How Daniil Rusakovich measures up in net amongst his peers

Daniil Rusakovich represents one of the more intriguing long-term goaltending projects in the New Jersey Devils’ pipeline. Selected 149th overall in the 2026 NHL Draft, the 6-foot-4 Belarusian netminder is still at the beginning of his development. Patience is central to his projection.

Rusakovich has already shown an encouraging ability to work within his physical build, combining his size with positioning, tracking, skating, and post integration rather than relying solely on athleticism. Developing with Dinamo-Shinnik also places him within the Dinamo Minsk organizational structure, giving him a potential pathway through increasingly difficult levels of professional hockey.

His progression should therefore be measured in stages rather than immediate NHL readiness. The most reasonable projection is continued MHL development through his late teens, followed by a VHL transition around age 20–21. If his technical consistency continues improving, that timeline could eventually lead to KHL opportunities and, ultimately, an NHL evaluation.

Since Sunny Mehta and his scouting staff completed their first draft class for the 2026 class (2008 birth year), it seems the Devils' goalie scouts and European-Russian scouts have reached a conclusion about a potential gem in net. The Belarusian goalie Daniil Rusakovich, in his D+1 (season after being drafted), is already off to a 3-0-0 start and has stopped 81/88 shots in the MHL, which is very impressive, continuing from last season.

If you put Rusakovich up against his peer Trenten Bennett, he is 2 years younger and 4 inches shorter, but he has a lot more polish in his game positioning and tracking, and already comprehends how to play within his own body, knowing when to go post-to-post and going in those T-pushes and C-pushes. The Devils don't need to develop him, but Dinamo-Shinnik-Bobruysk does it under the watchful eye of Dinamo Minsk of the KHL. The Devils know that in another season Mikhail Yegorov will make his way via Boston University, leaving room for another goalie to move up from the pipeline.

The Devils made a smart bet on Daniil Rusakovich

The objective would be for Rusakovich to get to the VHL by age 20. On the contrary if he can keep making consistent quality starts in net and keep improving in various areas like puck handling, tracking high speed, and off-speed shooters very well and being a tremendous goalie preventing a lot of High Danger scoring opportunities while getting ready for some wild mid and low danger shots on net will only help him progress.

Sergei Bondarenko is Daniil Rusakovich's goalie coach this season and Yevgeni Letov is his head coach in the MHL. One fun fact is that Sergei Brylin is Dinamo Minsk's head coach in the KHL, and he would not be surprised if Sergei networks with Sunny Mehta and his scouts about what his staff at the MHL level sees in his progression.

If we look at Bennett for a moment, he is taking longer than usual because he is 2 years older in his last season in the OHL but will hit the NCAA D1 level; he needs to learn how to utilize that 6'8 frame and close off the post when looking to prevent a sneaky dangler from scoring. But he has to learn how early he can go down in the butterfly and avoid being beat short-side on a shooter like Alexander Command, who read him twice like a book. So it will take Bennett a few more years than we expect. If we look at Danill, who is in his draft plus 1 season, he has much more upside to become a starting goalie who could truly benefit over the years under this Sunny Mehta system with Leo Luongo as director of goaltending. 

The other goalie who has the next-best shot, but on a similar trend to Bennett, is Veeti Louhivaara. He is with UConn in the NCAA this season. These two, along with Mikhail Yegorov, are the final batch of goalies selected by former GM Tom Fitzgerald. Daniil Rusakovich is the first goalie drafted and/or signed by Sunny Mehta and his staff. 

There is a lot of intriguing upside and skill in Daniil Rusakovich's future with the organization, and he has the potential to go from a sleeper to a possible gem of a draft pick that Sunny Mehta believes could be more than just a normal mid-late pick for a goalie.

If Leo Luongo and Dan Stewart, the NJ Devils goalie progression duo, can piece together other aspects to improve Rusakovich and other goalies in the New Jersey Devils pipeline, then the NHL will have a really hard time keeping up with the quality control and development of up and coming starting and backup goalies that potentially steal games for many years to come and maybe a few championships.

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