Snapshots: Cotter, World Juniors, Murashov
The Devils were looking for some more size and speed in their bottom six when they gave up former top-10 pick Alexander Holtz in a trade with the Golden Knights to acquire Paul Cotter, general manager Tom Fitzgerald told James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now.
“For us today and what we wanted to accomplish, adding a guy like Paul Cotter, who we believe has upside and has a little bit of Miles Wood in him. He can skate and is physical,” Fitzgerald said. It’s easy to see the comparable drawn between the current and former Devil – both have 6’2″ frames and above-average straight-line speed. Cotter checks in nearly 20 lbs heavier than Wood, who left New Jersey in free agency in 2023 to sign a long-term contract with the Avalanche.
The 24-year-old played 138 NHL games over the last three seasons with Vegas before the trade, scoring 22 goals and 23 assists for 45 points while averaging 12:44 per game. He finished second on the Knights with 233 hits last year, which would have led the Devils by a long shot – Curtis Lazar was their leader with 179.
More from around the hockey world today:
- Before NHLers return to the international stage at the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off in February, the world’s top U-20 talents will convene again for the World Juniors in December and January. This season’s edition is in Ottawa, and well in advance of the event, The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler, Corey Pronman and Max Bultman took a crack at projecting what rosters may look like for the four traditional powerhouses.
- After signing his entry-level contract last week, Penguins goalie prospect Sergei Murashov is ready for the jump to North America, he tells Daria Tuboltseva of Responsible Gambling. The 20-year-old is hoping for a chance at NHL action this season, but he’s “ready to spend an entire season in the AHL.” “We’ll see how it goes,” Murashov continued. “It’s a new challenge for me. The Penguins’ coaches have told me about the specific aspects of playing in the AHL.” A 2022 fourth-round pick, Murashov has been one of the best goalies in the Russian junior circuit the past three seasons and had a .930 SV% and 24-4-2 record in 30 appearances with Loko Yaroslavl last season. In a six-game Kontinental Hockey League call-up to Lokomotiv, he continued his strong play with a .925 SV%, 1.84 GAA and his first professional shutout.
Penguins Sign Sergei Murashov To Entry-Level Contract
The Pittsburgh Penguins are bringing a solid goaltending prospect to North America as the team announced they have signed goalie Sergei Murashov to a three-year, entry-level contract. Murashov should compete with Penguins’ prospect Taylor Gauthier for the backup minutes with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins with the loser of that battle earning the starter’s role with the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL.
It is Joel Blomqvist‘s net to lose with the AHL Penguins but Marashov should be biting at his ankles relatively quickly. No matter how this situation plays out — Pittsburgh is quickly building one of the better goaltending pipelines in the league.
The Penguins selected Murashov with the 118th overall selection in the 2022 NHL Draft after a promising season with Loko-76 Yaroslavl of the MHL. In his draft year, Murashov played in 41 games for Yaroslavl and recorded a 21-16-3 record with a .927 save percentage and 2.49 goals against average. Hoping to keep his confidence up by playing in his birth city, the Penguins have left Murashov to develop in Russia for the last two years.
Murashov has continued his development with Loko Yaroslavl of the MHL over the last two years and had brief playing time with their KHL affiliate, the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. Playing on one of the most successful organizations in Russia’s major feeder league, Murashov produced a 24-7-5 record in 37 games during the 2022-23 season with a .948 SV% and 1.53 GAA. Murashov carried a .932 SV% in that year’s playoffs before losing in the semi-finals.
The 2023-24 season became his most dominant as Murashov collected 24 wins in 34 games with a .930 SV%. In the playoffs, the young Russian netminder earned a .926 SV% and 2.07 GAA en route to his team becoming champions at the end of the season.
Murashov is still young for a goaltending prospect at only 20 years old, so he may end up starting the year in Wheeling just for development’s sake. However, if he continues his upward trajectory there should be no question Murashov will be competing for a full-time job in the AHL soon.
Prospect Notes: Murashov, Rashevsky, Muggli
Penguins prospect Sergei Murashov told reporters including Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he plans to make a decision soon on where he’ll play next season. The 20-year-old spent most of last season with Yaroslavl’s junior team and fared quite well, posting a .930 SV% in 34 regular season games and a .927 mark in 19 playoff contests. Murashov was a fourth-round pick in 2022 and his contract is now expired although Yaroslavl still has control of his rights. He’ll have to decide as to whether to stay with them, try to find another team in Russia (one that could give him more KHL ice time), or if the time is right to come to North America and play in Pittsburgh’s system.
Other prospect news from around the NHL:
- The Jets are having discussions with winger Dmitri Rashevsky about signing him to an entry-level deal, Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press relayed (Twitter link) earlier this week. The 23-year-old was a fifth-round pick back in 2021, going 146th overall and has been a KHL regular ever since. Rashevsky is coming off his best season in Russia, tallying 24 goals and 19 assists with Dynamo Moskva in 67 games last season. He has one year left on his deal but with some Russian players getting let out of their KHL agreements, Winnipeg is hoping they’ll be able to get Rashevsky out of his early as well.
- Earlier in the week, the Capitals agreed to terms on an entry-level deal with defenseman Leon Muggli. However, he won’t be playing in Washington’s system right away as his team in Switzerland – EV Zug – announced that they’re in discussions with the Caps to have the 18-year-old loaned back to them for the upcoming season. Muggli has two years left on his deal with Zug and played a regular role for them in 2023-24, recording a dozen points in 42 regular season games. Assuming the loan goes through, his contract will slide and will still have three years left on it heading into 2025-26.