Colorado Avalanche select Ilya Nabokov No. 38 overall in 2024 NHL Draft

Credit: KHL

One of the more highly-touted goaltending prospects has had his name taken off the board.

On Saturday at The Sphere in Las Vegas, the Colorado Avalanche took Russian goaltender Ilya Nabokov in the second round of the 2024 NHL Draft, No. 38 overall.

While this year’s draft doesn’t have any star netminding prospects, Nabokov has set himself apart from his peers. NHL Central Scouting has the 21-year-old as the second-best international goaltending prospect behind Finland Eemil Vinni. Daily Faceoff draft expert Steven Ellis has him listed as the 88th-best prospect.

“As the oldest prospect in this draft class,” Ellis explains. “He brings serious potential. He was one of the KHL’s top goaltenders despite being one of the youngest starters and showed unbelievable athleticism and post-to-post movement. Scouts love his ability to move fluently in the crease, and his raw talent is going to excite quite a bit of people.”

For a goaltender who isn’t the tallest, standing at six-feet-one, Nabokov makes up for it with his athletic playing style and quickness. His explosive crease movement allows him to follow the play and get into position to challenge shooters, taking up as much net as possible. Playing low to the ice, he has the ability to seal up any loose holes, especially along the posts.

Though he is an overager, being passed over the first couple of times he has been eligible to be drafted, Nabokov’s game has steadily improved to the point where he is on NHL teams’ radars. After spending most of the last three seasons with Stalnye Lisy Magnitogorsk of the MHL, the Kasli native came out of his shell in his rookie season with Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the KHL. He outplayed his goaltending partner, former Calgary Flame Artyom Zagidulin, appearing in 43 games, going 23-13-3 during the regular season, posting a 2.15 goals-against average and .930 save percentage with three shutouts. Nabokov’s play earned him the Aleksei Cherepanov Award as the league’s best rookie.

He continued to impress in the playoffs, going 16-6, helping Magnitogorsk win its third Gagarin Cup, and seventh league championship in franchise history. With a 1.82 GAA, .942 SV%, and four shutouts, Nabokov was named playoff MVP.

Though he has one more year on his contract with Magnitogorsk, and he has just been drafted, if Nabokov remains on this upward trajectory, he could be finding his name in the NHL lineup very soon.