| Stepan Gorbunov | Belye Medvedi Chelyabinsk | MHL | L | C | 6’4″ | 196 | Chelyabinsk, RUS | 2006 | 2023-2024: C |
Game Grade: B-
Comments: Gorbunov had a strong defensive performance tonight. He was tasked to kill a majority of the time shorthanded for his team and successfully did so all night. He applied tight pressure to puck handlers and forced many turnovers. The one word we kept on reading next to our notes from his performance was ‘Steal’. He had an active stick and timed pokes, step ups, and pressure well to force turnovers and clear the puck down ice. He was able to pull off a couple of pickpockets in the offensive zone as well, turning pucks over on the backcheck and attempting to generate offense. He made crisp passes all night. One in particular was on the breakout where he fired a hard tape to tape pass to a teammate cutting in the neutral zone for an easy zone entry. In the offensive zone he is constantly moving around looking for space to become an available target for his teammates. He doesn’t always pick the best spots to make himself a quality target but consistently searches for space and never stands still. He shows off a smooth stride and covers a lot of ground in both directions. Stepan has the skating, poise, confidence, and defensive ability to be a great player but lacks the high end offensive skill to make him a true two way threat. He is draft eligible this year but we doubt his name will be called. We think his ceiling is likely a 3rd line center in the KHL and we have a lot of confidence that he will reach that potential.
| Dmitri Isayev | Avto Yekaterinburg | MHL | R | LW | 5’9″ | 147 | Togliatti. RUS | 2007 | 2024-2025: C+ |
Game Grade: C+
Comments: The June 2007 Isayev got his first taste of MHL action in today’s game and in our opinion showed enough to keep his name in the lineup for at least the next match. He flew around the ice with a smooth stride and wanted the puck on his stick in the offensive zone. Early in the game he made a skilled behind the back pass, perfectly placed on his teammates stick, showing good vision and the ability to execute difficult plays. He wasn’t afraid to shoot either. Attempting a couple of shots and trying to pick corners in tight. He never hit the net but only missed by mere inches on multiple chances. He might have gotten a bit too cocky in the second, attempting to flip the puck up for a lacrosse try from behind the goal but was unable to execute it. We didn’t love the spot he chose to do it from based on nearby defenders but we love the confidence and the crowd would have gone nuts if he was able to pull it off. We liked his effort on the back check as well. One particular example was in the second when he hustled after an opponent, lifted his stick and turned play back towards the net. With this much confidence and flashes of high end skill, Isayev should develop into an impact player in the MHL and has potential to be a draft pick in 2026.
Logo Courtesy of Belye Medvedi Chelyabinsk