The 2025 version of our Pensburgh Top 25 Under 25 countdown list rolls on with a look at one of the most intriguing and interesting prospects in the Pittsburgh Penguins farm system, goaltender Sergei Murashov.

Catch up on the previous entries for this year:

Acquired Via: Fourth-round (No. 118 overall) 2022 NHL Draft

Height/Weight: 6-foot-2, 175 pounds

The Pittsburgh Penguins farm system and prospect pool have taken some big strides over the past year-and-a-half. There is some actual talent here. There is some depth. There are young players that have pretty bright NHL futures ahead of them and could be productive players on the next good Penguins team. It is still not a great system, but it is better. It is getting better.

The one thing it is really lacking, however, is somebody that is “the guy.”

A franchise-changing, top-tier, superstar level talent.

The anticipation is that one of those players will arrive at the top of the 2026 NHL Draft. Not only are the Penguins entering a rebuilding season with a makeshift defense and goaltending situation, but the 2026 NHL Draft is incredibly top-heavy with several potential superstar talents at the top. Gavin McKenna would obviously be the ideal, but there are some Plan B options in that class.

The Penguins also might already have a prospect that might turn into one of those potential franchise-changing players, and it could be goalie Sergei Murashov.

But does the potential for it exist?

Granted, Murashov is a goalie. And a very young goalie. And a very young goalie that has only spent one season of hockey in North America.

Even the established NHL goalies are impossible to project from one year to the next, and when you start getting into the prospect goalies the entire thing becomes an even bigger wild-card and lottery ticket.

He might not be the best overall prospect or best young player in the system going into this season, but given his talent, upside and the impact a top goalie could have on a team and its success he is easily one of the most intriguing prospects in the system. His best-case scenario upside might be higher than any other prospect currently in the system. His floor, however, is probably significantly lower than a lot of the players ahead of him. There seems to be a real boom-or-bust potential here. That is the way it tends to go with goalies.

The numbers from Murashov, small sample size as they might be, were mostly outstanding during the 2024-25 season.

He spent the season split between Wheeling in the ECHL and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the AHL and kept winning at each level.

In Wheeling he posted a 17-7-1 record with a .922 save percentage, and then had a 12-3-0 record with a .914 save percentage in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

His numbers and production did start to slow down later in the season, and into the postseason, but part of that could have been some fatigue and wear-and-tear from playing the most hockey he has ever played in a single season, while also adjusting to a new country, new leagues and new style of hockey.

Back in January The Athletic’s Josh Yohe quoted a member of the Penguins’ organization as saying that Murashov’s ceiling is “incredibly high” and that he is an “absolute stud.”

Here is what Scott Wheeler had to say about Murashov in his most recent organizational prospect ranking:

Murashov wasn’t one of the goalies on my 2022 draft board but he was among the goalies I would have considered drafting and has played really well (that’s an understatement) in the three years since. Before his successful jump to North America this season, he established himself as one of the best goalies in the MHL and impressed in spot starts in the KHL. He also played on the Russian Hlinka Gretzky Cup team that won the 2021 gold medal.

Murashov isn’t a big goalie (though he has grown a couple of inches and a few pounds to get to 6-foot-2, 172 pounds) but he’s quick and nimble on his feet, he gets to a lot of pucks, he stays with shooters one-on-one and he’s got great hands. I like the movement, the skill, the way he anticipates plays and his tracking. When he’s dialed in, he’s tough to beat. Had Russia played at the last couple of World Juniors, he would have garnered more notoriety. With the right patience, the Penguins might really have something there. I think he’s legit and thought about ranking him and Blomqvist closer to 4-5 than 7-8 here.

When it comes to Murashov patience is going to have to be the name of the game. The Penguins know his upside, they know his talent, and they know how impressive he has been so far. But they also know how young he is, how raw he still is, and how much development he still has ahead of him. They should not be in a rush to get him into the NHL this season, especially behind a defense that is going to be as bad as this defense is going to be. With Tristan Jarry, Arturs Silovs and Joel Blomqvist all in the organization at the moment they do not have a reason to rush him to the NHL this season, either.

Getting a full season in the American Hockey League where he has a chance to play on a regular basis and develop properly, especially in an environment where he might have a chance to find success and win games, would be great for his development.

Between Murashov, Arturs Silovs and Joel Blomqvist the Penguins at least have three talented young goalies to try and develop. Sometimes the best way to find a goalie is to just put as many of them as you can into the organization and see who develops. The Penguins certainly have options.

Murashov might still be a year or two away from becoming an NHL regular and/or seriously contributing, but the upside is real. He is the one prospect in the organization right now that could seriously change the long-term outlook.