I may be totally wrong…. But don’t they keep like 4 goalies per team and rotate them in the KHL? He bounced around because they were starting others over him until he landed at Torpedo….he went so long in between starts and then didn’t play well with all the time off and then didn’t get another start for even longer in between in the viscous circle… But he was still in a rotation even with Torpedo I believe and had to earn a higher number of the starts and make the coach go with the hot hand…. But he still went stretches of not playing as they gave all the others some work….. not sure he would play more games in KHL than he would here in AHL… and maybe the cutthroat nature of how starts are given would help his development? If he is more comfortable over there and that’s what he wants to do maybe I guess that’s the better option… otherwise I’m not sure playing on the smaller ice and getting used to NA hockey wouldn’t be better for him given where he is in his development window…
I saw a translated interview (maybe even in this thread or the prospects thread??) where he openly admitted he didn’t feel ready for North American hockey and was glad they loaned him back to the KHL… he seemed reticent for the big move… and I’m sure it’s got to be scary to be in a completely new country with extremely limited language skills…. hopefully his success in the AHL and now up here in his cup of coffee will do wonders to his confidence to make him feel like he can really do it….
Really depends on the team, not any different from the NHL, some will ride a clear starter, some will go 1a/1b, etc. Pyotr jumped around teams early on because he was young and didn't have much of a track record of success and was behind other better young players and solid vets who had earned it. It took him a while to get to a team that would give him a real shot. Once he finally got it with Torpedo he took the bull by the horns and was proving to be one of the most promising goalies in the entire league.
He struggled a lot early in the year in the starts he was given and because Torpedo was trying to contend they, like the other teams, went more with a solid established vet in Tikhomirov, that's the reason he was in a "rotation" with Torpedo. By the time he got more playing time and strung together great starts and was having success he became the clear starter, and frankly the main draw for that franchise.
Yes there could be the risk of him struggling in the K and getting put back more into a rotation but from comments from the Torpedo organization they definitely viewed him as their star goalie and a clear starter. It's not an exact science and I'm no expert on goaltending or prospect development, but my opinion is that the KHL is the best place for goalies to develop lately. Like I said in a previous post, I don't feel super strongly about it and there are definitely benefits to the AHL. My main concern there though is just that he would certainly have to share the crease with Mak (who is also very promising for us) and that could be to the detriment of both of them.
