Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
Ivan Prosvetov’s big break came last October.
After four seasons in the Arizona Coyotes organization – mostly spent in the AHL with the Tucson Roadrunners – Prosvetov headed off to the Colorado Avalanche after they claimed him off waivers on Oct. 9. And for a while that break held for the 24-year-old Prosvetov, who had been a 2018 fourth-round pick by the Arizona. Working behind Alexandar Georgiev, Prosvetov had a job with a Stanley Cup contender and spent the first four months of this season in the NHL.
Prosvetov has been down this path before. He showed steady progress with the Arizona organization, becoming a number-one with Tucson and challenging for NHL work. Across three seasons with the Coyotes, he ended up playing 13 games in a recall role. But Connor Ingram’s 2022 arrival in the organization – via waivers from Nashville nearly a year to the day before Prosvetov’s departure – meant that Prosvetov would have to find a different path to the NHL.
So it goes sometimes when you’re an AHL prospect trying to break through full-time to an NHL job. Ingram, along with so many other prospects, had taken that route. So would Prosvetov, and the opportunity with Colorado was a good one.
“You know what?” he said. “It’s always a new opportunity, a new challenge to start with a new team. It was the first time in my career. It was really exciting.”
It still is, even if Prosvetov again finds himself back in the AHL. Playing time had been hard to find, who appeared in only 11 games with the Avs. Meanwhile, fellow prospect Justus Annunen had shown well with the Colorado Eagles. So after clearing waivers, Prosvetov joined the Eagles nearly a month after his last game action.
Prosvetov understands the Avalanche’s plan, and he has gotten plenty of time in net since then with the Eagles. He debuted at home on Feb. 9 with a 26-save performance against Abbotsford in a 3-1 win. A night later, he had 38 saves in another victory against the Canucks. Another 38-save effort came Feb. 17 at Coachella Valley. And there are the back-to-back shutouts this past weekend at home against Henderson. For his latest display, Prosvetov moved his record to 8-0-0 after he led the Eagles to a 5-2 victory at Abbotsford last night, making 32 stops.
Colorado has now won 16 of its last 19 games, and tonight’s rematch with the Canucks gives them a chance to pull even with Coachella Valley for the Pacific Division lead.
A very rangy 6-foot-5 and 189 pounds, Prosvetov did not come to the Colorado organization needing to have his game rebuilt.
“I’m really a system goalie,” said Prosvetov, who worked with Avalanche goaltending coach Jussi Parkkila in the NHL. “The net-play system, the traffic, the stance management, all that kind of stuff. The goalie coach is like your navigation [system]. If you sometimes go the wrong way, he can bring you back to your fundamentals, and I think that Jussi is really good at it.”
With the Eagles, Prosvetov works with Avs goalie development coach Peter Budaj, someone who had to battle to make the NHL himself just like Prosvetov is now. Budaj spent three seasons in the AHL with the Hershey Bears before breaking through with the Avalanche in 2005. Then, on the back end of his career, he was named the AHL’s outstanding goaltender in 2015-16 with the Ontario Reign and earned a return to the NHL, extending his career by three more seasons with Los Angeles and Tampa Bay.
“He’s a great coach,” Prosvetov said of his new mentor, “and he was a great goalie. That’s a guy you can trust.”
The Eagles won’t be back home until a two-game series with Calgary in mid-March, but Prosvetov and the team’s fans have already established a quick bond. Familiar with Eagles fans from his days visiting with Tucson, Prosvetov is now the beneficiary of their very vocal, very spirited support inside Blue Arena.
“The fans are awesome,” Prosvetov said. “It was tough (as a visitor), but at the same time it was fun because sometimes that gets me going when everyone is against you. It was a fun time to play against them, and now to have all those fans on your side… when they cheer you on after every save, it really helps you. It helps you mentally. It gives you more energy.
“It’s good to be on the good side.”
TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams has been on the American Hockey League beat for nearly two decades for outlets including NHL.com, Sportsnet, TSN, The Hockey News, SiriusXM NHL Network Radio and SLAM! Sports, and was most recently the co-host of The Hockey News On The ‘A’ podcast. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2016.