LD Anton Silayev - Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod, KHL (2024 draft)

[montreal]

 

[coooldude]

He had a couple good play shut-downs, but also got dumped in the corner twice by small-ish wings. A lot of the game it looked like he was trying to get the puck off his stick as quickly as possible... in the third, two nice rushes ended up in uncontrolled entries (one dump, one long-range unserious shot on goal that resulted in change of possession). On the final goal, he misread the D zone, gave the shooter too much space playing to defend a slot pass that wasn't a threat, and paid for it.

Overall the guy has the body and skates smoothly for his size but not an inspiring game particularly as this was the MHL.

 

[WeThreeKings]

2nd overall in Pronman's latest rankings, first player in his 2nd tier (tier 1 is obviously Celebrini)

 

[montreal]

solid game from him today defensively. It's almost shift by shift of Silayev.

 

[coooldude]

solid game from him today defensively. It's almost shift by shift of Silayev.

Solid positionally in both zones, seemed more confident on zone entries, play in the O zone, joining the rush, and also carrying the puck out of the zone. As the game went on, still a bit too quick to get the puck off his stick and he was lucky not to be responsible for 1-2 goals against because of turnovers where he could have taken a beat to make a better decision on a puck retrieval in the D zone. Better than the last game.

 

[majormajor]

Better than the last game.

The MHL game that @montreal posted on March 11th had me thinking about taking Silayev out of my top 10. Silayev seems to have found his bearings now. His recovery ability and the area of space he controls with his stick is amazing. And I thought the puck decisions in this latest one were mostly very good - nothing high end with the puck but smart and often patient.

 

[Goldenhands]

Impressive showing, the knee injury seems to be history. That Silayev will go very high, I have him as my favorite defenseman of this draft.

 

[coooldude]

Impressive showing, the knee injury seems to be history. That Silayev will go very high, I have him as my favorite defenseman of this draft.

I thought he looked very positionally sound and used his size well. His mobility continues to be mind boggling given his size. Showed high straight line speed on one backcheck.

On the downside, he gets tunnel vision nearly every time he touches the puck and locks onto his first read. When that's the right read, he made a few good to great outlet passes or plays on the o zone, but when it's not the right read (which it often isn't in hockey) he seems to force it anyway. Maybe that's coachable or maybe it comes with confidence. If he were better on the puck he'd be clear #2OA in my opinion. Since he's not, plus the three year contract, I'm guessing he could fall to 4-6 or so.

 

[Goldenhands]

I thought he looked very positionally sound and used his size well. His mobility continues to be mind boggling given his size. Showed high straight line speed on one backcheck.

On the downside, he gets tunnel vision nearly every time he touches the puck and locks onto his first read. When that's the right read, he made a few good to great outlet passes or plays on the o zone, but when it's not the right read (which it often isn't in hockey) he seems to force it anyway. Maybe that's coachable or maybe it comes with confidence. If he were better on the puck he'd be clear #2OA in my opinion. Since he's not, plus the three year contract, I'm guessing he could fall to 4-6 or so.

Keep in mind thats a 6'7 kid who hasnt filled out yet, he is still growing into his body, once he gains more strength, the synchronism will be even better.

 

[coooldude]

Keep in mind thats a 6'7 kid who hasnt filled out yet, he is still growing into his body, once he gains more strength, the synchronism will be even better.

Yes, absolutely, it's why he's a top prospect. I'm just saying he has a long way to go to make NHL plays with the puck.

 

[WarriorofTime]

I thought he looked very positionally sound and used his size well. His mobility continues to be mind boggling given his size. Showed high straight line speed on one backcheck.

On the downside, he gets tunnel vision nearly every time he touches the puck and locks onto his first read. When that's the right read, he made a few good to great outlet passes or plays on the o zone, but when it's not the right read (which it often isn't in hockey) he seems to force it anyway. Maybe that's coachable or maybe it comes with confidence. If he were better on the puck he'd be clear #2OA in my opinion. Since he's not, plus the three year contract, I'm guessing he could fall to 4-6 or so.

With that size and mobility, you cannot let this guy be around by the end of the top 10 even though I agree the limited offensive ability likely keeps him out of the top three.