After sitting out the first night of the 2026 NHL Draft following their move for JJ Peterka, the Bruins let the draft board play out before settling in with the No. 56 overall pick in the second round. But in the second round, the Bruins went with a real surprise pick, with goaltender Yuri Ivanov drafted to Boston.
A 6-foot-2 goaltender, Ivanov was one of the youngest players available in the draft, and is coming to the Bruins pipeline after a 2025-26 campaign that featured a 13-3-1 record and .924 save percentage in 17 games for Moscow Spartak Jr. (MHL), and a 3-6-0 record and .928 save percentage in nine games for their MHA program. The pick was a bit of an off the board pick in the sense that Ivanov was the 10th-ranked European goaltender available, according to Central Scouting, while some other outlets had him ranked as a fifth-round pick.
It’s also a little puzzling in the sense that the Bruins have been a goaltending factory, having previous success with luring college and European free agents to town and building them up, and that they have Jeremy Swayman locked up.
But in the same breath, Boston’s success with developing goaltenders may also be the reason why the Black and Gold earns the benefit of the doubt with this selection. If they’ve built up other options into potentially serviceable options, there’s reason to believe they see something here that could make him elite.
Bruins general manager Don Sweeney may also have a bit more faith in their Russian scouting team right now given the way 2025 sixth-round pick Kirill Yemelyanov popped off this past season with 32 goals and 57 points in 55 games in the MHL and 10 goals in 18 playoff games on the way to a championship.
Ivanov is the first goalie drafted by the Bruins since the club selected Reid Dyck with a sixth-round pick in 2022, and is the highest pick used on a goaltender since the club selected Malcolm Subban with a first-round pick in 2012.
