| Matvei Shuravin | CSKA | KHL | L | D | 6’3″ | 195 | Moscow, RUS | 2006 | 2023-2024: B+ |
Game Grade: B
Comments: Draft eligible Shuravin has made a lot of noise recently. He has stuck around in the KHL and was recently given an A rating on the NHL Central Scouting Preliminary Draft List. We liked the poise that Shuravin played with today. He is a little complacent as most 17 year old’s getting KHL minutes are, but compared to other rookie defenseman we have seen over the past few years he did not look out of place. He gets involved in battles around the boards. He is calm with the puck and able to execute break out passes to cutting teammates. His decision making was definitely rushed when pressure was on its way but for the most part he made decent passes when the puck was on his stick. There was one play that had some good elements to it but was not perfect. He held the puck behind the goal line with a forechecker coming in hard and winding up for a check. Shuravin was able to protect the puck and make a pass through contact while also able to stay on his feet through a heavy check. The pass was not very thoughtful and more of a push away from the opponent but it did the job. We would like to see him prepare a bit more with scans to make more deliberate pass attempts rather than throw a pass away, hoping it finds a teammate. He maintained a decent gap in transition. He didn’t let anyone stretch unnoticed but he probably could have been a bit more aggressive as he was backed down, deep into the zone pretty easily. If he had stepped up or stayed a bit tighter he might have been able to force a couple of turnovers. His step up decisions were pretty poor. He often jumped into the neutral zone to try to stop the rush early but picked poor times to do so and was burnt often. There were also a few times where he tried to jump into the offensive zone to become a target but again picked poor times to do so and when turnovers occurred, he was left deep in the zone and unable to get back into position. Shuravin is not a first round pick in my opinion. He has a lot of work to do on the mental side of his game before he can become a high end two way player. Neutral Zone needs to watch more of his games as the season progresses.
| Artyom Shchuchinov | Chelyabinsk | KHL | L | D | 5’11” | 154 | Nizhny Tagil, RUS | 2005 | 2023-2024: C+ |
Game Grade: C
Comments: Draft eligible Shchuchinov was one of our favorite MHL defenseman last season. He showed off great mobility and was able to pick up a few points in the limited games we watched. This season he has stuck around in the KHL for Traktor but we not convinced that is the best place for his development. He looks very shaky out there and his game has not translated to the pro level yet. To start, he is far too light to be playing in the KHL right now. He is incredibly skinny which makes it very hard for him to move players out of the crease. Artyom looked horrendous defensively and barely seemed to try at all in the defensive zone. He was very passive in his own end and mostly watched as quality chances occurred around him. He ducked away from incoming shots that he could have easily blocked and was not very active with his stick, missing multiple opportunities for easy pokes/deflections that he did not even attempt to make. With the puck, there were a few good moments but a ton of questionable decisions. His transition game looked good. He is a very quick and fluid skater which allowed him to transport up ice effectively. On both rush attempts that he made in this game, he kept his head up and tried to hit a forward with long stretch passes. They were both very accurate and well timed but missed the target which was the fault of the forwards in my opinion. Other than those two moments, he rushed his passes and threw the puck away rather than settle down and possess. There was one moment where he had tons of time but threw the puck away with no scan resulting in a turnover. Another situation in his own zone, he stole the puck and shoveled it, without looking, out of the zone on his backhand without making a single second of a scan. We think it would benefit Shchuchinov an immeasurable amount to drop him down to Chelmet or Belye for an extended period of time. Let him develop his game further in a league that fits his current size and skill level as well as gain back some of the offensive confidence that he played with last season.
Logo Courtesy of Traktor Chelyabinsk
Player Evaluations: Henry Lawrence