The kid at 17 is already a very good rush defender in the KHL. Most of his deficiencies I’d be more than willing to chalk up to being a 17 year old playing in one of the best pro leagues in the world and being 6’7 at his age. He currently struggles with making quick enough decisions with the puck at the top level and panics a bit under pressure. He also loses board battles more than you’d expect. Pretty easy to think those might get better once he’s not a 17 year old playing in a top 3-4 pro league worldwide, and stops growing long enough to add strength.
Just saying it’s a pretty great bet a 17 year old playing well enough defensively to earn 18-19 minutes a night in the KHL probably will turn out great defensively, especially with his size and mobility.
I mean for one, unless your argument is that he’s the luckiest kid in KHL history, it probably does say something. But mostly, it’s not about his offensive potential, but mostly that he’s just frankly better than any other Russian defender was at his age. He’s the first 17 year old to play more than 30 games in the KHL in a season. Only three 18 year olds have played more than 50. This is why it bodes so well for his potential, at his age kids aren’t supposed to be nearly as good as he is.
As for his tools, the fact that he’s very mobile (and not just for his size, it’s probably his best trait), is a + passer and can make some great outlet passes, and has a pretty decent shot already considering he probably has atleast 25 pounds of muscle to add are all fantastic tools. His decision making is currently lacking, but as seen above considering he’s the only 17 year old to ever hang at this level for this long I’m sure it’s understandable why.
Now other than his points may be from lucky bounces, what do you see from him that screams limited offensive upside? If he hits, he impacts a game far more than any of the offensive defenseman in this draft. Give me the Weber, Doughty, Suter, Chara, Hedman (discounting his offense) archetype of 1D every day. The kind of player that just having them on the guarantees good results, and can babysit any partner you need while doing it.
By the way, I’m still very much team draft a forward. Especially with Helenius’ playoff play making it look like there’s a great chance one of Lindstrom or Catton falls to us. Silayev is just the only guy I wouldn’t be too mad if we chose him over other forwards.