questions.