2021 NHL Draft: Russian Prospects

It is time for the annual write-up on Russian draft-eligible prospects. Last year I had an impression that diving too deep in the details might be not the most entertaining way, so I'll try to make it shorter this time. We always can get into more details in the discussion though if there will be interest in that.



1. RW/LW Nikita Chibrikov
I'm not sure if I will be able to write something new about Chibrikov, so I'll just try to summarize it: I think very highly of his puckhandling ability, the other attacking tools are there too and also it is usually a really good sign when a young player produces on all levels of competition (even becoming the second youngest Team Russia goalscorer after Ovechkin). On the downside I'd say that he doesn't leave any "wow" impression, but maybe that isn't bad at all, also some improvements are needed in the all-around game.


2. RW Alexander Kisakov
Surprisingly even to myself I decided to place Kisakov that high, but when I was compiling this list I understood that I have no reason to not to do that. I actually seriously think that I haven't seen that kind of a shot in the MHL since Kucherov's days there. Additionally he was a big reason for the top Dynamo line's (aka the Bounty line) chemistry, so I tend to view him as a smart player too. Lower in most of the rankings due to modest size/skating combo, but I don't see it hurting him too much at least at this point.


3. C/LW Fyodor Svechkov
I like the smoothness of Svechkov's skating technique and his potential as an all-around player with almost no weaknesses (potential, not exactly the current ability though), but I have him only at third place in my ranking, as I'm not convinced he will be able to continue as center with his current level of physicality, I think he is lacking a bit there (although maybe that's just an impression comparing to the pros in the VHL) and if he moves to the wing permanently I'm not sure if he will be as effective as he is now.


4. LHD Daniil Chayka
Probably the most polarizing guy here, Chayka has the kind of a shot that you want your defenseman to have, impressive puck skills and has a very good skating stride which is amplified by his physical giftedness such as frame and reach. However, negatives are there too: needing to improve the understanding of the game as currently he is not too reliable, also in terms of skating he is not too agile and can often be caught flat-footed if he has to defend against faster opponents, to add to that the usage of his natural giftedness is something that should be worked on. So a lot of interesting tools and I sure hope he is able to get it all in the toolbox, but it's hard to ignore the risks here, as almost every area of his game needs improvements. As for me, I can't consider myself a fan of such type of players, that's why I have him ranked a bit lower here.


5. LHD Kirill Kirsanov
Kind of an antipode to Chayka, Kirsanov showed that he has very solid reliability for his age (not perfect though, but hard to ask for that at this point of development). Enjoys the physical game, has very solid overall skill and shot, but has got not the greatest skating, which limits the offensive potential, yet I think there is a ceiling of someone like Gavrikov, e.g. a solid core defenseman for the NHL.


6. W Prokhor Poltapov
A lot of fancy and exciting stuff here in Poltapov like ability to change pace, dangling at high speed, good shooting and passing abilities. All that is something that is able to generate the offense in its different forms out of nothing, but I had an impression that when he is without the puck he is unnoticeable at best and as for these fancy moves, I'm not convinced that it will work against the better defense.


7. LHD Vladislav Lukashevich
Those who think Chayka is too risky and Kirsanov is too boring should take a look at Lukashevich. Very impressive skating especially considering his size, confident with the puck, but overall is still a rather raw player. Needs to become better at defense and also really needs to add some more muscles, which makes him quite a longshot.


8. C Dmitri Zugan

Might need to explain myself here a bit why I have Zugan that high: I think it is very easy to overlook him due to the modest height, but if we take that factor out of the equation for a second then we'll see that there are a lot of things to like, particularly work rate, hockey sense and skating. Not extremely skilled, but is decent at that and when again looking at his size it can be noticed that he is actually pretty strongly built and doesn't mind things getting physical.


9. RHD Dmitri Kostenko
Kostenko is an attacking-minded defenseman, who is very good and creative at that part, with a great right-handed shot and solid strength, but as for everything else he still has a lot of work to invest, especially in his defensive awareness. Skating looks good, but not great, which might be an issue for the attacking part of his potential.


10. C/W Zakhar Bardakov
Very strong, relentless power forward with good motor, great at creating net-front presence. Despite the solid KHL production I'm not sure if I'd value Bardakov's offensive potential too high, as his skillset seems to be pretty mediocre and he keeps his game rather simple, but good hard workers like him are always welcome in hockey, including the NHL.


11. C/W Dmitri Katelevskiy
Similarly as with Bardakov, in Katelevskiy I see more of a naturally athletic hard-working type of a player with good mobility, as I don't think the overall skill level here is too high. On the other hand he has set the new U18 scoring record in the VHL this season and you got to have some attacking potential to do that, so I might be too harsh here.


12. LHD Artyom Grushnikov
Very hard to estimate where Grushikov is at this point in terms of development, as he didn't play all season long due to the cancellation of the OHL season, not to mention that some of his game's components raised questions already in the previous season. That results in some risk, still we probably can expect that the high-end mobility and physicality are still there, not sure about anything else though.


13. LHD Nikolai Makarov
Big kid, but doesn't look slow at all and even more than that I like Makarov's defensive awareness, had an impression that he plays pretty mature positional game, which is not something you see very often at this age. Not exactly sure if there's a lot of (if any) offensive potential though, but I think I saw him being at least not hopeless at puck control.


14. C Ilya Safonov
Safonov is really big and plays big too, also not afraid to work hard or go to the dirty areas. Good hands and passing ability, also I think his goalscoring ability is better than it might seem. The issue here is that he is lacking a bit in the skating department, maybe not too bad in shorter distance moves due to decent acceleration, but where it comes to the top speed it doesn't seem to be at the good level.


15. LHD Daniil Pylenkov
Every year there is a late-blooming kid, who starts showing what he's got only in his last year of the draft eligibility, this year it is Pylenkov. Last year I mentioned that he was solid on his own end, but was lacking offence and this season he has fixed that by earning more minutes and becoming the top scorer among KHL young defensemen. Aside from that there is great size, decent skating and puck control, also a powerful shot from the point, not sure if you need any more motivation to want your team to draft him.


16. LW Matvei Petrov
Size/skating combination, good skills and a right-handed shot — these are the strengths of Petrov, but his performance at the U18 World Championships made me seriously questioning his intensity level and competitiveness, as he got deservingly scratched there. Still those might be just "growing pains" though.


17. LHD Vasili Machulin
So much power in Machulin's shot it is just amazing (not in a good way for the shot blockers though). Very good frame, pretty mobile, doesn't seem to make a lot of mistakes in his own end. What I don't like though is his puck skills — he makes me nervous every time he holds onto the puck for too long. P.S. Don't trust eliteprospects on this one, he is not right-shooting.


18. LW Ilya Fedotov
Fedotov is the "not my cup of tea" of this year's draft, as I see some very good skating and puck skills, but not that much of anything else to rank him high. Apparently scouts don't agree with me, so it might be just me though.


19. C Ilya Ivantsov
I always value natural playmakers like Ivantsov, as the quality puck distribution takes some good hockey sense, vision and instincts, which are almost impossible to teach. Also a good amount of skill is there, but with all that being said I had an impression that overall his skating is a bit slower than it should be, which is an obvious concern.


20. C Kirill Kondyrev
Another hard-working, responsible center with good motor and natural athleticism is Kondyrev. He might seem to be kind of too straightforward in terms of his attacking style, but he got solid goalscoring and passing abilities.


21. C Nikita Guslistov
I really like Guslistov and hope he will succeed, as he is mobile, skilled, got very good hockey sense and recently set the record as the youngest KHL hat-trick scorer (among Russian players), but being a smallish center is always a significant risk in my eyes.


22. GK Yegor Guskov

Yes, an undersized goalie here in Guskov, yet I don't think anyone can argue that he was clearly the best goalie in the MHL this season, which is impressive since it is his first full-time season there, so there might be something good.


23. RW/LW Nikita Buruyanov
Again a guy, who works hard and intense and really can't stop moving his feet here, although Buruyanov also has a very solid goalscoring ability too. Main concern here might be some inconsistency and streakiness.


24. LHD Kirill Steklov
Steklov got more than enough size, very interesting puck skills, also he doesn't seem to be too slow. Some good progress comparing to the previous season, particularly at the defensive end, but he is still pretty raw.


25. C Daniil Lazutin
Defensively responsible center, athletic, with good wheels and shot, yet something just wasn't clicking this season, particularly on the offense. Lazutin was really impressive in the previous season though, so it might be that it's the pandemics to blame and it will be different next year.


26. W/C Danil Alalykin
Somehow it looks like every time I see Alalykin on the ice, he is doing something the right way. Can't call him the most naturally gifted player if talking about size and skating, but with that kind of playing style good things can happen.


27. GK Maxim Motorygin
Motorygin has modest size, but is really quick and can win games for his team when he is at his best, but to see some more consistency here would be really nice.


28. LHD Danila Galenyuk
In the first half of this season I was impressed with Galenyuk and hoped that finally it is a breakout year for him, but the second half of the season wasn't that good. Still a lot of power in his game, but waiting for him to get his game to the next level has taken a bit too long now.


29. C/W Maxim Sorkin
Sorkin has found his way to the KHL powerhouse's CSKA roster on the 4th line grinding role and was pretty good at that, also named among the top KHL rookies this season. Not too much of a big deal, but still a good achievement for someone his age, maybe it will be getting more interesting as he will get more opportunities.


30. C Vsevolod Gaidamak

Basically everything that I've written about Lazutin applies to Gaidamak too — similar type of players and similarly bad seasons, so let's just hope that it is just that kind of year and it is not too indicative rather than some sort of development issues being there.


31. RHD Daniil Sobolev
Almost the same situation as with Grushnikov here, as Sobolev didn't play this season due to the cancellation of the OHL season, so his draft stock is mainly consisting of raw tools: skating, strength and right-handedness.


32. RW Ivan Didkovskiy
Didkovskiy is a natural goalscorer with good physical strength, clearly started playing with more intensity this year, but still there's a lot of things to improve in his all-around game.


33. C/RW Danil Aimurzin
Very good vision and playmaking abilities here, Aimurzin was also able to translate those to the VHL, but I still have doubts about his skating.


34. W Andrei Bakanov
Looks like Bakanov improved his mobility and became much more aggressive this season, shot and power were always there, still I'm not fully convinced that his skating won't be a limiting factor, even though the good size somewhat compensates that.


35. GK Semyon Vyazovoy
Vyazovoy has a very intriguing combination of size, athleticism and lateral mobility, but I just think that sometimes he lets the puck in too often in the situations where he shouldn't. So the NHL potential might be there, but I'm not a huge fan of such raw goalies, maybe there can be something good long-term though.


36. W/C Alexei Pustozyorov
Pustozyorov is a good skater, added some power before the season and was very good in the VHL, but was a bit too slow adjusting to the KHL level of speed and intensity, which is worrying, even though the stint there was quite short.


37. LHD Daniil Zaitsev
Had very high hopes for Zaitsev coming into this season, as I liked what he is doing on both ends of the ice, but, as it often happens, injury occurred at the wrong time.


38. LW Yaroslav Likhachyov
Before the season I thought that it might be a chance for a breakout year for Likhachyov, but unfortunately an injury got in the way and left him out of the WJC. Still it wasn't a bad season for him and he definitely didn't lose his high-end skill.


39. W/C Yeremei Shumilin
Really like Shumilin's skills and creativity, yet this season for him is just something to forget about.


40. LW/RW Alexander Agapov
Agapov looks very interesting and dynamic with the puck and has a good right-handed shot, but had limited opportunities in the VHL this season.



Honorable mentions, or possibly it is better to call it "limited viewings" in some way — I don't feel I've seen enough of these players (and by "enough" I don't mean only the number of games), but there might be something interesting. So yeah, it's more of a "maybe, but not convinced" list, ranked in some way too for the purposes of having more fun.


41. GK Arseni Sergeyev
42. W/C Mikhail Goryunov-Rolgizer
43. LW Nikita Dishkovskiy
44. LHD Daniil Kuzmin
45. C Kirill Melnichenko
46. W/C Pavel Tyutnev
47. LHD Nikita Novikov
48. LHD Filat Zotov
49. LHD Alexander Figurin
50. GK Platon Zadorozhnyi


51. RW Yegor Kuzminov
52. C/W Danil Bashkirov
53. W Dmitri Buchelnikov
54. RW Matvei Nadvornyi
55. RHD Maxim Fedotov
56. W Ignat Kokhanin
57. GK Zakhar Vinogradov
58. C Vasili Atanasov
59. GK Vsevolod Skotnikov
60. LHD Artyom Kulakov


61. W Ilya Rychkov
62. LHD Ilya Mironov
63. LHD Yegor Savikov
64. GK Kirill Gerasimyuk
65. RW Semyon Demidov
66. LHD Gleb Ivanov
67. LHD Yaroslav Busygin
68. W Ivan Vorobyov
69. LHD Alexei Yegorov
70. RHD Bogdan Krokhalyov




As usually any questions, comments, your own opinions on the topic or maybe even your own rankings are welcome.

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