Folks, sometimes young hockey players are immediately plucked from obscurity and dropped into the highest level of the game. Sometimes, though, they gotta grind to get there.

Way, way back in 2019, a young Russian goaltender named Arsenii Sergeev bet on himself and came over to North America with the goal of working his way up the hockey ladder. His work is far from done, but since then he’s been drafted by the Calgary Flames, led a team deep in the NCAA national championship tournament, and played in all three levels of North American professional hockey.

Sergeev clocks in tied for 18th spot on our annual prospect rankings.

Sergeev played his youth hockey in his hometown in the Lokomotiv-2004 Yaroslavl system and spent a couple seasons playing with HK Dmitrov, a little bit closer to Moskva. In 2019, he made an interesting decision: he decided to go to the United States.

From there, Sergeev grinded a bit. He spent 2018-19 playing at three different levels of junior hockey: the NAHL’s New Jersey Junior Titans, the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede, and the NCDC’s New Jersey Rocket. The following season he found a steady gig with the NAHL’s Shreveport MudBugs… and thrived, leading the MudBugs to a league championship.

The Flames selected Sergeev in the seventh round of the 2021 NHL Draft, the second time in three seasons that Jordan Sigalet’s goaltending department chose a netminder in the final round of the draft. (The prior case was Dustin Wolf in 2019.) In his D+ season, Sergeev moved to the USHL’s Tri-City Storm and was named that league’s top goaltender.

He moved to the NCAA in 2022, and spent two seasons with the University of Connecticut. He was used in a tandem at UConn, splitting time with Logan Terness in 2022-23 and Nashville draft pick Ethan Haider in 2023-24. Looking for more consistent playing time, he transferred to Penn State for 2024-25, where he was immediately handed the reins as starter. He missed six weeks due to injury, then returned in early January 2025 and was lights-out for the rest of the year, leading Penn State to the Frozen Four, where they lost a heart-breaker to Boston University in the national semi-final game.

Sergeev signed his entry-level deal with the Flames after Penn State’s elimination and became a full-time pro in 2025-26. He began the season in the ECHL with the Rapid City Rush, but a combination of effective performances and some injuries to the AHL tandem led to a mid-year call-up, and his play kept him in the AHL for the rest of the season. When Devin Cooley had the flu, disrupting his planned start in the final game of the NHL season, the Flames opted to call up Sergeev and give him the nod. He made 27 saves for his first NHL victory.

On Apr. 10, 2025, Sergeev played his final NCAA game. On Apr. 16, 2026, 371 days later, he had risen to the NHL ranks. In short: he had one heck of a year.

Our authority on the Wranglers, beat reporter Paige Siewert, shared her thoughts on Sergeev’s first pro season:

Sergeev’s entry-level deal was for two seasons, the first of which was tolled in 2025-26. He’s under contract for 2026-27, where he’s likely going to begin the campaign as the Wranglers’ de facto top netminder based on his performances at the tail-end of last season. He’ll likely be in a goaltending battery with first-year pro, and fellow Russian, Kirill Zarubin.

Playing behind a pretty shaky Wranglers defensive group at times in 2025-26, Sergeev was really sharp – and occasionally stole points. He won’t be asked to be a saviour in net, but if he can provide a young team with consistent netminding that gives them a fighting chance each night, that’ll be exactly what the organization needs from him. Sergeev has adjusted to a lot of challenges over the past few seasons, and we’re fascinated to see what he can grow into at the AHL level. (And perhaps beyond that.)