| Alexander Filippov | Krasnaya Armiya Moskva | MHL | R | D | 6’2″ | 176 | Tyumen, RUS | 2006 | 2024-2025: B+ |
Game Grade: B-
Comments: Filippov is a mobile two way defenseman with some decent offensive upside. He is an agile skater and is able to cover a ton of ground in a very short period of time using quick strides and a powerful push. He moves the puck around well and is able to set up offensive chances with well timed passes. He is defensively sound and maintains a good gap. He proactively scans for threats in the DZ and shuts them down before anything can turn dangerous. One of his best plays of the night was in defensive transition. A Dynamo forward was pushing down ice with a lot of momentum. Filippov executed a perfectly timed surf towards the boards at a very high pace, forcing the forward wide and taking away all of his space. Filippov attacked with his stick on the puck first and quickly used his body to attempt to shut down play. Unfortunately for Alex, the forward attempted to jump around him as he came in for contact and ended up falling in the process. This was called a tripping penalty even though it was the forwards fault. Filippov was one of the best on the ice tonight and we look forward to checking up on him in the coming weeks.
| Ilya Pautovautov | Krasnaya Armiya Moskva | MHL | L | RW | 5’10” | 165 | Novosibirsk, RUS | 2006 | 2023-2024: C+ |
Game Grade: C
Comments: Draft eligible Pautov has made a couple of draft lists so far but needs a lot of work in our opinion. He had a lot of trouble handling the puck tonight which caused far too many turnovers stemming from his decision making. He is good at escaping pressure with his feet but fumbles the puck often when contested. He attempts moves that are more complex than the situation requires and is easily shut down with step ups. He showed off good vision but was rarely able to execute the passes he attempted. He chose the right man to pass to in most situations but the pass was often too weak or a bit behind his target and resulted in easy takeaways for Dynamo’s defensemen. He was able to execute a couple of nice saucer passes and also drew a penalty late in the third that resulted in the game tying goal. Overall we were not too happy with Pautov’s game tonight. He just did not create enough of an impact on the game enough for me to push him up Neutral Zone’s rankings.
| Artyom Bondar | MHK Dynamo Moskva | MHL | L | C | 6’0″ | 172 | Smolensk, RUS | 2006 | 2023-2024: C+ |
Game Grade: B-
Comments: Bondar had a solid performance in tonight’s match but needs a lot of work to kick his game up to the next level. He shows off good edgework by entering heel to heel as a way to change the angle of his body for protection and for better passing opportunities. The best part of his game was his effort on the back check. He pushed hard and caught up to opponents, closing off a considerable distance at least 3 times that we wrote down. He applied tight pressure and was able to force turnovers on all three backchecks with pokes, stick lifts, or a physical body check. He crashed the net hard on the rush. Artyom was able to pick up an assist in the second when he fired a shot off the goalies pad that was finished by a teammate. Another plus to Bondar’s game is his ability to be an effective net front presence on the power play. He is a big kid and is able to carve out some space to screen the goalie and battles hard for loose pucks in the crease. Artyom needs to improve his puck handling ability. He dropped the puck often, was unable to complete a majority of his passes, and could not carry the puck when under pressure. He is a hard working player and if he can focus some more attention on his offensive game, he has the ability to become a much more effective MHL player.
Logo Courtesy of Dynamo Moskva
Player Evaluations: Henry Lawrence