We’re back for our second day of honourable mentions as part of our annual Calgary Flames prospect rankings here at FlamesNation.

Every year, each member of our writing staff submits their own list of the Flames’ top 20 prospects. Those individual rankings are compiled and aggregated to form our master list; then, before counting down from No. 20 to 1, we take a look at the players who received no votes, as well as the ones who just missed the cut.

This year, owing to the Flames’ newfound organizational depth across the board, we’re devoting individual articles to each of the players who failed to qualify for our top 20 despite receiving votes from one or more of our contributors. We kicked off this miniseries Monday with profiles on Arsenii Sergeev and Parker Bell, and now, it’s time for two more.

For our first of two prospect evaluations this fine Tuesday morning, we’re taking a look at yet another Russian goaltender — in this case, one who still has plenty of room to grow overseas before he’ll be ready for showtime in North America.

After going more than a decade without a single Russian player suiting up for them during the regular season or playoffs, the Flames have seemingly gone all-in on players from the Eastern Bloc over the last year or two.

Long gone are the days of Rushan Rafikov and Pavel Karnaukhov being the only Russian prospects in Calgary’s system. In addition to NHL regulars Andrei Kuzmenko and Daniil Miromanov, the Flames have guys like Matvei Gridin, Artem Grushnikov, and Yan Kuznetsov in their pipeline — not to mention four different Russian goaltending prospects.

Although one of those netminders, 2020 fourth-round pick Daniil Chechelev, seems to have already completed his stint in the Flames organization, the other three still have plenty of runway ahead of them. After covering Sergeev yesterday, it’s time to have a conversation about where Yegorov stands just over a year after being drafted.

Don’t feel bad if you haven’t heard much about Yegorov over the last calendar year. On top of being a relatively unheralded sixth-round pick, he’s also coming off back-to-back seasons playing in one of the most overlooked leagues of note in the hockey world. There aren’t many good images of Yegorov out there, let alone illustrative clips of him plying his trade.

That said, plenty of quality prospects come out of the MHL, which is Russia’s top junior league. Yegorov has spent the entirety of the last two seasons in the MHL with HK Dynamo Moskva, posting a 19-12-3 record with four shutouts and a .916 save percentage in 40 games. Save percentages in Russia tend to be higher across the board, and Yegorov’s .917 in 25 games last year ranked lowest among the 10 MHL goaltenders affiliated with NHL clubs, but he held his own regardless and certainly didn’t struggle.

Here’s the encouraging part: Yegorov (unlike Rafikov, for instance) has actually shown an interest in coming to North America for an extended period of time at some point in the future. The 18-year-old goaltender traveled to Calgary last month to take part in the Flames’ annual development camp, suiting up for both days of drills and the scrimmage while simultaneously experiencing all the best parts of an Alberta summer.

Yegorov gave an excellent interview to Postmedia’s Wes Gilbertson during his brief stay in Calgary in July, remarking on how excited he was to see his idol, Sergei Bobrovsky, win the Stanley Cup. He added that, as a goalie, “You should dream big, as big as you can. So what can be bigger than [the] NHL?”

With his late August birthday, Yegorov was one of the youngest players to be drafted in 2023; he won’t even turn 19 until the very end of this month. In fact, until the 2024 NHL Draft, Yegorov was the single youngest player in the entire Flames organization. His contract in Russia extends through the end of the 2024-25 season, but it wouldn’t be at all surprising to see him re-up with Dynamo for another year or two instead of prematurely entering the fray in Calgary.

What’s the rush? After all, as Flames director of goaltending Jordan Sigalet told Gilbertson at development camp, one of the benefits of drafting Russian goalies is that “… You can leave them over there. You have longer before you have to sign them and they stay within their same system, with the same goalie coach, so you have a consistent voice, consistent training, and I think that goes a long way.”

If Sergeev, who is nearly three years older than Yegorov, signs an entry-level deal with the Flames at some point in the next year or two, chances are he’ll join the Calgary Wranglers to begin his pro career. If Waltteri Ignatjew and Sergeev were to share the AHL crease in 2025-26, wouldn’t it be better for Yegorov to stay in Russia and try to climb the ladder there? He has yet to play a single VHL or KHL game in his career, and it’d probably be in his best interests to change that before he attempts to make a go of it over here.

Yegorov clearly has talent — enough for one of our writers to rank him at No. 14 on their list. He’s also likely two or three years away from making his North American pro debut, lest he or the Flames decide that playing in the ECHL would be better for his development than remaining in the Dynamo system. One need look no further than Chechelev to identify the downsides of going that route as a newcomer.

There’s too much still up in the air to make any confident declarations about Yegorov’s NHL potential, and the arrival of Kirill Zarubin (more on him soon) somewhat complicates his standing as a Flames prospect, but he’ll certainly be one to keep an eye on this season. With a bit of luck, one of these young Russian goalies could turn into Dustin Wolf’s tandem partner at some point down the line.