The Pittsburgh Penguins have had some Stanley Cup winning goalies in team history that were capable of winning games all by themselves. Tom Barrasso, Marc-Andre Fleury and Matt Murray have all been on the ice during the final seconds before Lord Stanley entered the rink
The 2025 Pittsburgh Penguins are going through a rebuild and the goalie position just may be the biggest question mark.
Tristan Jarry was a second round pick in 2013 and at times appeared to be the next great goalie in team history. However, years of injuries and inconsistent play has led to him being placed on waivers and being sent to the AHL. He once again got called up in early March and appeared to have found his game, but once again his inconsistency came shining through.
Joel Blomqvist was also a second round pick (2020) and some thought he could be the future at the goaltending position entering the 2024-2025 season. Blomqvist has never looked comfortable and is 4-9-1 with a 3.81 GAA. What is even more concerning is his .885 save percentage and his lack of making a big save when needed.
That brings us to Sergei Murashov. Murashov, was a fourth round pick out of Russia in the 2022 NHL Draft and turned pro before the 2024-2025 season.
Murashov started out in the ECHL for the Wheeling Nailers and instantly had success, setting a league and franchise record with 13 consecutive wins. The Russian netminder was named an ECHL All-Star and got his first promotion to Wilkes-Barre of the AHL in mid-October.
After bouncing between Wheeling and Wilkes-Barre during the November and December months, Murashov has once again shattered records in the AHL. He is in the middle of an 11-0-0 streak, a franchise record for a rookie goaltender.
Here is a look at his numbers so far in 2024-2025
Wheeling- 17-7-1 2.40 gaa .922 save %
Wilkes-Barre- 11-0-0 2.60 gaa .916 save %
Scouting profile on Sergei Murashov
Sergei Murashov
6’2” 172 pounds
Will turn 21 on April 1st 2025
Murashov is a cerebral goaltender who anticipates the next move as well as any young goaltending prospect in hockey. He has excellent side to side ability and has a powerful push that allows him to get from post to post in a split second. The youngster is aggressive in cutting down the angles and is not afraid to move outside of the crease if he needs to.
His aggressiveness can lead to unnecessary issues at times and his judgement on when to play the puck or let his teammates make a play comes into question at times.
Murashov has become one of the top young goaltending prospects in the NHL. The Penguins may have the perfect fit for their ongoing rebuild.
image- (courtesy of Wilkes/Barre-Scranton)