As Murashov pointed out, all three of his training camps have been different.
At the first one, Murashov was still somewhat of an unknown. He spent time with Wheeling of the ECHL in the first half of the 2024-25 season, posting 13-game win streak that lasted from Nov. 6 to Jan. 8. It was the longest win streak by a goalie in Nailers history and the longest win streak by a rookie in ECHL history.
Murashov then posted a 12-3 record with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL, which included a 10-game win streak that set a team rookie record. Following the season, Penguins Assistant GM Jason Spezza said the sky is the limit for Murashov, but preached patience with his youth, the transition to a different game, and the overall depth at the position.
Management ultimately decided to send Murashov down after his second training camp, despite a terrific showing. Murashov admitted that at this time last year, “I was leaving this building not in a pleasant state,” but it didn’t show.
Penguins President of Hockey Operations and GM Kyle Dubas said Murashov didn’t sulk or complain, just attacked each day with his usual vigor, and was named the AHL’s Goaltender of the Month for October, which helped earn Murashov his first-ever call-up.
After debuting against Los Angeles in Pittsburgh, and recording his first career win and shutout against Nashville in Sweden, Murashov returned to WBS. He was named an AHL All-Star for the second time in as many years, and started all 15 of WBS’ games in the Calder Cup Playoffs. He posted a 2.11 goals-against average and .931 save percentage.
“Sergei, obviously, has been incredible, and I think he instills a lot of confidence in the rest of the team to go out and do what they need to do, and that he's gonna be there to back them up,” Penguins Director of Minor League Operations and WBS Assistant GM Amanda Kessel said.
“He's always been a pretty consistent guy and goalie in his approach. It's incredible to watch. But just even more so, you don't see it really many weak goals on him, and it's not often that he has back-to-back bad games. ... Every single day, he does everything possible to be the best, and he's just dialed in every drill, practice. ... He just tries to keep mastering his craft every day, and it's fun to watch.”
That is evident in how the cerebral Murashov, who is wise beyond his years, described his approach to this summer of training.
“After the season, I asked myself, all right, all the areas, how can I get better in every area, what can I do better,” Murashov said. “I had a lot of talks with coaches after the season. We kind of go through what we can do better, what we did well, what are my strengths, and basically, yeah, really productive work.”
He spent most of July on the ice dialing in the fundamentals, saying with a laugh that it was “so boring, but you have to do all this.” Off the ice, Murashov did yoga, calling it “a tremendous thing for mind, for body, for balance, for this connection.”
In August, Murashov continued grinding in the rink. He did a lot of video work with goalie coach Andy Chiodo. Murashov worked with Penguins consultant Dr. Kevin Wildenhaus on the sports psychology side. And he traveled to Minnesota to work on his hand-eye coordination with Josh Tucker of True Focus Vision.
Murashov truly did everything within his power to put himself in the best position possible for the 2026-27 season. Now, at his third camp, Murashov has a well-deserved opportunity to keep building toward the potential he has shown.
“But at the end of the day, it’s just one step, and the question is, what's going to be my next step?” Murashov said. “And just keep going, moving forward.”
