Rising Vyazovoi, reliable Isayev, tireless Serebryakov: who will be named Goalie of the Year?

KHL.ru takes a closer look at the nominees for the league’s Best Goalie award — the finalists are Semyon Vyazovoi (Salavat Yulaev), Daniil Isayev (Lokomotiv), and Nikita Serebryakov (Avangard).

Semyon Vyazovoi: the foundation of Salavat Yulaev’s success

During the 2024–2025 season, Semyon Vyazovoi was still considered a rookie in the KHL, but even then the Salavat Yulaev goalie played at a level that made it clear he had the potential to become an elite player. In 2025–2026, Semyon firmly established himself as Ufa’s undisputed starting goalie, while the November trade that sent Alexander Samonov to CSKA only strengthened Vyazovoi’s position within the club.

In the regular season, Vyazovoi played 53 games and recorded 27 wins, the third-best total in the league behind only fellow nominees Nikita Serebryakov (35) and Daniil Isayev (30).

In the playoffs, Vyazovoy’s performances became one of the key factors behind Salavat Yulaev’s first-round victory over Avtomobilist. He also started the series against Lokomotiv strongly, stopping 24 of 25 shots in Game One, but an injury prevented the netminder from fully helping his team throughout the matchup against the eventual champions.

Daniil Isayev: playoff MVP and Lokomotiv’s star

Vyazovoi’s Salavat Yulaev was eliminated from the playoffs by Lokomotiv, whose crease was brilliantly guarded by Daniil Isayev. The Yaroslavl netminder had already won the league’s Best Goaltender award in each of the previous two seasons (2024, 2025) and now has every chance to complete a remarkable hat trick.

In the regular season, Isayev did not simply play a lot as he played an enormous workload. In total ice time, he ranked second only to Amur’s Maxim Dorozhko (3304:10 against 3521:21). During the regular season, Daniil finished second in wins (30), goals-against average (1.89), and shutouts (7).

In the playoffs, the experienced postseason warrior showed his full class. It was not only about his five shutouts — the third-best total in a single playoff run — but also about the goalie’s mental strength. Time and again, he gave his team a chance even in the toughest moments.

Lokomotiv’s comeback in the difficult series against Avangard and the dramatic closing seconds of Game Six against Ak Bars were shaped in large part by Isayev’s performances. To cap it all off, he was named playoff MVP for the first time in his career.

Nikita Serebryakov: the wall in Avangard’s crease

Nikita Serebryakov won the league’s Best Goalie award in 2023, and in 2025 he was once again nominated, only to lose out to Daniil Isayev. Following the 2025–2026 season, Serebryakov has returned to the finalists’ trio — and fully deservedly so.

During the season, Nikita led the league in regular-season wins while posting strong numbers across every major goaltending category. He also finished as the league leader among goaltenders in assists with five.

Serebryakov remained outstanding in the playoffs as well, recording 11 wins in 17 games alongside a 93.6 save percentage, a 1.94 goals-against average, and two shutouts.

Combining both the regular season and playoffs, Serebryakov finished as the goalie with the highest number of saves in the league. Over 71 games, Nikita stopped 2,065 of 2,215 shots faced. For comparison, Isayev — despite playing seven more games — made 1,842 saves on 1,985 shots.

Notably, by the end of the full season, Isayev and Serebryakov were tied for the most wins overall, with 46 each.