Islanders’ Dmitry Gamzin Is the KHL Rookie of the Week

New York Islanders prospect Dmitry Gamzin keeps progressing in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) and was awarded Rookie of the Week on Monday. In particular, the 2024 fourth-round pick posted a 45-save performance when CSKA defeated Avangard on Feb. 4 on home soil (2-1 in the shootout).

It has been a very strong performance from Gamzin, who is having a good season. His 45 saves were a career-high for the young netminder. In the video below, you can see numerous saves by the goalie in that tense and close game, with several other NHL prospects taking part in the action and 2012 first-overall pick Nail Yakupov netting his 20th goal of the season.

Two days later, CSKA decided to rest him after what must have been an exhausting performance against Avangard, but the coach called him back to action after Pavel Khomchenko allowed three goals by mid-game in the Muscovites’ losing effort against Severstal (4-3). Gamzin allowed only one goal, but CSKA didn’t manage to collect a win this time.

With CSKA starting goalie, former NHL netminder Ivan Prosvetov, sitting on the injury list, Gamzin will have a tremendous chance to showcase his best game and gather more experience. He has appeared in 17 games this season, and can play even more. Numbers-wise, he has outplayed Prosvetov, but the latter’s experience will probably grant him the starting goalie position once he returns to hockey. So far this season, Gamzin boasts a .930 save percentage with a goals-against average of 2.20. His contract with CSKA runs through May 2025.