Penguins Can’t Judge Sergei Murashov by His Numbers Alone

Goals-against average is even more dependent on the team around him. A goaltender playing behind a structured defensive group that suppresses dangerous opportunities has a much easier path toward producing an attractive number than one constantly dealing with defensive breakdowns.

Pittsburgh did not make the type of defensive overhaul that guarantees those conditions will change. The same Aug. 5 analysis noted the lack of significant blue line upgrades and projected that Dan Muse’s team will again be willing to trade chances in pursuit of offense.

Penguins Need to Evaluate the Saves Murashov Is Making

The Penguins should therefore look beyond Murashov’s final stat line when determining whether he is progressing.

Goals saved relative to expectation should matter because it helps account for the quality of opportunities he faces. Pittsburgh should also track his performance on high-danger attempts, rebound control and ability to prevent one defensive breakdown from creating multiple scoring opportunities.

Consistency will be equally important. Murashov’s athleticism can produce difficult saves, but becoming an NHL starter requires eliminating preventable goals while maintaining positioning and composure through games where Pittsburgh allows prolonged pressure.

His five NHL appearances last season offered too small of a sample to produce meaningful conclusions. Murashov went 1-1-2 with a 2.56 GAA and .897 SV%, including a shutout against the Nashville Predators in Stockholm. His 2025-26 season review showed that he faced only 15 high-danger shots during those games and stopped 12 of them.

Pittsburgh needs a much larger sample before determining what those numbers actually mean.

The organization should be more concerned with whether Murashov keeps the Penguins competitive on nights when they give up too much. If he consistently prevents an expected three or four goals against from becoming four or five, that tells Pittsburgh considerably more about his NHL readiness than an isolated .895 save percentage.

Šilovs Shows Why Context Matters

Artūrs Šilovs provides Pittsburgh with a useful example of why the raw numbers should not determine the entire evaluation.

Šilovs finished last season with a 19-12-8 record, a 3.07 GAA and an .888 SV% in 39 games. Those statistics hardly resemble the profile of an established NHL starter, yet Pittsburgh brought him back on a one-year, $2.8 million contract after he finished the season much more impressively.

His postseason performance demonstrated how quickly the evaluation could change. Šilovs went 2-1 with a 1.52 GAA and .939 SV% in three playoff games after Pittsburgh fell behind the Philadelphia Flyers 3-0 in the series. The Penguins ultimately lost in six, but Šilovs gave them a chance to extend the matchup.

That does not erase his regular-season struggles. It shows why Pittsburgh must separate poor goaltending from difficult circumstances and recognize when a player is performing better than his traditional statistics indicate.

Murashov deserves the same treatment.

Murashov Should Not Have to Immediately Carry the Crease

Pittsburgh also has no reason to make Murashov’s evaluation harder by demanding that he immediately become the No. 1 goaltender.

Šilovs gives the Penguins an experienced option who has played 58 NHL games, while Joel Blomqvist remains another legitimate young candidate. Dubas said after last season that Murashov and Blomqvist had both earned the opportunity to compete for an NHL roster position, leaving training camp to determine how the depth chart develops.

A tandem structure could benefit Murashov if he earns the NHL job. It would give him regular starts without forcing a 22-year-old to handle 50 or more games immediately, while allowing Pittsburgh to adjust his workload if he encounters the type of difficult stretch nearly every young goaltender experiences.

The Penguins have been patient with Murashov throughout his development. Their previous examination of their top goalie prospect highlighted how deliberately they avoided rushing him even when NHL opportunities became available last season. That patience should continue even after he reaches Pittsburgh permanently.

Penguins Need an Answer Without Requiring Perfect Numbers

Murashov’s development could eventually solve one of Pittsburgh’s most difficult long-term questions.

The Penguins have spent years searching for stability in goal, and Murashov has produced at every level strongly enough to earn the chance to become something more than another prospect. His AHL results, playoff performance and recognition as the league’s top goaltending prospect give Pittsburgh legitimate reasons for optimism.

The NHL evaluation will be more complicated.

Pittsburgh allowed too many scoring chances last season, and its goaltenders still surrendered fewer five-on-five goals than expected. If that defensive environment remains similar, Murashov could experience nights when his numbers deteriorate despite making several saves that keep the Penguins competitive.

That is why Pittsburgh must evaluate the entire performance. It should measure how Murashov handles dangerous opportunities, whether he limits preventable goals, how consistently he controls rebounds and whether he gives the Penguins a chance when their defense breaks down.

If those areas improve while the save percentage remains ordinary, Pittsburgh should not mistake the stat sheet for the complete evaluation.

Murashov does not need perfect numbers to prove he can become the Penguins’ long-term answer. He needs to show that he can consistently outperform the circumstances in front of him.