The Division 1 men’s college hockey player has more roads to take to campus than ever.
Entering the 2025-26 season, a look at the crop of goaltenders stopping pucks for teams around New England proves that. Some top programs have seen a changing of the guard in the crease over the past year, but there likely will be freshmen and veterans, transfers and CHL imports alike holding down the position.
Although the region lost its top man in the crease a year ago in Boston College’s Jacob Fowler, several goalies listed below look to become mainstays in the year ahead.
Arriving on campus from far and wide, here’s a look at the top goalies we’ll be following around the region.
Albin Boija
Maine | Junior
With Fowler gone to the Montreal Canadiens after rewriting record books over two seasons at Boston College, Boija is Hockey East’s top returning goaltender — and he’s fresh off a conference championship run and an invite to Boston Bruins development camp to boot. The native Swede took the position for good in January of his freshman season and has not looked back, having gone 23-8-6 while ranking fifth nationally with a 1.82 goals-against average last season. Who was the Black Bears’ last All-American before Boija? That would be Jeremy Swayman in 2020.
Mikhail Yegorov
Boston University | Sophomore
Yegorov joined the Terriers from the USHL’s Omaha Lancers in the second semester last season, playing his first game at sold-out Boston College. Just weeks later, the Russian-born goalie made 43 saves against the Eagles to lead his new team back to Beanpot glory. The 6-foot-5 Yegorov started BU’s final 18 games, posting an 11-6-1 record and .927 save percentage, which ranked top 10 in the country. Thrust into pressure-packed situations, he gave the Terriers the ultimate confidence. Now with a new season dawning, it seems like the sky is the limit for the second-round pick of the New Jersey Devils.
Michael Hrabal
Massachusetts | Junior
Just two years into his UMass career, Hrabal is setting up to leave quite an imprint on the program — and not just because of his 6-foot-7 frame. He has been a Hockey East All-Star in back-to-back seasons, including as a sophomore when he overcame a few rough outings early to post a .924 save percentage and win 19 games. He had four games with 40 or more saves, amassing the second-highest save total in a single season in program history (1,028). The Czech native is a touted Utah Mammoth prospect, as he was drafted in the second round (38th overall).
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Ajeet Gundarah
Sacred Heart | Sophomore
Freshman seasons tending nets at the Division 1 level can’t go much better than Gundarah’s. No Sacred Heart goalie of any age has ever had a better year, despite it not starting until November after he recovered from a summer injury. The British Columbian’s fourth-in-the-nation .936 save percentage and 1.90 goals-against average set school records, helping him garner third-team All-Atlantic Hockey honors. He allowed two or fewer goals in 19 outings and had a 55-save performance in a double-overtime playoff game against Air Force in March.
Matej Marinov and Dylan Silverstein
Quinnipiac | Juniors
The top team in the ECAC Hockey standings all season last winter, Quinnipiac returns both its experienced and now-tested goaltenders with hopes of chasing down another Cleary Cup. That’s quite a good problem to have for coach Rand Pecknold (Bedford, N.H.) and company. All told, Silverstein started eight more games, but the Slovakian-born Marinov saw most of the playoff run and posted a conference-best .928 save percentage while going from mid-November until ECAC Hockey Championship Weekend in Lake Placid (11 starts) without a loss.
Lawton Zacher
Northeastern | Junior
A familiar face in a new place this season, Zacher has taken his talents from Brown to Northeastern and figures to replace fellow two-year starter Cameron Whitehead, who signed with Vegas following his sophomore year. The Buffalo native is coming off an especially strong sophomore campaign in which he won 14 games, including two shutouts in the first half of the schedule. Zacher improved his year-over-year goals-against average (2.91 to 2.48) and save percentage (.909 to .917) while facing 30 or more shots in half of his outings.
Philip Svedeback
Providence | Senior
Though he hails from Vaxjo, Sweden, Svedeback has been on the radar of New England hockey fans for a long time as a fourth-round draft pick of the Boston Bruins in 2021. Last season was an interesting one for Svedeback, as he shared the net for the first time in his Friar career following the arrival of Merrimack transfer Zachary Borgiel. He wound up with a career-best .911 save percentage and won the job outright late in the season as Providence made its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2019.
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Austin Elliott
UMass Lowell | Freshman
If you’re looking for a newcomer to get excited about, Elliott could be your man. The 21-year-old is coming off an incredible CHL career over which he went 110-24-5, including 32-1 during a Memorial Cup-winning season for the OHL’s London Knights. He spent two years with the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades but landed on waivers after just three starts last season. Saskatoon’s loss was London’s gain, as he wound up posting a league-leading .924 save percentage during the regular season before embarking on a 16-1 playoff run for an uber-talented Knights squad.
