Panthers End '25 Draft By Taking Russian Goalie Yegor Midlak

The Florida Panthers concluded the 2025 NHL Draft on Saturday evening, coming out with a nice haul of six additions to the prospect pool. Florida's first four picks were used on wingers, while the first pick they owned in the seventh round was used on American defenseman Brendan Dunphy. With the final pick of the night, the Cats decided to add a player to the goaltending pool.

With the 224th pick in the selection meeting, the front office took a flyer and made Russian goalie Yegor Midlak this year's "Mr.Irrelevant". Midlak wasn't ranked by many draft sources and flew under the radar. He is a big goaltender, standing at 6-foot-6. The Panthers needed to come out of this draft with another goalie, and now they have three in the system.

It's not surprising that Florida took a Russian goaltending prospect, because Sergei Bobrovsky has been manning and dominating the Panthers' crease for the last several years. Also, before the Draft, Bill Zito completed a deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets to get Daniil Tarasov to be next year's backup goalie.

As for Midlak, he's been under the Spartak Moskva system for the last couple of years. Last season, he made 10 appearances for the club's U18 squad and also saw time for the top club in Russia's top league, the MHL. In four appearances with the top club, Midlak impressed, posting a .941 save percentage and a 1.06 goals against average.

While under the U18 squad, Midlak posted a shutout in his 10 appearances and posted a 2.32 goals against average. For him, there are very few places that can be better to develop than in South Florida. The Panthers have been known for developing good goaltending talent and even instituted a Goaltending Excellence Department.

The department revived Bobrovsky's career after struggling to find his groove over his first three seasons after he joined Florida as a free agent. Also, Panthers fans got to see Spencer Knight develop and got some good performances out of him. He is primed to be the goalie of the future for the Chicago Blackhawks now and is one of the best up-and-coming players at the position.

With time and patience, Midlak could become a candidate to replace Bobrovsky as the Panthers' starter several years down the line. Being the understudy of a man who is bound for the Hockey Hall of Fame doesn't hurt either. While Midlak has a long way to go, there is a lot of promise surrounding him, and there is a world where he can be the starter down the road. Goaltending takes a long time to develop, but with time, Midlak can be a great netminder.