| Anton Silayev | Chaika Nizhny Novgorod | MHL | R | D | 6’6″ | 202 | Sarov, RUS | 2006 | 2023-2024: B |
Game Grade: C+
Comments: I honestly do not know how to rate Silayev effectively. He honestly seems to be regressing in my opinion and does not look any more comfortable defending at the KHL level than he did early this year. He steps up way too often and chooses poor times to do so. He goes into make plays pretty passively and allows for easy passes around him to keep play moving for opponents. He tries to close off plays with weak checks and they are easily escaped if the forward keeps his feet moving. He was able to shut down a couple plays with poke checks but I’m not sure they would be effective against better players. He also needs a ton of work positionally in the DZ. For some reason he always parks himself on top of his goalie in the crease and basically watches play with his stick in the air from that spot. He is drawn out far very easily and unable to get back if he or a teammate makes an error. His skating is not as impressive as I gave him credit for earlier this season. He has a fluid stride and can pick up good speed for his size but he stumbles and trips over his own feet often. He is agile in the sense that he can move in all directions pretty easily but he does not do so quick enough for it to be a real advantage. His passing decisions were poor tonight. He missed his targets and often quickly whacked the puck towards the first open man he saw. He did not get very much offensive zone time but when he did, he was not much of a factor. He threw weak shots towards the goal from bad angles, many of which were blocked easily by the forward standing directly in front of him. I was really hoping to see him build confidence and further develop his skills as the year went on. He does not control play by any means and very rarely generates chances due to his passing. He is unable to create with the puck and does not know how to manipulate opponents to make his own scoring chances. I think people are too bullish on him due to his size and time spent at the pro level. He has not improved and the problems with his game continue to be a major hindrance in all aspects of his play. His minutes keep on dropping and he was the 7th defenseman in this game. I might want to see him play VHL or MHL minutes to get a better read on how he is compared to other junior defenseman. He does not look like the top 10 pick most are claiming him to be.
Player Evaluation: Henry Lawrence