The Ducks have signed goaltender Vyacheslav Buteyets to a two-year entry-level contract beginning in the 2024-25 NHL season.
Buteyets, 21 (5/29/02), posted a 40-32-6 record with four shutouts, a 2.36 goals-against average (GAA) and .923 save percentage (SV%) in 81 career games from 2021-24 with Chelmet Chelyabinsk of the VHL, Russia’s second division. The 6-4, 185-pound goaltender made his KHL debut this season with Traktor Chelyabinsk, appearing in one game in Russia’s top division.
Selected by Anaheim in the sixth round (178th overall) of the 2022 NHL Draft, Buteyets went 16-18-0 with one shutout, a 2.57 GAA and .913 SV% in 35 VHL games this season with Chelmet. He ranked 10th in minutes among league goaltenders and was third in wins among goalies 21-and-under.
A native of Chelyabinsk, Russia, Buteyets had an 18-12-4 record with three shutouts, a 2.11 GAA and a .933 SV% in 35 games in 2022-23 with Chelmet. He led all second division goaltenders 21 and younger in wins, shutouts and appearances, and ranked second in GAA and third in SV%. Among all VHL goaltenders, he ranked in the top-10 in wins (sixth), SV% (seventh) and shutouts (10th).
