[Sandman]

Draft Thoughts (Russian Edition):

Around the start of the current season, and before, C/RW Yegor Surin was knocked for his size, being listed at 5'10", and had some detractors who expressed concern that his smaller stature might keep him out of the NHL. These days, the narrative has changed for the most part, as he's being listed at 6'1",190lbs, and is praised for his blend of size and mobility. Perhaps the discrepancy is due to the fact that Western media and scouts don't have the same access to Russian prospects as they once did. At any rate, Surin is one of the younger players in this Draft, with an August.1st birthday, and is 5th overall in scoring for the MHL (Russia's highest Junior League) currently, with 46 points in 37 games, to go with 104 PIMs, and a +31. He's had a brief cup o' vodka in the KHL, playing 3 games with no points.
Surin is a big, skilled center who plays a passionate 200-ft game, and has high-end IQ and vision- always skating with his head up to get the lay of the land, and select the next move in his methodical attack. He has excellent straight-line speed that allows him to separate from opponents, put them on their heels, and push the pace. Scouts gush about his elite puck control, and his smooth handling at top speed, that along with his air-tight puck-protection, gives him the ability to attack high-pressure areas. Surin has that inate ability to detect open spaces that others don't see, and the ability to draw defenders to him, thus creating conduits to get the puck through to teammates in high-danger. With his skills, speed, and handling, he is a play driver who finds the seams in open ice, and controls the pace with his ability to outskate and outmanouver opponents- and he can weave through layers of traffic. He's a balanced attacker who can make plays, but also has a great snap-shot that he can pick corners with, and slick hands in tight. Surin plays with an edge, and a very large chip on his shoulder, as his 104 penalty minutes demonstrate. He's always physically engaged, and loves to stir it up- he's an agitator and a pest who gets involved in every post-whistle scrum. One of the big knocks against Surin is his penchant for taking bad penalties. Surin forechecks and backchecks with equal ferocity, getting in the face of puck-carriers, lifting sticks, stealing possession, and applying physical pressure. He uses his stick quite well in separating man from puck. He has his head on a swivel going into the corners to retrieve pucks, in order to map out his next move.
Some still worry that his offense might not translate to the NHL, and others say he needs work on his lateral mobility in order to achieve more elusiveness. I think he'll make a great middle-6 player in the NHL, and I think he'll get picked in the 2nd/3rd round.

LHD Matvei Shuravin has been listed as an "A" by Central Scouting, betrothed to be a first-round pick- but perhaps they jumped the gun a bit. Shuravin has played this season in the MHL (7 points in 22 games to date), the VHL (0 points in 5 games to date), and even the KHL (2 points in 10 games to date), but has not registered a goal as yet. He's a 6'3",195lb defensive D-man with mobility, who plays huge minutes against other teams' top players, and keeps chances low. He has looked impressive playing against men in the KHL and VHL.
Shuravin plays a mature shutdown game with great awareness of where to be, has proactive positioning that can kill rushes as early as the neutral zone, and stops plays before they develop. He can snuff zone entries with preventative awareness. He has a built-in understanding of angles and gaps- he smothers opponents along the boards, and uses his long reach to to strip pucks with well-timed poke checks. He's reliable, with top-tier defensive acumen and smarts, who picks off passes, and blocks shots.
Shuravin's offensive game, by contrast, is virtually non-existent at this point- he doesn't really venture that far inside the opposing team's blueline, although strangely enough, he's a bit less conservative in the higher leagues as his MHL team is not very good. There, he's been seen to pinch the odd time, but he otherwise doesn't try too much offensively. He's a fine distributor from the blueline, keeps the puck in the zone, can make the odd crafty pass to high danger, and he also has a bomb of a shot- which he definitely doesn't use enough. Shuravin has some offensive acumen that comes in flashes, and usually doesn't show up on a stats sheet. He's capable of making a simple first-pass, and can pass the puck in transition.
Shuravin could still get taller, as he's only 17, and his Father is 6'6". He's still developing physically, and needs to get stronger, fill out, and get faster. He's also quite raw, and some of his puck skills are below average- he bobbles passes, fumbles pucks, and makes ill-advised passes in the D-zone under pressure. I don't think he'll get near the first round, or the second, but most likely the third round of the Draft.

6'3",201lb RW Matvei Babenko hasn't put together the kind of season that was expected of him. In 2022-23, he had a pretty good draft-minus-1 year, with 22 goals and 32 points in 40 MHL games, for a ppg of .80, but has only mustered 10 points in 16 games this year, for a ppg of .63. He also put up 8 points in 10 playoff games last season. Granted, he has played 18 games in the VHL, with 3 points, and 8 games in the KHL, with 1 point. With numbers like he posted last year, he should be dominating play at the MHL level, although his team, Tolpar Ufa, is not as good as they were last season.
Babs is a huge winger who is involved in all facets of the game, specializes in goal-scoring, and has one of the best shots amongst Russia's crop of draft-eligibles this year. He recognizes how to open space and exploit it, and can make plays under pressure. I think he takes a bit too much flack for his skating- don't get me wrong, he's not fast, but he keeps up to the play, and doesn't fall behind. He is guilty though, of coasting too much, and not keeping his feet moving. There's plenty of work needed to improve his acceleration, agility, and top-speed. Babenko plays a physical brand of hockey, protects the puck well, and battles to win pucks in the greasy areas and in front of the net. He uses his size to his advantage, and finishes his checks. When he goes to the net-front, he's virtually impossible to move- and he has soft hands in tight. Defensively, he works hard, stops plays with his physicality, and blocks lanes with an active stick. In short, most of Babenko's game hovers around average, and he's not supremely fast or skilled- the only quality that stands out is his shot. I'm going to guess 4th /5th round.

RHLW Igor Chernyshov is a big (6'2",192lb) power-forward who can generate offense from anywhere in the zone, and can play all 3 forward positions. He currently sits 8th in the MHL for MHK Dynamo Moskva in ppg (1.33), with 24 points in 18 games, and is also currently 13th in the KHL for players 18-and-under with 4 points in 31 games. He's a bit older, with a November 30th birthday.
Chernyshov is a smooth skater, with big-time acceleration that is fun to watch. He can control the pace of the game at top speed, and is adept at creating off the rush- either by dishing, or by attacking the middle. He's good at making plays around the net, from behind it, or in front. Chernyshov goes to the net to clean up rebounds and cash-in on tips, but he likes to shoot from the slot- he has an excellent shot with a quick release than can freeze goalies. Many of his goals are of the one-touch variety- from being in the right place, at the right time, thanks to his clever off-puck game. He leans a bit towards playmaking though, and possesses plenty of creativity, and a top-tier IQ. In transition, he uses give-and-go's to increase the pressure on defenders, and drives play- carrying with his head up to map out his surroundings. He's unnaturally strong, and will use his size and wingspan to outmuscle opponents, or he'll bully them along the boards to strip them of possession. He's physical, and can hit hard, but needs to do it more often. Chernyshov is an impressive 1-on-1 player, with lateral mobility to criss-cross the ice quickly, and the moves to go around, or through them. The puck sticks to him with his sublime puck-control, and virtually impregnable puck-protection skills. He plays with plenty of energy, has a solid work-ethic, and high motor.
As one can tell, Chernyshov may be a high-octane offensive player, but is somewhere in the vicinity of average defensively- he's a bit passive, and doesn't have the same zeal in his own zone. He doesn't participate in his team's penalty-kill, either. He's still a bit raw, and needs some time to develop. In addition, I've read that he's got chronic shoulder injury issues- which may be of concern to teams wanting to draft him. He's a first-round talent for sure, but I wonder if he'll have to wait until the second round to hear his name called, due to the Russian factor and the shoulder.

Unlike most Russian prospects his age, 5'11",187lb winger Nikita Artamonov has played most of his hockey this season to date against men in the KHL with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod, putting up an impressive 19 points in 46 games, putting him 3rd in the league for U-20 players. His numbers put him ahead of already drafted Russians- names like Daniil But, Roman Kantserov, Timur Mukhanov, and Yegor Rimashevsky. He's a bit older, with a November 17th birthday, but plays in Torpedo's top-six and PP, at the tender age of 18. Artamonov is having the third-best season ever for a draft-eligible player from the KHL, behind only Tarasenko and Michkov.
Artamonov is a dynamic, hyper-skilled winger, with near-elite IQ and vision, who is always in the thick of the play, attacking high danger areas. He processes the play quicker than most, and exhibits spatial awareness- if there's no seams available for a play, he'll open them. He's a dangerous playmaker, perhaps elite, and makes quick decisions- he doesn't need to hold the puck long. Instead, he pushes pace by moving the puck quickly, and is very aggressive. He uses the same technique in transition, with give-and-go's to push pace and manipulate defenders into giving up the space to make a controlled entry. He's a smooth skater with the shiftiness to throw off attackers, and gets around quite easily. He is a tenacious forechecker, applying immense pressure on defenders to create turnovers and disrupt plays, and battles in the hard areas with bigger, older players. Artie is relentless in puck-pursuit, and a pest to opponents, giving them fits with his high motor- he is often noticed as the hardest working player on the ice. Shooting isn't his main choice of weapon, but he has good hands in tight, and doesn't need much space to unleash a wicked snap-shot that can stun a goalie. Off the puck, he knows where to be to maximize his offensive chances, and to provide puck-support to teammates. He possesses good small-area quickness and puck-skills.
Defensively, he works hard, pressures the point, and pesters attackers along the walls, but doesn't have the same effectiveness in his own zone as he does on offense. This part of his game needs to shored up. He has a good shot, that needs improvement, but he also needs to shoot more. Despite having a fast stride, there's an awkwardness to it that needs to be cleaned up in order to maximize his power and balance. He's not overly physical, but that doesn't seem to be his game. I've heard it said that he'll make a good 2nd-liner in the future, but I believe he's capable of more. I think he's 2nd round, with a good shot at sneaking in to the 1st.