By Brian Costello, editor
Eight young goalies made this year’s Future Watch list of the NHL’s top 100 prospects.
You’ll probably see a couple of them in the NHL next season. The others will need several more years to develop.
Here’s a projection of how soon these goalies could make The Show. Catch the full top 100 list in The Hockey News’ Future Watch 2024 issue.
37. Jesper Wallstedt, 22, Minnesota Wild
Drafted 20th overall in 2021
Marc-Andre Fleury’s pending retirement opens the door for Wallstedt. He’ll likely be broken in slowly next season, somewhere around 20 to 25 NHL games. He’s four years younger than Filip Gustavsson, so it will be several years before the Wild have two big-ticket stoppers.
46. Trey Augustine, 20, Detroit Red Wings
Drafted 41st overall in 2023
Augustine and Sebastian Cossa represent Detroit’s future in net. The thinking might be for Augustine to turn pro this spring after a second superb NCAA season, then apprentice a year or two in the AHL. Then he could battle Cossa for NHL playing time in 2027-28.
63. Jacob Fowler, 20, Montreal Canadiens
Drafted 69th overall in 2023
Fowler has done everything he can at the NCAA level and is ready for a bigger test. It’s never wrong to stay in school, but a season or two in the AHL is the prudent path. The Habs also have Jakub Dobes in the pipeline, so it will come down to who performs better.
69. Sebastian Cossa, 22, Detroit Red Wings
Drafted 15th overall in 2021
Ville Husso and Alex Lyon are on expiring contracts, while 37-year-old Cam Talbot has one year remaining. It makes sense to hand the backup job to Cossa in 2025-26 and give him lots of runway. If he’s worthy, Cossa is the likely starter in 2026-27. If not, Augustine is close.
87. Ilya Nabakov, 21, Colorado Avalanche
Drafted 38th overall in 2024
What’s less predictable than nailing down a goalie’s NHL arrival date? How about a Russian goalie’s timeline. ‘Nabby’ was taken as a 21-year-old after slipping through three drafts. The Avs have ‘Wood Squared’ signed through next season, so 2026-27 is the earliest arrival date.
90. Egor Zavragin, 19, Philadelphia Flyers
Drafted 87th overall in 2023
Even though Zavragin is playing well in the KHL right now, he’s still just 19, and there is no rush to have him fast-tracked to North America. The wild card is how Samuel Ersson, Ivan Fedotov and Aleksei Kolosov come along. The earliest date for Zavragin is 2027-28.
96. Mikhail Yegorov, 18, New Jersey Devils
Drafted 49th overall in 2024
Slow and steady is the right approach. Yegorov moved from the USHL to the NCAA mid-season and is sure to spend two more years at Boston University. If the Devils retain Jacob Markstrom beyond 2026, they can transition to Yegorov by 2028-29.
98. Marcus Gidlof, 19, New York Islanders
Drafted 147th in 2024
He’s looking like a gem of a fifth-round pick. Gidlof already has the body type of an NHL goalie, he just needs time to grow into his frame. The Isles were very patient with Ilya Sorokin, letting him apprentice for six seasons post-draft. So it might be 2029 or 2030 for Gidlof.
This article appeared in our 2025 Future Watch issue. Our cover story focuses on Ducks prospect Beckett Sennecke, who is tearing it up with the OHL’s Oshawa Generals this season. We also include features on other exceptional NHL prospects, including: Zayne Parekh, Porter Martone, Gavin McKenna and more. In addition, we look at the top-10 prospects in the pipeline for each of the 32 NHL clubs.
It’s available on newsstands now, or you can get it in print for free when you subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/Free today. All subscriptions include complete access to more than 76 years of articles at The Hockey News Archive.
