| Alexei Dontsov | Krasnaya Armiya Moskva | MHL | L | C | 5’9″ | 176 | Moscow, RUS | 2006 | 2023-2024: B |
Game Grade: C+
Comments: In our first viewing of Dontsov this season we were very impressed with his high paced play and elite hands that drove offense for Krasnaya Armiya. Since then, we haven’t seen the same level of play or effectiveness in his game. There were times where he was able to make skilled moves around defenders into space with insanely quick hands and get a shot off. But these moments were few and far between as he was often invisible and did not touch the puck much this game. He seems to need time and space to be able to pull off moves. He is unable to create in tight spaces and loses the puck often under pressure. He showed off his speed on the rush early and was able to drive the defender wide before mishandling the puck under pressure. Other than that one attempt I don’t remember seeing him rush any other times. He was very low energy in the defensive zone. Floating around and following the puck with his eyes rather than make proactive plays to shut down Loko’s offense. One bright side from his game was his shooting form. He rips the puck hard with his elbow out, flexing his stick through a top hand push and firing heavy shots on goal. If he can figure out how to create space under pressure and generate a higher shot volume, Neutral Zone feels he would be a much more effective offensive player. Alexei has the skill and the shot, he just needs to figure out how to create opportunities to use them in difficult situations.
| Vadim Dudorov | Loko Yaroslavl MHL | MHL | L | C | 5’11” | 185 | Sarov, RUS | 2006 | 2023-2024: B- |
Game Grade: B+
Comments: Dudorov had a very productive night, potting two goals and buzzing around to cause havoc on both ends. He is a big body with a powerful stride and uses them to disrupt plays. He applied good forechecking pressure and finished his checks hard. He finished the game with 2 goals and was able to generate tons of chances through well timed cuts into space and a heavy release. His first goal came in the second period on the power play. He walked into space and received a pass which he ripped towards the cage. It deflected off a defenseman’s stick and found the back of the net. His second came a few minutes later when a rebound came off of the end boards and slipped through multiple players onto his stick. He picked it up and without hesitation, fired a heavy wrister over the goalie’s glove to make the score 3-0. In the offensive zone he played a power forward style game, pushing his way into the slot with possession and firing shots towards the cage. We liked Vadim’s effort tonight and he was rewarded with two entries on the scoresheet.
| Yegor Surin | Lokomotiv Yaroslavl | KHL | L | C | 6’1″ | 176 | Voronezh, RUS | 2006 | 2023-2024: B |
Game Grade: A
Comments: This was hands down the best all around performance that we have ever seen from Surin. He played very hard all night and had me continuously pausing the game to write longer notes than usual. His motor and effort was on display right from the get go. On the forecheck he turned on the jets to shut down all of his opponents space, harassed them with shoves and pokes, then took the puck away and quickly popped his head up to scan for options. He showed the same effort on the backcheck all night. While backchecking he pushed himself into top gear to catch up to rushing forwards, lifted their sticks, and quickly turned play in the other direction. When he couldn’t reach the puck carrier, he put himself into passing lanes to take away options and deflect incoming passes. He maintained his effort on both ends all night and Neutral Zone was very impressed with his work all game. With the puck, he made sharp cuts and escaped pressure with slippery dekes. He transitioned the puck with speed and adapted to defensive decisions with east-west cuts. His head was up and he scanned for teammates that he hit with well timed passes, early, before lanes were taken away. He was able to enter the zone with possession many times throughout the game and showed high levels of confidence when taking on defenders. One negative in his game which has been consistent all year is the fact that he often over handles the puck and forces himself into very difficult situations that could have been avoided. There were many times tonight where he skated directly into a defender (sometimes multiple) and tried to beat them with complex, flashy dekes which were easily stopped and caused lots of turnovers in the offensive zone. Yegor needs to work on simplifying his possessions. He should either look to cut into open space, drive the puck wide with a sharp cut towards the middle, or look to utilize his teammates more often. He often held onto the puck for too long with a teammate or two open and ready to receive a pass in motion. His passing game is not all bad though. He keeps his head up, constantly scanning the ice for good options and was able to set up two goals because of his vision. His first assist was a gorgeous feed to the slot. He was standing behind the net wide open on the weak side. His teammate in a battle found him and dished the puck cross zone. As the puck was sliding over, Surin picked his head up and found a teammate cutting towards the crease and he was able to fire a perfect one touch pass, straight to the tape for an easy tap in finish in front of the net. This was some high level playmaking and was a very impressive play. Yegor has a smooth and efficient stride. He can get around the ice at a great pace and is able to use edgework and heel to heel skating effectively to slip into open space/escape pressure very similarly to Ivan Demidov. We were impressed with Surin’s game tonight and he continues to become one of our favorite prospects in this year’s draft. He needs to work on picking better options with the puck rather than force it through multiple defenders. Once he figures this out, we think he will be a very effective pro player.
| Roman Shokhrin | Loko Yaroslavl MHL | MHL | L | D | 6’4″ | 192 | Nizhny Novgorod, RUS | 2006 | 2023-2024: B- |
Game Grade: B+
Comments: This was another impressive game from one of our favorite MHL defenseman. His defense is not horrible but he is often very passive in the defensive zone and we would like to see a lot more effort out of him in the future. One specific example came early in the second period. There was a turnover at the top of the circles in his own zone leaving him as one of the only men back to attempt to stop a rushing opponent. The Armiya player was able to walk way too close, not only to Shokhrin but the net as well. Shokhrin stayed back and watched him skate all the way up to him and barely made a play once he was in range. He should have stepped up much sooner and used his reach to shut down play before it was able to get dangerous. Roman’s offensive abilities were on full display tonight. He is able to transition the puck with impressive foot work, pushing pace up ice with a powerful stride. He has slick hands that he used many times to dance around opponents into space and jumped deep into play to generate chances. He uses quick cuts and tight turns to evade pressure and is able to separate the puck from defenders using his big frame and a loose hand, pushing opponents away and the puck up ice. We also love his use of direction and angle changes when on the offensive blueline blue line. He makes quick shifts that freeze forwards coming to pressure him and allow for a cut into space where he capitalizes on wide open lanes with a pass or dash into the slot. He snaps the puck around well on the powerplay, makes accurate stretch passes, and moves the puck on time to capitalize on opening lanes. He needs to add strength as he was knocked off the puck a few times and his shots from the point were weak. Roman has good offensive upside and if he can improve his defensive game as the season goes on, he should be able to raise his draft stock to a mid round pick.
Logo Courtesy of Yaroslavl Loko
Player Evaluations by Henry Lawrence