Philadelphia Flyers goalie prospect Egor Zavragin has the attention of hockey fans all over the world with his stellar play for SKA St. Petersburg in the KHL, but he’s managing to make headlines back home locally in Russia, too.
Longtime KHL head coach and former Russia boss Vladimir Krikunov, who’s coached in the Soviet leagues and KHL since the 1980s, is Zavragin’s latest admirer.
In a recent interview with Championat, Krikunov backs Zavragin to become a “high-class goalie,” should the Flyers prospect continue on the path he’s on.
“A young, interesting goalie. If he continues to work as hard in training as he does now, he can grow into a high-class goalie. Any hockey player, when he appears in the KHL, needs time to adapt, to get used to the speed, shots, level. Goalies sometimes have it harder than field players,” Krikunov said of Zavragin. “The SKA coaching staff trusts Zavragin, and for a goalie this is very important. I think that Egor will be able to prove himself in the playoffs. The recent match with HC Sochi showed that Egor is getting into shape and will approach the playoffs in full combat readiness.”
Krikunov has coached a number of notable players in the KHL, including current Flyers goalie Ivan Fedotov, Vadim Shipachyov, Mark Giordano, Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh, Nik Antropov, Artemi Panarin, Alex Ovechkin, Maxim Afinogenov, Pavel Datsyuk, Andrei Markov, Martin Havlat, and Mikhail Grabovski.
Internationally, at the helm of Russia’s national team, Krikunov has coached some of the names above, as well as Ilya Kovalchuk, Evgeni Malkin, Alexander Semin, Alexei Kovalev, and Nikolay Kulemin, among others.
This is all to say that, yes, the 74-year-old has coached some good hockey players in his day. He knows what good hockey players look like, and Zavragin, in his eyes, has the potential to become one of them.
Still just 19 years old, Zavragin was recently named the KHL Goalie of the Week for Week 27 of the regular season and has already racked up 41 appearances at Russia’s highest level of hockey.
Now, despite that, the Flyers are still likely to have to wait at least a few more years to see Zavragin donning the Orange and Black as an NHL regular.
Rushing the development of a young goalie in a time of need at the position would be terribly unwise, and it is equally uncommon. Plus, Philadelphia still needs to respect the contract the former third-round pick has with SKA, which lasts until 2027
However, it is worth continuing to monitor Zavragin’s progress as he becomes older and more experienced. Igor Shesterkin and Ilya Sorokin were studs in the KHL before coming to the NHL, and the same could ultimately be true of Zavragin as well.
Imagine a Flyers tandem of Zavragin and Aleksei Kolosov or Carson Bjarnason if everything goes according to plan.
And if Zavragin becomes as good as Krikunov thinks he can be, Flyers fans will be happy campers for years to come.
Read the full article here
