| Matvei Shuravin | Krasnaya Armiya Moskva | International | L | D | 6’3″ | 195 | Moscow, RUS | 2006 | 2023-2024: B+ |
Game Grade: B+
Comments: Shuravin is a highly regarded defenseman in the class of 2024. He is a big bodied two way defenseman with decent skating and passing abilities. He is a mobile skater who is able to move in all directions albeit at a slow pace. He likes to join the rush and chose to do so at opportune times to help create odd man situations. Defensively he is able to shut down plays with an active stick and by using his body to separate man from puck along the boards. He got drawn out of position in the DZ often but was usually able to get back into position in time. His passing ability is good at times but a bit inconsistent. He has good vision and was able to find a couple of open teammates through traffic in both the OZ and on the breakout. He is the QB on the first powerplay unit and looked fantastic in that role. He walked the line well, faking direction and snapping quick passes to open teammates. His puck movement helped set up a goal on the powerplay in the third, but he was not given an assist for his effort. The issue with his pass game is that he does not think all of his passes through. There were a ton of times in this game where he just whacked the puck in a direction without fully looking. When under pressure he has a lot of trouble controlling the puck and turns it over far too many times in very rough spots, one leading directly to a high danger shot after fumbling it on a breakout. Shuravin also has to do a better job finding open ice to support his teammates better. There were a number of times in this game where he got too close to teammates when they had the puck, and which took him away as a release option. He also floated around with his stick in the air and not showing much effort to give his teammates an option. Shuravin has the potential to be a great two-way defenseman but is going to need a ton of work on his decision making both with and without the puck. He is also going to need to improve his footspeed if he wants to be able to keep up at the next level. Shuravin is an interesting prospect, but I probably would not draft him until mid 2nd/3rd round.
| Alexei Dontsov | Krasnaya Armiya Moskva | MHL | L | C | 5’9″ | 176 | Moscow, RUS | 2006 | 2023-2024: B |
Game Grade: C
Comments: Dontsov was flying around tonight and showed some good effort to seek out loose pucks. He rushes up ice with speed and makes quick pass/shot decisions while forcing play towards the net. He has some trouble handling the puck in the sense that he forces plays into bad spots. He has his head down often and is not fully aware of what is happening around him. I did notice a bunch of times where he threw the puck away without looking in this one. He has the pace to make an impact on the game, but he needs to complete more scans to become more aware of play. Alexei is over a point per game player, so he has obviously been able to create despite great vision/IQ. Another guy I think will be taken off the board but needs a lot of mental work before he can take his game to a higher level.
| Gleb Lagoda | Krasnaya Armiya Moskva | MHL | R | C | 5’10” | 146 | Moscow, RUS | 2006 | Not yet rated |
Game Grade: C
Comments: Lagoda might have scored the goal of the year in this one. He flew up ice after collecting a loose puck off of a DZ faceoff. He took it coast to coast, absolutely dangled a defenseman with a slick drag move after entering the OZ, then deked out the goalie and finished on the backhand. He was flying around for the first half of the game and was able to impact the game with a hard forecheck and backcheck stealing pucks and pushing play towards the OZ. After a great start to the night, he absolutely disappeared, and I did not take any other notes on him. He played at a much lower pace and did not touch the puck much at all. He showed off a ton of skill with that goal but did not do much outside of that one play.
| Ilya Pautov | Krasnaya Armiya Moskva | MHL | L | RW | 5’10” | 165 | Novosibirsk, RUS | 2006 | 2023-2024: C+ |
Game Grade: B+
Comments: Draft eligible Pautov is a high paced puck magnet with a fantastic ability to enter the OZ with control. He always has his feet moving and seems to have the puck on his stick far more often than not. He has quick hands and is able to dangle his way through the defense but sometimes bites off a bit more than he can chew and turns the puck over. He is a bit undersized but uses his body and speed well to shield the puck. When he gets the puck on his stick, he fires up ice at top speed and is able to enter the zone in a number of ways. He changes lanes to stay on ahead of defensive decisions, he makes well timed passes to keep play moving, and shows off a good delay game to slow downplay and try to set up chances as teammates enter behind him. Ilya is trusted with a ridiculous amount of ice time and seems to be the guy called upon to generate offense and transition the puck into the OZ. He needs to work on simplifying his time with possession and moving the puck a bit earlier to an open teammate rather than trying to play hero puck. Pautov is a ball of energy and a transition machine. He needs to become a bit more patient with the puck and make better decisions rather than force it into bad spots. Intriguing player to watch out for as a late round pick.
| Ivan Demidov | SKA 1946 St. Petersburg | MHL | L | C | 5’11” | 181 | Sergiyev Posad, RUS | 2005 | 2023-2024: A |
Game Grade: A-
Comments: Demidov is back from injury and working hard on bringing his game back to the elite level it was at last season. This was only his third game back and looks to be shaking some of the rust off still. Even when he is not at 100%, he still looks like one of the best players in this entire draft. The base of Demi’s game comes from his elite skating ability. He has great straight-line speed and uses elite edgework to dance around the zone and escape pressure. With the puck on his stick in the OZ, Ivan pivots into a heel-to-heel position and quickly switches edges continuously to propel himself around the top of the zone. From this position he is able to generate a ton of speed, change directions with a quick turn, and work his way towards the net by slipping through tight lanes. His constant foot movements and edge changes make it nearly impossible to knock him off of the puck. He bounces off checks with a quick shift of weight onto the other leg and slides past opponents. When Krasnaya tried to apply pressure on him along the boards, he made dime turns in the blink of an eye and created a ton of separation from his man with hard stops and cuts. His hands are elite, and he times his moves well to avoid incoming pokes and skates. He pulled off some sick dangles through and around players in all situations leaving defenders lost as he shot into space. There were many times in this game where he over-handled the puck and walked himself into traffic, but he had just as many moments where he was able to slip past multiple opponents with ease. When the puck is on his stick, he keeps his head up and has a great mental map of what is occurring around him. The second he turns away from pressure he seems to always know his next move and makes quick passes right on the stick of a cutting teammate. Demidov’s play without the puck was just as good in tonight’s game. He has a very high motor and gets involved in just about every battle and race that he can. He is not a physical player but uses his brain, speed, and skill to win pucks. He gets to the puck first and makes quick spins and cuts to avoid opponents. In battles he uses his stick to quickly move opponents sticks and dig pucks out of scrums. His pass receptions are very impressive as well. He is able to blend the reception with moves around defenders and catch passes through tight pressure and congestion. He started moves before the puck hit his stick and was able to effortlessly control and slip past opponents. Demidov was able to pick up an assist on the only SKA goal of the game. He made a well-timed drop pass to Vilchinsky who fired home a wrister. Demidov is going to be one of the first 5 picks off the board and if he can stay healthy, he might be able to push for 1st overall. He needs to work on choosing better times to shoot as he took a number of low percentage shots from deep and into congested lanes. He needs to work on moving the puck a bit quicker rather than over handling it and forcing his way into terrible situations. Demidov is a monster and as long as he can stay healthy for the rest of the season, I think he will show his top tier talent in all areas of the game.
| Mikhail Sozinov | SKA 1946 St. Petersburg | MHL | L | D | 6’3″ | 187 | Veliky Novgorod, RUS | 2006 | 2024-2025: C+ |
Game Grade: B
Comments: Sozinov is a very smooth skating and agile defenseman with the potential to become a great two-way KHLer. He is great on his edges and able to change directions with the puck on his stick very well. He is incredibly patient and able to escape from pressure well. He keeps his head up and finds teammates cutting up ice to hit with quick breakout passes and push play towards the OZ. He is responsible in the DZ but needs to add a ton of weight to be able to truly shut down plays. He was easily pushed through on check attempts and was unable to get involved in battles. I don’t think he has shown enough to get drafted this year or ever make it to the NHL, but I think with the right coaching and effort into improving his natural abilities, he has the potential to be a great two-way defender for SKA in the KHL.
| Yegor Graf | SKA 1946 St. Petersburg | MHL | R | LW | 5’10” | 174 | Barnaul, RUS | 2006 | 2023-2024: B |
Game Grade: C
Comments: Graf started tonight’s game on Demidov’s line and looked great. He was flying and showing off some of the skill which earned him a spot-on last year’s 1946 team to end the season. He showed off some smooth edgework and looked incredibly agile as he danced around the OZ with the puck. He showed some great chemistry with Demidov, and they connected on a couple of pretty passes early to set up some quality chances. Unfortunately, as the game continued, he seemed to revert into the lower quality version of Graf that I have watched this year. He was a bit overconfident and forced bad passes and move attempts which allowed for him to be easily shut down by his opponents. He moves around with his head down and attempts to force passes through closed lanes without much of a look to see if it was actually a good option. Graf was a guy who looked great last year but has not shown much this season. He has been able to generate a ton of points, but I attribute this more to the fact that he is on a very talented team rather than him creating them all by himself. He is a skilled player and will likely be picked up in one of the later rounds, but he does not push the needle enough for me.
| Amir Nugmanov | SKA 1946 St. Petersburg | MHL | R | LW | 5’10” | 172 | Nizhnekamsk, RUS | 2005 | 2023-2024: C+ 2022-2023: C |
Game Grade: A-
Comments: Nugmanov is making a great case to be an overage selection in this year’s draft. He has had a fantastic start to his D+1 season and seems to get better each game. He looked great with a weak Reaktor team early this season and has looked even better after his trade into the SKA system. He is a strong power forward with a ton of speed and skill. He uses his high pace play and skilled hands to work his way towards the net and generates a ridiculous number of chances each game. He flies around the ice pulling off sick dekes and keeps his head up searching for open teammates. He has a heavy wrist shot that he can unleash at a moment’s notice and is on pace for 40 goals this season. He keeps his motor going at all times and gets involved in every battle at both ends of the ice. The biggest separator for Nugmanov from similar players is his physical play. He crushes opponents with huge hits and if you don’t keep your head up, he is going to drop you to the ice. In nearly every game I have seen from him this year he has pulled off a highlight, open ice hit then speeds after the loose puck. He buzzes around the ice and is always a threat at both ends of the ice. Over age players are always hard to judge but Amir is a highly skilled player with a high motor and great physicality. He gives a lot right and looks as if he might be able to take his game even higher. He might be a risk worth taking in one of the later rounds of the 2024 draft.
Scout: Henry Lawrence