Calgary Flames prospect Arsenii Sergeev enters the NCAA transfer portal

All indications are that Calgary Flames goaltending prospect Arsenii Sergeev will be returning to college for his junior year in 2024-25. But it sounds like that won’t be taking place at the University of Connecticut, as several prominent journalists are reporting that Sergeev has entered the NCAA’s transfer portal.

A product of Yaroslavl, Russia, Sergeev came to North America in 2019-20 – just prior to his 17th birthday – to pursue his hockey career. After bouncing around a bit that season in different prep school leagues, he landed in the North American Hockey League in 2020-21 with the Shreveport Mudbugs and dominated, helping his team win the league’s championship. His performance led to him being selected by the Flames in the seventh round, 205th overall, in the 2021 NHL Draft.

Since then, Sergeev’s played three seasons. He played 2021-22 in the United States Hockey League with the Tri-City Storm, dominating that league and being named the circuit’s top netminder. He played 2022-23 and 2023-24 at the University of Connecticut; he tandemed with sophomore Logan Terness in 2022-23 and senior Ethan Haider in 2023-24.

It’s hard to say precisely why Sergeev is seeking a new hockey opportunity, but playing time is usually a prime reason in these types of situations. Sergeev played 19 games to Terness’ 16 last season, but the duo initially alternating games before Sergeev got the bulk of starts in the second half. Despite being the incumbent in the Huskies net this season and the younger goaltender of their regular duo, the Huskies began alternating Sergeev and Haider and then didn’t see a single minute of game time from when he was pulled after two periods on Nov. 10 against Merrimack until his start on Jan. 13 against Maine. Sergeev ended up with the bulk of the starts over the final few weeks of the season, but ended up playing in 16 games – three fewer than he saw in his freshman year.

Yeah, Sergeev had gotten tuned up in back to back games in November – allowing four goals against in consecutive outings – but it’s a bit odd to have a 21-year-old sophomore sit as a spectator for nine consecutive games. Obviously there are complexities involved and UConn’s coaching staff had to balance many things, but again, it’s odd, and it’s hard to imagine it didn’t contribute to Sergeev’s future happening elsewhere.

In 35 NCAA appearances over two seasons, Sergeev is 19-14-1 with a 2.65 goals against average, .913 save percentage and one shutout. He’s still quite young and isn’t too far removed from dominating the USHL. Heck, he’s shown flashes of that brilliance in college hockey here and there. Time will tell if he lands at a college program that’s able to bring that form out of him with more consistency.