[Sandman]

LHD Dmitri Kuzmin,5'10"176lbs (Dinamo-Molodechno, Belarus): 46gp/3g/9a/12pts,30PIM, playing in the top men's league in Belarus-15th highest scoring defenseman, and the highest point-totals for a player under 18 by 8 points. He added 4pts in 6 playoff games, tied for fourth on the team. He was supposed to play this season for the Flint Firebirds. Really opened eyes at the U-18s, with 5pts in 5 games, 2nd on Team Belarus, and 6th highest scoring D in the tournament, ahead of such names as Behrens, Edvinsson, and Suomi. For his size, Kuzmin looks like a quality two-way defenseman, with speed and smarts.

Kuzmin is extremely mobile in all directions, and his edges are elite-he can change direction or speed very quickly. He has excellent acceleration, and lateral agility to shift lanes on the fly, and generates great quickness in his crossovers when walking the line in the offensive zone. Kuzmin's size keeps him from winning some battles, but he's fearless and aggressive enough to win his share. He's a master of deception and manpulation, and amazing at controlling time, space, pace, and pressure-he's good at drawing in attackers to open space for teammates and himself, and he can slow things down when he needs to. He's an excellent distributor, with vision and quick-thinking. He fearlessly jumps into the play and leads the rush. When on the PP, he walks the line, scanning for open lanes to pass or shoot. When not on the PP, he loves to pinch-none of his goals in international play came from the point, and 3 of those 4 were Michigan-Lacrosse style goals.

Kuz seems to look to always keep puck-possession for his team- in situations where the normal D-man would dump the puck, he looks for options for the pass, or he has no problem circling back to find a more suitable lane. Pressure in the neutral zone doesn't bother him- he passes through the pressure. Elusive in transition, and can complete zone exits with passes- he's a bit more daring playing against his own age group, as he's more likely to skate it zone to zone. He can struggle in zone entries sometimes, though. Defensively, he's an excellent slot defender with a fantastic stick. He cuts down open lanes, keeps attackers in low danger, and can trap them in the corners. Uses quality positioning and pressure, with great gap control down low. Recovers pucks with speed, and is great at breakout passes, even under forechecking pressure-will go behind the net, and slow things down, before finding the best option. He's good at stretch passes, but misses the mark sometimes.

Kuzmin has flawed puckhandling- he carries too far in front of his body, making it easier to take the puck from him. This must be fixed for the next level. In defensive transition, he concedes far too much space, and doesn't provide near enough pressure on attackers. In the offensive zone, he often will not take the necessary time to survey his options, and will shoot from everywhere, resulting in 45.3% of his shots being blocked. In addition, many of his passes become turnovers, although he's still considered a very reliable distributor. People see him as a 2nd/3rd pairing guy who will provide a team with a PP quarterback. 2nd/3rd round.