By: Neil Simmons & Eamonn McLean | Follow us on Twitter / X: @NSimmz & @EamonnMcLean44
The third installment of the Black n Gold Hockey NHL Draft Day 2 prospects primer shifts to the most important, and most volatile, position on the ice: goaltending. The Bruins are set at the top of the pipeline with Jeremy Swayman turning in a Vezina-nominee season and locked up for six more years, but the pipeline beneath him could use fortifications. With the impending lapse of Philip Svedeback’s draft rights, Boston will not have any goalie prospects in the pipeline beneath the ECHL level.
Fortunately, the Bruins are in a good position to restock the system with seven draft picks on the second day of the NHL Draft this weekend. Eamonn McLean and I have identified several goaltenders who Boston could draft in different spots this coming Saturday:
Neil: Brady Knowling – USNTDP (USHL)
Knowling is one of the best, if not the best, goaltenders in this draft. Measuring in at 6’5”, 205lbs, the top-ranked North American goalie prospect shared the net with the NTDP U18s this past season, logging an 8-5-1 record in 15 appearances against USHL competition, and served as a backup for Team USA at the World Juniors and won gold at the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup. Aside from his physical tools, scouts rave about his mobility and positioning, using that big frame to his advantage. He’s committed to Boston University for the 2027-28 season, after a year with Saginaw in the OHL.
As well-regarded a prospect as Knowling is, even in the unlikely scenario that he’s available in the third round, Boston would be better suited to address more pressing needs elsewhere. However, if he slips further down the board, Knowling would be a significant boost to the Bruins goaltending pipeline.
Eamonn: Tobias Trejbal – Youngstown Phantoms (USHL)
Trejbal played on a loaded Phantoms team that featured Bruins prospect Cooper Simpson. Trejbal is a right-handed catching goaltender who had a very respectable .916% save percentage in the USHL this season, and has projectable size at 6’4”, 196lbs. He’s committed to UMass Amherst for next season, a program that just did a solid job developing Michael Hrabal for the Utah Mammoth. He may go too early for the Bruins to consider drafting him, though, as he’s projected in the 1st or 2nd round.
Neil: Martin Psohlavec – Karlovy Vary (Czechia U20)
While Psohlavec doesn’t quite have the pedigree or physical tools of Knowling or Rybkin, he has the numbers. He has posted at least a .920 Sv% at the U17 and U20 levels in each of the past three seasons for HC Energie Karlovy Vary in Czechia, including a .928 Sv%, 1.92 GAA, and an eight-shutout campaign in 42 games this past year. He added a further .926 Sv% and 1.68 GAA at the U18 World Juniors, helping the Czechs take home the bronze medal. The Bruins have a strong recent history with Czech players, and bringing in Simon Zajicek last year proves they already have eyes on the crease in Central Europe. Psohlavec will be a name to monitor with one of their fourth-round picks, right around his projection.
Eamonn: Filip Ruzicka – Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
Sticking with goaltenders from Czechia, Ruzicka is an enormous human being, at 6’8”, 229lbs. His height gives him an obvious advantage in terms of seeing through net front traffic, but he’s not just a projection based on size, as he had a solid .906% save percentage for Brandon in the regular season, and followed it up with a .936% in the playoffs. Ruzicka is projected to go somewhere in the 3rd or 4th round, and with the Bruins possessing draft capital in the 100-120 range, he’s a solid bet if the Bruins do draft a goaltender.
Neil: Yegor Rybkin – Chaika Nizhny Novgorod (MHL)
Rybkin is a mountain of a young man. EliteProspects lists him at 6’7”, 207lbs, which places him among the tallest and heaviest goaltenders in this class. As such, he eats up a ton of the net, and scouts have highlighted his athleticism with that massive frame. The knock on him, and the reason he could be available in the fourth round despite his eye-catching physical tools, is a lack of game experience. Rybkin hasn’t played more than 11 games in a season since 2022-23, when he made 33 appearances for Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod’s U16 team. If Rybkin is still on the board when the Bruins are on the clock, he would be an intriguing developmental project.
Eamonn: Ryder Fetterolf – Ottawa 67’s (OHL)
Fetterolf doesn’t have the size that the other two have, standing at 6’0”, 185lbs, which might hurt his draft stock, given that the majority of NHL goaltenders these days are taller than that. However, we’ve already seen smaller goaltenders, such as Calgary’s Dustin Wolf, succeed in the NHL. What won’t hurt Fetterolf’s stock is his stats, as the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native put up a .923% save percentage in 41 games with the 67’s. He’ll be staying close to home next season, as he’s committed to Penn State.
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