Zaglebie Sosnowiec has added a new goaltender to their squad. The team announced on Friday the signing of former CSKA Moskva goaltender Andrei Filonenko. Sosnowiec started the year with a young tandem but was rumored to be looking to add another goalie to the mix. The team was reportedly in on former Torun goalie Anton Svensson, even making an offer. Now they have a new Russian goalie that is looking to resurrect his career.

Andrei Filonenko is going to be the veteran of his younger partners in net but is only 26-years-old himself. The Moskva Russia native was developed in the CSKA Moskva system. In 2012, he led Russia’s top junior league, the MHL, in save percentage with a .942 mark. This earned him a spot on Russia’s U17 squad at the 2012 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge. Russia would defeat the United States in the final to win gold, but Filonenko only played in one game. His career continued to progress as he started to creep into the pro-ranks. His best year as a professional came in 2017. That season he managed a .937 SV% in the VHL, along with a .941 SV% in four KHL games. After that career year though injury problems would take their toll from 2018 to 2020, he would only play 29 games. The 6’5 goalie did not play anywhere in the 2020 or 2021 seasons. His first game in Sosnowiec will be his first in about 3 years.

Sosnowiec went with their young tandem again to start the year. While the team around them has been improved, starting goalie Michał Czernik has seen a slight decline in his numbers. Through 18 games this year, Sosnowiec has only been named the winner in five of them. Which is the second-lowest total in the league. When the team went out and made some bigger offseason additions they had to be hoping for better results. While there is risk associated with Filonenko, at one point he appeared to have a KHL future. We have seen import goalies able to steal games and improve a team’s standing pretty quickly in the PHL before.

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