| Anton Silayev | Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod | KHL | R | D | 6’6″ | 202 | Sarov, RUS | 2006 | 2023-2024: A |
Game Grade: B-
Comments: Silayev has shown a ton of improvement over the course of this season but his decision making still leaves us with some concerns. His skating continues to be insanely fluid and allows him to move all over the ice surface with speed. He rushed the puck and activated deep into the offensive zone a few times in this game. On one of those occasions he stole a puck inside the offensive blue line, then walked down the wall with his head up and fired a pass towards the crease, which eventually ended up in the net after a couple whacks by his teammates. He also shows a decent line walking game in the offensive zone. On one occasion he opened his hips to fake out a defender before cutting around him with quick footwork and firing a pass to his teammate along the wall. If he can complete plays like that more consistently he has the ability to become a major threat on a power play unit. His game looks much more relaxed than it did earlier this season but there were still a few moments where he showed how much more work needs to be put into his game. Silayev needs to complete more scans of the ice before he attempts passes. There were far too many times in this game where he attempted passes with his head down and his target was either covered or had moved out of their initial spot by the time the puck was released. His passes were also inaccurate tonight. There were many times where he over/under passed his teammates resulting in bad turnovers. In his defense, there were a few moments where he was much more patient and pulled out of passes when he saw the lane taken away which is a vast improvement compared to some of his earlier games but, he does not do this consistently enough. His shot choices were poor in this game as well. He committed to shots from deep while his head was down and shot them directly into opponents shins nearly every time. Defensively, Silayev is much more relaxed but still shows many of the bad habits seen earlier this season. He has a habit of gluing himself to a man and chasing him around the zone even if he is not a real threat. There was also a moment in this game where he chose to shut down an opponent on the doorstep which gave a wide open shooting lane to the man with the puck which was a questionable choice. He is much less aggressive in defensive transition and makes much better decisions for when to step up. He used to jump on every play and get beaten more often than not but today, he was much more patient and chose smart times to shut down play with a quick poke check. He is going to need to add a lot of strength, especially in his lower body. He has a lot of trouble along the boards and is easily pushed off the puck. There was one play where he attempted to put his body between a man and the net during a defensive rush sequence and his opponent skated through Anton with ease, even knocking him to the ice. His lack of strength gives him no chance to defend physically and he will get bullied in North America if this does not improve. We would also like to see him play a lot less reactionary in his own end. He needs to become better at anticipating plays rather than anxiously waiting for his opponent to come near. Silayev has made a ton of improvements but there are still many parts of his game that leave us worried about his ability to reach the high ceiling many claim that he has.
| Nikita Artamonov | Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod | KHL | L | RW | 5’11” | 187 | Nizhnekamsk, RUS | 2005 | 2023-2024: A- |
Game Grade: B
Comments: Artamonov is a hard working, high motor player that has provided a consistent spark of energy for his team all season. He forechecks aggressively and suffocates opponents, giving them very little chance of successfully breaking the puck out. He battles hard along the boards and has done a great job of digging pucks out of scrums and transporting them to space with his feet or a quick pass. He pushes up and down the ice with a powerful stride and is able to show off some nice edgework to slip into space and change his body angle, taking advantage of opening lanes with agile footwork. Offensively, Artamonov is not the most talented player but he is able to create a few offensive chances a game and shows potential to improve his overall production. He charges up ice in transition with lots of confidence but has trouble beating opponents due to lack of elite hands and is forced to settle with low percentage shots. He does a good job of slipping into open space in the offensive zone and was able to become a quality one time option on multiple occasions tonight. He crashed the net hard and was able to draw a penalty on one rush in this game. He was given time on the powerplay in the bumper position. He will need to improve his hands and offensive IQ to become a true offensive contributor. Artamonov will likely never be a dominant scorer in the NHL but his high motor play without the puck and the fact that he has shown sprouts of offensive talent make him a very good bet to become a valuable bottom 6 player in North America. His high energy defensive play will make him very high on every coaches list and he has shown enough offensive potential to become a steady depth contributor.
Scout: Henry Lawrence