| Anton Silayev | Chaika Nizhny Novgorod | MHL | R | D | 6’6″ | 202 | Sarov, RUS | 2006 | 2023-2024: B |
Game Grade: B
Comments: This was a better performance from Silayev than I am used to seeing but there were still some concerning parts of his game that I cannot overlook. He was much calmer with the puck tonight and was able to execute a majority of his passes. Silayev is a smooth skating defenseman with the agility to escape from pressure. The problem is that he does not use this gift effectively. When opponents apply pressure to him, Anton immediately coughs up the puck. Any amount of pressure is an automatic turnover, or he ices the puck. Anton has played enough time in the KHL that he should have been able to figure out how to escape tight situations using his feet. He has the ability to do so but seems to run into a mental wall every time. He was a bit more defensively responsible in this game in the fact that he did not get drawn out as far compared to normal. There were still sometimes where he had trouble staying in front of opponents, but he did a much better job than I see from him typically. I would also like to see him keep his feet moving when pressuring opponents in the defensive zone. There were far too many times where I watched him attempt to stop plays with his stick extended and feet stationary. This already does not work at the KHL level and will definitely not begin working once he comes over to North America. I think Silayev is a very risky pick. He has potential to be an absolute monster with his combination of size and mobility, but his floor is far too low for me to feel comfortable drafting him early in the first. Very high-risk player with a great reward if he is willing to put in the work with the right coaching staff to improve his decision making in all three zones.
| Nikita Artamonov | Chaika Nizhny Novgorod | MHL | L | RW | 5’11” | 183 | Nizhnekamsk, RUS | 2005 | 2023-2024: B- |
Game Grade: A-
Comments: Great game from Artamonov will likely be a very popular name on draft day. He is hardworking and responsible two way forward with good offensive upside. He enters battles with intention and fights hard to earn possession for his team. He is very responsible defensively and covers a ton of ground to help shut down plays and protect his zone. Nikita has a powerful and technically strong stride and is able to cover ground up and down ice very quickly. He shows off great vision with the puck on his stick. Nikita makes constant scans of the ice and chooses responsible options to help move the puck towards the offensive zone. His best pass came late in the first when he picked his head up, saw a man cutting to the neutral zone, then made a spin away from pressure and fired a no-look backhand pass while in motion that landed directly on his teammate’s stick in stride. Artamonov is very calm under pressure and escapes with quick cuts into space as well as thoughtful passes to open teammates to keep play moving. He attempts high danger passes in the offensive zone with the motive of setting up chances around the cage. He can very easily keep up with professional pace as an 18-year-old and can hold his own physically. Artamonov is not the most offensively skilled player by any means, but his high effort and high IQ play on every inch of the ice will make him a very valuable professional player. He projects as a third line energy player at the NHL level and can provide some valuable work on the penalty kill. Definitely worth a selection next June.
Player Evaluations: Henry Lawrence