Prospect Update: Vyacheslav Buteyets

By Thomas Harrington

The Anaheim Ducks selected goaltender Vyacheslav Buteyets in the sixth round of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, 178th overall. He spent the past season playing in both the VHL and KHL.

Buteyets primarily played for Chelmet Chelyabinsk of the VHL last season and was their starter. He played in 35 games for them and had a record of 16-18, a 2.57 goals against average, a .913 save percentage, and one shutout. He was also called up to the KHL in December and played in one game for Traktor Chelyabinsk but lost the game. His best game was probably in November when he stopped 56 of 57 shots in a 3-1 win. Chelmet wasn’t a great team and they missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2019-2020 season.

I had three expectations for Buteyets, but he was only able to meet one of them. First, I wanted him to match or better his goaltending numbers from the 2022-2023 season. Unfortunately his goals against average rose from 2.11 to 2.57 and his save percentage dropped from .933 to .913. Part of this is because he wasn’t playing behind a good team, but even with that in mind, I would have preferred to not see his numbers slip so much. Second, after losing all the playoff games the year before, I was hoping he would pick up some postseason wins this year. Instead, Chelmet missed the postseason. Finally, I wanted him to make his KHL debut. I was hoping for more than one game, but by getting that one game he passed this expectation

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To my surprise, Buteyets has already signed his entry-level deal with the Ducks and will be coming to North America this coming season. I had thought he would spend at least another year or two in Russia before coming stateside. He’s not going to be in the NHL this year. Even with Gage Alexander traded, there will be a fight for playing time in San Diego, as both Tomas Suchanek and Calle Clang are returning from last season. Buteyets will probably end up seeing time in both the AHL and ECHL. Depending on how he develops and what happens in Anaheim’s crease, Buteyets could have a shot at making his NHL debut sometime in the next two to three years.

Given the competition among Anaheim’s prospect goaltenders this coming year, I don’t want to set expectations too high for Buteyets. I really only have one expectation for him: regardless of where he plays, I just want him to put up solid numbers. He doesn’t need to match what he did in the VHL in the 2022-2023 season. Given that he’ll be on a new team and on a new continent, I’ll be happy with him having a similar season to what he did last year. While the VHL is certainly not directly comparable to the AHL or ECHL, all three are developmental leagues, meaning that teams are usually going to have more defensive lapses than the KHL or NHL.

Buteyets’ two-year entry-level contract will begin this year and he’ll be a restricted free agent when it’s over. Of the three goaltenders who will be in the AHL and ECHL next season, only Suchanek is signed for longer than Buteyets is. Given how volatile a position goaltending is and that it usually takes goaltenders longer to develop, I think the Ducks are likely to re-sign him in two years. 

The next prospect update will be on forward Nikita Nesterenko.

Related Articles:

Graduated Prospect: Leo Carlsson

Graduated Prospect: Drew Helleson

Prospect Update: Jaxsen Wiebe

Prospect Update: Tyson Hinds

Prospect Update: Carey Terrance

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August 16th, 2024