In the System: Murashov getting closer to KHL debut

The area of the Penguins' prospect pool with the greatest depth is undoubtedly goaltending.

There's Filip Lindberg in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Taylor Gauthier in Wheeling, both signed as free agents. There's 2020 second-round pick Joel Blomqvist in the top Finnish league, now his team Karpat's No. 1 goaltender after taking over the starting position at the end of last season.

Then there's Sergei Murashov, the Penguins' fourth-round pick this past summer. And it's pretty hard to ignore the start he's had in Russia this season.

Murashov, 18, plays in the Lokomotiv club's system and started the year in the MHL, the Russian junior league.

Murashov was named the goaltender for the MHL All-Star Team for the month of October after an incredible start to the season. During October he posted a shutout streak just shy of 244 minutes, a streak that ranks in the top 10 in MHL history.

Through 19 MHL games Murashov has posted a 1.41 goals-against average,, .955 save percentage, and six shutouts.

Murashov is still looking for his KHL debut, and he got a little closer this week. He was recalled to the main Lokomotiv club and dressed as backup in Tuesday's game.

Penguins director of amateur scouting Nick Pryor said at the draft this summer that the Penguins' Russian scout Alexander Khavanov and goaltending development coach Chuck Grant were both scouting Murashov leading up to the draft and were "very high" on him.

"He's got good hockey sense for a goalie and good athletic ability," Pryor said of Murashov. "He's just someone that we were high on as a staff and we really liked the hockey sense and the calmness that he brings."

The Penguins' other goaltending development coach, Kain Tisi, had high praise for Murashov at this summer's development camp, which Murashov was unable to attend due to commitments to his team in Russia.

"He's a goalie we think very highly of," Tisi said. "He's an athletic puck-stopping goalie and he had a lot of success in Russia, he played for national team. We value him very much, our scouting staff felt very highly of the value of that pick at that time in the draft."

Tisi added that Murashov is a goaltender with a strong technical base to his game.

"I would say he's athletic, he can move well," Tisi said. "A good puck-handling goalie as well."

The future of the Penguins' goaltending seems bright with the current prospect pool, and the Penguins have a number of young goaltenders who will be vying for limited spots in the coming years

A good thing about Murashov is that he's Russian, which means that there's no rush to get him over to North America. Normally teams have a deadline to sign prospects before they relinquish their exclusive rights to him, a timeframe that is determined by where the player is coming from and his age at the time he was drafted. The NHL and Russian Ice Hockey Federation have no transfer agreement with each other, though, which means that NHL teams never lose their rights to Russian players.

Murashov can continue developing in Russia as long as he needs.

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Here's how the Penguins' other prospects in junior, college, and Europe did this week:

FORWARDS

Tristan Broz
Position: Center/wing
Size: 6-0/178
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2021, second round
Age: 20
Team: Denver (NCAA)
Season totals: 12 games, 1 goal, 1 assist

Denver didn't play this week

Judd Caulfield
Position: Right wing
Size: 6-4/212
Shoots: Right
Drafted: 2019, fifth round
Age: 21
Team: North Dakota (NCAA)
Season totals: 13 games, 3 goals

Caulfield played two games this week on the right side of North Dakota's third line and scored his third goal of the season, batting a puck out of mid-air:

Luke Devlin
Position: Center
Size: 6-2/185
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2022, sixth round
Age: 18
Team: West Kelowna Warriors (BCHL)
Season totals: 16 games, 2 goals, 8 assists

Devlin recorded one assist in his two games this week as the Warrior's first-line center.

Zam Plante
Position: Center
Size: 5-9/161
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2022, fifth round
Age: 18
Team: Chicago Steel (USHL)
Season totals: 4 games, 1 goal, 2 assists

Plante had an assist in two games this week, and skated as the Steel's second-line center, getting bumped up after being on the third line the week before.

When the Penguins were in Chicago to play the Blackhawks on Sunday, Plante came to the game and was with assistant general manager Chris Pryor afterward outside the locker room. He got a chance to meet with the Penguins' coaches before leaving.

Kirill Tankov
Position: Center
Size: 6-1/185
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2021, seventh round
Age: 20
Team: SKA-Neva (VHL)
Season totals: 1 game

Tankov suffered a season-ending neck injury in the opening game of the season and required surgery to repair a fractured vertebrae. He is expected to be able to play next season.

Chase Yoder
Position: Center
Size: 5-10/176
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2020, sixth round
Age: 20
Team: Providence (NCAA)
Season totals: 13 games, 5 goals, 4 assists

Yoder scored two goals in two games this week as Providence's third-line center:

DEFENSEMEN

Santeri Airola
Size: 5-11, 163
Shoots: Right
Drafted: 2019, seventh round
Age: 22
Team: Ilves (Liiga), KOOVEE (Mestis)
Season totals: 5 games (Liiga), 10 games, 3 assists (Mestis)

Airola didn't play this week, and I haven't been able to find why or where he might be, after moving between the two Finnish leagues so far this season.

Given his injury history that limited him to just 51 games in the previous three seasons combined, it wouldn't be surprising if he's hurt. He makes Beau Bennett look like an Iron Man.

Isaac Belliveau
Size: 6-2/185
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2021, fifth round
Age: 19
Team: Gatineau Olympiques (QMJHL)
Season totals: 16 games, 3 goals, 14 assists

Belliveau remained sidelined with the undisclosed injury he sustained last week.

Nolan Collins
Size: 6-3/194
Shoots: Right
Drafted: 2022, sixth round
Age: 18
Team: Sudbury Wolves (OHL)
Season totals: 13 games, 2 goals, 3 assists

Collins was scoreless in two games on the left side of the third defense pairing.

Daniel Laatsch
Size: 6-5/183
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2021, seventh round
Age: 20
Team: Wisconsin (NCAA)
Season totals: 14 games, 2 assists

Laatsch played on the right side of Wisconsin's third pairing and was scoreless in two games.

Ryan McCleary
Size: 6-2/180
Shoots: Right
Drafted: 2021, seventh round
Age: 19
Team: Portland Winterhawks (WHL)
Season totals: 17 games, 4 goals, 7 assists

McCleary had a goal -- an overtime-winner -- in three games this week on the left side of Portland's second pairing:

Owen Pickering
Size: 6-4/180
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2022, first round
Age: 18
Team: Swift Current Broncos (WHL)
Season totals: 15 games, 3 goals, 10 assists

Pickering was scoreless in two games on the right side of Swift Current's top defense pairing.

He made a visit to a local school to read to children:

GOALTENDERS

Joel Blomqvist
Size: 6-2/183
Catches: Left
Drafted: 2020, second round
Age: 20
Team: Karpat (Liiga)
Season totals: 12 games, 2.32 GAA, .900 SV%

Blomqvist played two games this week, one loss and one overtime loss. He made 20 saves on 23 shots in his first game of the week, then 22 saves on 25 shots two nights later.

Sergei Murashov
Size: 6-0/167
Catches: Right
Drafted: 2022, fourth round
Age: 18
Team: Loko Yaroslavl (MHL)
Season totals: 19 games, 1.41 GAA, .955 SV%, 6 shutouts

Murashov was recalled to the Lokomotiv's main KHL club and dressed as backup.