Flames sign Kirill Zarubin to three-year, entry-level contract
The Calgary Flames have signed goaltending prospect Kirill Zarubin to a three-year, entry-level contract, the club announced Friday afternoon.
Zarubin, 20, posted a 26-13-3 record to go along with a 2.17 goals-against average, a .930 save percentage, and three shutouts in 48 games with AKM Tula in Russia’s Junior Hockey League (MHL) in the 2025-26 regular season. He subsequently went 3-3 with a .944 save percentage in six playoff games.
The Flames originally selected Zarubin in the third round (No. 84 overall) of the 2024 NHL Draft, using a pick they acquired from the Vegas Golden Knights at the previous trade deadline. Zarubin’s entry-level deal with the Flames will take effect with the 2026-27 season.
Welcome to the squad, Kirill 🔥 cflam.es/4wLBUg4
A product of Penza, Russia, Zarubin has spent the majority of the last three seasons in the MHL with AKM Tula, with whom he has posted a 53-29-9 record, nine shutouts, and a .936 save percentage over 98 games. Zarubin was one of the oldest players selected in the 2024 NHL Draft, having been born just five days after the cutoff for eligibility.
The Flames acquired the pick they used on Zarubin from Vegas on Mar. 7, 2024, as part of a three-way trade that also involved the Philadelphia Flyers. Noah Hanifin, the main component of the trade, went from Calgary to Vegas via Philadelphia, which retained part of his salary; the Flames received Daniil Miromanov, Vegas’s own 2026 first-round pick, and the 2024 third-rounder.
Zarubin made his professional debut in the VHL, Russia’s second-tier league, on Feb. 20, stopping 40 of 41 shots to help AKM Tula Region defeat Olimpiya Kirovo-Chepetsk by a 2-1 final score. The 6’3″ netminder will now look to work his way up the Flames’ goaltending hierarchy, with his first stop likely to be with either the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers or the ECHL’s Rapid City Rush.