The New Jersey Devils are in a pickle in net, at least, in the short term. Jacob Markstrom had a rough season, but Tom Fitzgerald signed him to a two-year extension as a parting gift prior to the two sides ending their relationship. Now, Markstrom and his .883 save percentage is going into next season as the presume starter, with veteran Jake Allen as the backup.
Meanwhile, the future of the goaltending position for the Devils lies directly on the shoulders of Boston University’s Mikhail Yegorov. The Devils took Yegorov with their second-round pick of the 2024 NHL Draft. Since then, he’s taken the Terriers to the NCAA Championship Game and won the Beanpot.
We’ve since rated Yegorov as the Devils’ top prospect, and he’s the future of the position. While Fitzgerald continued to draft goalies, including taking Veeti Louhivaara the same year they drafted Yegorov and drafting Trenten Bennett last season. There are always goalies in the prospect pool, but Yegorov is different. He’s supposed to be something great. There are expectations there.
So, Devils fans need him to deliver on his expectations. If he doesn’t, the goalie issues will feel like they are just going to last forever.
And it turns out Yegorov is working hard to make sure he stays focused at his current level so he can grow into the next level.
Mikhail Yegorov uses video games to stay focused on hockey
This past week on The Sheet with Jeff Marek, prospect writer Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff told a story about Yegorov that gives us an interesting view into his psyche. Ellis asked Yegorov “How do you stay focused?,” and Yegorov talked about playing video games.
Now, we’ve all made the excuse that video games help us with problem solving and hand-eye coordination, but Yegorov is truly utlizing these games to help his future career. According to Ellis, Yegorov plays games on the popular video game platform Steam and find unique puzzle games to keep him sharp.
This keeps his mindset in the right place, and it’s also an example of the creativity coming from a goalie. Many say that a goalie is often the most interesting player on the team, and they have to be a little interesting in the mind to be great. Goalies spend half of the game just sitting there… thinking, but they have to be ready to move on a dime and be in perfect position to excel.
Video games is not what we expected to be the reason Yegorov is playing well, but it’s definitely better than how players in the past used to get back in the right mindset.
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