The young netminder had a rough season in Tucson, but is still the Arizona Coyotes goaltender of the future.
The 2022–23 season is fast approaching. Here at Five For Howling, we’re looking at this year’s 25 best Arizona Coyotes players under the age of 25.
Last year the Arizona Coyotes made massive changes to their goaltending pipeline. To help facilitate a rebuild, they traded Darcy Kuemper and Adin Hill and let Antti Raanta walk. They brought in Karel Vejmelka to partially fill that void, but there are still a lot of questions about who will be the Coyotes’ future netminder.
The best candidate appears to be the young Russian goalie Ivan Prosvetov.
Ivan Prosvetov
2021–22 league: AHL (Tucson Roadrunners), NHL (Arizona Coyotes)
Regular Season Games Played: 45, 3
Regular GAA: 3.66, 4.22
Regular Save Percentage: .880, .875
Highest Individual Ranking: 22
Lowest Individual Ranking: 24
Last Year’s Ranking: 13
Prosvetov spent most of his season in Tucson with the Roadrunners, but he still managed to get three NHL games. And in keeping with the Coyotes only playing Prosvetov against tough competition, those games were against the St Louis Blues, Colorado Avalanche, and Tampa Bay Lightning.
Unfortunately, he didn’t do much better in the AHL. He posted a 3.66 goals-against average and a .880 save percentage, which isn’t something you want to see from a young netminder.
Part of the damage was likely because the Roadrunners themselves did not do great last season. The constant Coyotes callups certainly didn’t help them, especially the number of defensemen who saw time with the Desert Dogs.
The Arizona Coyotes have a lot of questions when it comes to goaltending. For now, Karel Vejmelka is the team’s starter, but he is only signed for three more years on a cheap deal. So ideally, in the next few years, the team will know who their goalie or tandem of the future is by the time that deal expires.
Prosvetov seems the best candidate for now, but questions remain. He is young for a goaltender, so he has plenty of time to grow into the role. The team doesn’t seem to want to rush Prosvetov, which will hopefully be the best thing for his development moving forward.