Grading Yevgeni Volokhin’s 2025-26 season

Yevgeni Volokhin should have emerged from the shadows with the season that he had, but again it seems he will be held out of the limelight next year as well, considering that all eyes in Montreal will be firmly on Alexander Zharovsky and latest first-round pick Gleb Pugachyov. However, the fact is that Volokhin’s season was outrageous, with 12 clean sheets in the VHL, three of them in the playoffs. He finished second in shutouts, first in save percentage, and third in goals-against average (beaten by two former teammates).

During the playoffs, Volokhin finished fourth in save percentage, fourth in goals-against average and third in shutouts. He finished the combined season with a .941 save percentage and 1.64 GAA. It is a very successful season indeed, the only blip over the season is losing the VHL final, especially to his former team, Ugra.

Volokhin’s save percentage was steadily around .950 throughout the season. The final two games in the playoffs became outliers as Khimik was pushing to even out the series and left the goalie on his own at times.

Volokhin was called up to Spartak for a total of four games, letting in 12 goals for an .870 save percentage. While the numbers weren’t great, it was more to learn and see where to improve for the next step in the young goalie’s career.

Strengths

What stands out is his size, but he also combines that with great athleticism. He gets up from a low position with ease and moves across the crease with confidence. He keeps himself under control, and doesn’t really overextend his movements and end up out of the play. Although, one would want Volokhin to add to his frame, but the question would then be how it impacts his overall play and how it affects potential groin and knee problems down the line.

All through his career Volokhin has had the ability to steal games, and it was the same in the playoffs this year. His confidence, mindset, and hockey IQ are high, something that should benefit him if he comes over to Montreal.

Weaknesses

I have been vocal about his rebound control since his draft year and it got a lot better this season especially. During the deep playoff run he seemed to hold the puck better, with fewer instances in the games that I watched when he deflected the puck straight out in the open zone. This weakness has definitely been worked on, but a final judgment will have to be made when he reaches the KHL sometime next year to see how he deals with even better players and harder shots.

Grade: A

There is no choice but to grade this season as a great success for the young goalie. Again this isn’t a grade for reaching the NHL, it’s a grade on the season. It speaks to the Ugra and Russian system that Volokhin and Egor Zavragin left the team and still it has some of the best goalies in the VHL.

The Russian hockey goalie school is strong: six goalies were taken from Russia in the 2026 NHL Draft, and Daniil Rusakovich is Belarusian but plays within the Russian system. That leave Volokhin in good hands to develop. The fact that goalies take longer to mature and the fact that you have a Russian player’s rights forever means that there is no rush.

Vladislav Utkin mentions that Volokhin will be moved into the KHL smoothly, behind Artyom Zagidulin. This might ruin Montreal’s chances to get a third KHL Rookie of the Year award on the trot, so it was good to draft Pugachyov to challenge for that award in 2027.

Volokhin’s future is bright and next year will be even more important for him as he steps into a KHL role. He is at least two years away from the AHL or NHL, but as we see with the other Russians in the Montreal system they seem to favour to stay in Russia longer to avoid the AHL route. One should not hold that against any of them, especially Volokhin as Montreal has a couple of young goalies on the team already.

Returning as a guest on the podcast is Vladislav Utkin, hockey writer of allhockey.ru and sovsport.ru, who kept an extra eye on Volokhin during the VHL playoffs for us.

Click the play button below for the full episode on Apple podcasts, or check for us on your preferred platform.