| Alexander Shen | Khanty Mansiysk | MHL | R | LW | 6’0″ | 191 | Nizhnevartovsk, RUS | 2006 | 2023-2024: B- |
Game Grade: C+
Comments: Unfortunately, Shen continues to freefall down my Russian rankings for this year’s draft class as he seems to be losing momentum as the season goes on. He continues to get involved in a ton of battles around the boards and shows the effort/brains to dig pucks out and pass them off to open teammates. He is a very smart player and has the ability to create plays and maintain possession using his body as well as timely passes to open teammates. The main problem with Shen is his pace and overall motor. He is way too slow to affect the game on a deep level. He skates hunched over and with very little power in his strides which keeps his foot speed very low. Half of the time he is coasting around, just gliding while play happens around him. The other half of the time he gets involved but doesn’t give it his all which leads to zero impact from his effort. If he can kick that motor back up to what I saw in my first viewing, his combination of smarts and size will allow him to change the game through his forechecking ability. Offensively, Shen shows flashes of talent. He has skilled hands and was able to pull off a couple of clean moves in transition. One in particular he entered the OZ and made a move to open up the defender, then he took advantage of the defenseman’s bite and dragged the puck under the triangle and went around his man. He makes smart passing choices and is able to set up chances through his vision and execution in the OZ. Again the problem that continually showed up was his lack of speed. He was unable to beat defenders 1v1 a majority of the time. He can’t rush wide and is easily stopped on the rush. He also cannot get into open space quickly enough to offer quality options for his team. I liked Shen early in the year but would not touch him with the way he has been playing the last few times I have watched
| Yegor Andriyanov | Loko Yaroslavl | MHL | L | D | 6’0″ | 168 | Yaroslavl, RUS | 2006 | 2023-2024: C |
Game Grade: B-
Comments: Andriyanov is a mobile two way defenseman with lots of offensive upside. He transitions the puck well with a quick and smooth skating style that allows him to push pace up ice and enter the OZ. He makes crisp stretch passes in stride with teammates up ice and was able to create a ton of OZ time with his passing ability. He is patient with the puck and is able to escape tricky situations using his hands and edgework. He is sound defensively and uses his skating to attack players and stay between the puck and the net. He made a great play in the first period in DTZ. A pass came up ice to an opponent close to him on the DZBL. He saw the opponent turn to receive the pass and made a well timed step up poke to break up play before his man had time to react. Andriyanov has an active stick that he uses in combination with his quick feet to shut down chances. The main problem with his game right now is decision making. There were a couple of times where he wanted to be the hero and rush coast to coast but got far too cocky and tried to dangle through opponents head on. He did this multiple times leading to a turnover each attempt. He has the talent to make moves like this but he needs to be smarter with his decisions and take advantage of opening lanes with his speed rather than try to force the puck through multiple defenders. If Andriyanov can put on some more muscle and improve his lane choices/decisions with the puck he has the ability to become a good TWD.
| Andrei Yelezov | Loko Yaroslavl | MHL | R | LW | 5’8″ | 142 | Syktyvkar, RUS | 2006 | 2023-2024: C+ |
Game Grade: C+
Comments: Yelezov was by far one of the most skilled players on the ice tonight. The problem was he was barely given any ice time at all. I didn’t notice any plays in particular that would have caused him to be benched but to be fair he was not my main focus and I could have missed a couple of poor shifts early in the game. He has sick hands and was able to pull off a couple of clean toe drags around defenders and jump into open space. He has great speed and was able to push play up ice on his own in transition. He entered battle/races for loose pucks and displayed a high effort level every time I saw him on ice. There were a couple times where he tried to force his way through opponents with complex moves that lead to bad turnovers. I didn’t get to see much of him tonight but I think with the right coaching, Yelezov has the talent and work ethic to become a great player in the Lokomotiv system.
Logo Courtesy of Loko-76 Yaroslavl
Player Evaluations: Henry Lawrence