New Jersey Devils top prospect Mikhail Yegorov is not having the most exciting season. His defense has let him down, but he’s also had a few letdowns himself in net. The goalie for the defending runner-ups in last season’s Frozen Four is sporting an .888 save percentage and 3.50 goals-against average.
Last season, Yegorov had a .927 save percentage in his, albeit shortened, freshman season. He jumped right into BU, starting with big wins and even helping them upset Boston College for the Beanpot win. This season, those wins aren’t coming as easily.
In 11 games this season, Yegorov has two fewer losses than he had in 18 games last season. We ranked Yegorov as our top prospect before the season, but it’s hard to not be worried about his 2025-26 start. He’s a goalie, and as we’ve seen with Jacob Markstrom, things can turn around quickly, but Yegorov needs to get things going.
It somewhat started this weekend against Merrimack College. He made a few huge saves on Saturday, including some on breakaways, to help BU walk away with a 3-2 overtime win. Boston head coach Jay Pandolfo went with his starting goalie again on Sunday, and that’s where frustration boiled over.
Yegorov was called for a penalty literally seconds into the third period with his team holding onto a 3-1 lead. Originally, he was ejected from the game for “headbutting” an opponent. Even off the jump, it seemed like an extreme call. With the assistance of video replay, it was clear that the referees jumped to an incorrect conclusion.
Play where Mikhail Yegorov was initially ejected for headbutting, reduced to 2 minutes for roughing. Seems soft to call anything, personally. pic.twitter.com/h9Zml3P2kd
— Josh (@Kinch389) November 9, 2025
Mikhail Yegorov was almost ejected for what was essentially a smiling chest bump
There wasn’t even head contact there. This is by far the softest call we’ve seen in college hockey. This was, at most, gamesmanship by Yegorov, who did a chest bump to fellow sophomore Trevor Hoskin. Hoskin was trying to get a few whacks in on Yegorov’s pads, which wasn’t egregious from his part, either.
At the end of it, Yegorov’s ejection was downgraded to a two-minute minor penalty for roughing. It still felt like an unnecessary call, but the Terriers killed the penalty, so no harm, no foul.
BU held on to win the game 5-4 after a flurry at the end of the game by Merrimack led to two goals in the final minutes of the game, but Yegorov helped them hold on, including some high-danger chances to end it. Hopefully, this exciting weekend of hockey gets Yegorov back to his winning ways.
This is still one of the Devils’ top prospects and probably their future in net, so how the rest of the season goes is very important to the front office. We’re happy Yegorov didn’t get ejected for something as silly as a chest bump.