The Blue Jackets have announced the signing of goalie prospect Sergei Ivanov. It felt like it would never happen, but here we are. They have signed Sergei Ivanov to a two-year ELC.  Ivanov is expected to spend the 2026-27 season in the Kontinental Hockey League before playing in North America, per the CBJ. His ELC runs through the 2028 season. 

Ivanov was drafted in the 2022 NHL Draft as the 138th overall pick. In that draft they also took Denton Mateychuk, Luca Del Bel Belluz, Jordan Dumais, along with Ivanov. 

Back in March, ESPN's Rachel Kryshak reported that Don Waddell told her that "the organization believes Ivanov is ready, and he confirmed his intention to come to North America when his KHL contract expires after this season."

Seems like Waddell knew what he was talking about. 

Per Don Waddell, “We are thrilled to sign Sergei to an entry level contract,” said Waddell. “He possesses great quickness and agility, along with sound positional play, and has performed exceptionally well as a very young goaltender in the KHL over the past four seasons.”

Ivanov played mainly in the KHL this past season for SKA St. Petersburg. For SKA, he went 13-11-2, with a GAA of 2.50 and a SV% of .928. He recorded three shutouts as well. He also spent some time with SKA-VMF St. Petersburg of the VHL, which is Russia's second-tier league. He went 1-4-1 with a SV% of .935%. Ivanov has been making starts in Russia's top league since 2022.

In the playoffs for SKA, he went 1-1-0 with a SV% of .938. 

The Monsters will also have youngsters Evan Gardner and Nolan Lalonde in the mix as well. They also signed vet Pheonix Copley.

Elvis Merzlikins is going into the final year of his contract, and this could very well be his last season with the club. Jet Greaves and Sergei Ivanov could very well be your goalie tandem in Columbus in 2027. 

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