Egor Barabanov

September 2026 – Egor Barabanov is the rare draft pick who arrives with a 91-point junior season already on the resume. The Calgary Flames took the St. Petersburg-born center 100th overall as a double overager, and Scott Wheeler of The Athletic tabbed him the top overage prospect in the class after he finished fourth in Ontario Hockey League scoring, second in assists, with 28 goals and 63 assists in 68 games for the Saginaw Spirit. He is a pass-first playmaker who keeps his feet moving and controls the wall, and he reads the ice a beat ahead of the play. He can also finish off the wrist shot when the lane opens. The skepticism is real: he is not a dynamic skater for his size, and the production came in a third-eligibility season against younger competition, so the University of Massachusetts freshman year is the true test of whether the offense scales. For fantasy he is a playmaking middle-six bet whose points came from setup rather than shot volume. If the skill translates at UMass he is a genuine steal, but the age curve compresses his window, so treat him as a deep-league monitor whose NCAA start dictates any add. Andrew Epps