Player Profile: Yevgeni Lisovets
2013 draft eligible (1994-11-12)
Height:6'0''\183 cm Weight: 196 lbs\89 kg
It looks like 18-year-old defenceman from Grodno has all the tools to turn into next first-pairing defenceman for the Belarusian national team.
Yevgeni made his debut in Belarusian highest hockey league, BOL, this past season. He had a really strong rookie campaign while playing in men's league, though playing for powerhouse Neman Grodno obviously didn't hurt him. He was receiving good amount of playing time, but his appearances in special teams were somewhat limited where head coach Kravchenko preferred to use more experienced guys. Nevertheless you can't blame Kravchenko even one little bit because it seemed he fully trusted his young talent who awarded his coach with a highest plus-minus in the team (+31) at the age of 18. This result stays at number 13 in the league plus-minus rankings vigorously beating everyone of age under-19.
BOL is not the strongest league by any means but still you can find some former NHL draft-picks playing there, players from top teams are arguably VHL- and KHL-caliber and you could also find there even a former Stanley Cup-winner in Afanasenkov who was playing for Gomel last season.
So it won't be exaggeration to say that it was quite an impressive season for a young gun from Grodno.
He continued his strong play in playoffs where Neman won a champoinship - their first in 14 years. Yevgeni had 5 points in 11 games (all assists) and +8 rating - good for the 3rd place in the league tying his teammate Andrei Korshunov.
He won the "Best Young Player Award"after the season which is given to the best player of BOL under the age of 20.
I watched Lisovets in person a few times while attending BOL games and friendly games of Belarusian national team.
From what I saw I would say that he is good stay-at-home defenceman with some offensive upside.
It was his first year in men's league and he used to playing at higher level very quickly. He looked solid almost all season long which is very rare for a guy of his age.
He makes good checks with his stick and uses his body when he needs to. It was a huge highlight of the game against another league powerhouse, Gomel, when Lisovets tried to stop Stefanovich' (former Leafs draft-pick) breakaway with a stick-check but realized that he couldn't poke the puck and threw a big hit instead which left Stefanovich (who weights 206 lbs) laying on the ice.
He is an above-average skater and joins the rush quickly. Yevgeni is playing good along the boards and is effective at the opposite blue line. He possesses a good hockey-IQ.
On the contrary to his performances for Neman he was quite nervous in his first game for national team and gave away some pucks, but in the following games he looked better, not so shaky, though still not better (but, to be honest, also not worse) than his experienced compatriots.
He's neither the biggest player on the ice (still it would be no surprise if he gains an inch) nor the smallest but it looks like he has this type of effort which helps to overcome the lack of size if it there - he's not afraid of bigger opponents.
So if there is a guy who could be drafted by NHL team from Belarus this year his name is Yevgeni Lisovets. Unfortunately for Belarusians, there is no second name to be called.
Evidently, there are not so many chances for him to get drafted, especially after national team head coach Skabelka has cut him from the team right before the World Championship thus depriving an opportunity for Yevgeni to play at the big tournament where he could catch the eyes of scouts. Though, there is still a little hope that his performance at World Juniors U-20 and U-18 attracted some attention.
He is not included in any of pre-draft lists but still i'm sure that he's better than half (at least) of those who are in.
He desperately needs to take his talent to a higher league (whether it's North-American leagues or bigger European including KHL; while BOL continue to degrade) in order to improve his game and become a player of NHL caliber which he can be.
2013-05-18
2013 draft eligible (1994-11-12)
Height:6'0''\183 cm Weight: 196 lbs\89 kg
It looks like 18-year-old defenceman from Grodno has all the tools to turn into next first-pairing defenceman for the Belarusian national team.
Yevgeni made his debut in Belarusian highest hockey league, BOL, this past season. He had a really strong rookie campaign while playing in men's league, though playing for powerhouse Neman Grodno obviously didn't hurt him. He was receiving good amount of playing time, but his appearances in special teams were somewhat limited where head coach Kravchenko preferred to use more experienced guys. Nevertheless you can't blame Kravchenko even one little bit because it seemed he fully trusted his young talent who awarded his coach with a highest plus-minus in the team (+31) at the age of 18. This result stays at number 13 in the league plus-minus rankings vigorously beating everyone of age under-19.
BOL is not the strongest league by any means but still you can find some former NHL draft-picks playing there, players from top teams are arguably VHL- and KHL-caliber and you could also find there even a former Stanley Cup-winner in Afanasenkov who was playing for Gomel last season.
So it won't be exaggeration to say that it was quite an impressive season for a young gun from Grodno.
He continued his strong play in playoffs where Neman won a champoinship - their first in 14 years. Yevgeni had 5 points in 11 games (all assists) and +8 rating - good for the 3rd place in the league tying his teammate Andrei Korshunov.
He won the "Best Young Player Award"after the season which is given to the best player of BOL under the age of 20.
I watched Lisovets in person a few times while attending BOL games and friendly games of Belarusian national team.
From what I saw I would say that he is good stay-at-home defenceman with some offensive upside.
It was his first year in men's league and he used to playing at higher level very quickly. He looked solid almost all season long which is very rare for a guy of his age.
He makes good checks with his stick and uses his body when he needs to. It was a huge highlight of the game against another league powerhouse, Gomel, when Lisovets tried to stop Stefanovich' (former Leafs draft-pick) breakaway with a stick-check but realized that he couldn't poke the puck and threw a big hit instead which left Stefanovich (who weights 206 lbs) laying on the ice.
He is an above-average skater and joins the rush quickly. Yevgeni is playing good along the boards and is effective at the opposite blue line. He possesses a good hockey-IQ.
On the contrary to his performances for Neman he was quite nervous in his first game for national team and gave away some pucks, but in the following games he looked better, not so shaky, though still not better (but, to be honest, also not worse) than his experienced compatriots.
He's neither the biggest player on the ice (still it would be no surprise if he gains an inch) nor the smallest but it looks like he has this type of effort which helps to overcome the lack of size if it there - he's not afraid of bigger opponents.
So if there is a guy who could be drafted by NHL team from Belarus this year his name is Yevgeni Lisovets. Unfortunately for Belarusians, there is no second name to be called.
Evidently, there are not so many chances for him to get drafted, especially after national team head coach Skabelka has cut him from the team right before the World Championship thus depriving an opportunity for Yevgeni to play at the big tournament where he could catch the eyes of scouts. Though, there is still a little hope that his performance at World Juniors U-20 and U-18 attracted some attention.
He is not included in any of pre-draft lists but still i'm sure that he's better than half (at least) of those who are in.
He desperately needs to take his talent to a higher league (whether it's North-American leagues or bigger European including KHL; while BOL continue to degrade) in order to improve his game and become a player of NHL caliber which he can be.
2013-05-18
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