| Arseni Yeliseyev | Dinamo-Shinnik Bobruysk (MHL) | MHL | R | D | 5’7″ | 152 | Grodno, BLR | 2006 | Not yet rated |
Game Grade: B
Comments: This was the first time Yeliseyev caught our eye and we were impressed with some of the tools he possesses. He is a very agile skater and used hard cuts and turns to escape pressure and move play up ice. He was incredibly aggressive on the PK which led to mistakes and turnovers which he cleared down ice. He rushed the puck with confidence and showed off some skilled hands with decent control. He skates with a wide stance and has a bit of an awkward stride which definitely holds him back. He is an undersized defenseman with some good tools. Maybe the next Ulyev?
| Nikolai Salygo | Dinamo-Shinnik Bobruysk (MHL) | MHL | L | C | 6’1″ | 161 | Zhlobin, BLR | 2005 | 2023-2024: C |
Game Grade: B-
Comments: Decent game from Salygo at times but he was invisible for most of the night. He showed some great pressure in the DZ and was able to force the puck out of the zone on one specific play due to his unrelenting effort. He showed off some quick hands and snapped the puck around well on the power play. Other than that we did not see much from him. We have liked his game so far but he does not possess enough tools or confidence to truly affect the game. Should be a solid contributor for Shinnik during the next few seasons.
| Vadim Dudorov | Loko Yaroslavl MHL | MHL | L | C | 5’11” | 185 | Sarov, RUS | 2006 | 2023-2024: B- |
Game Grade: A-
Comments: Fantastic game from Dudurov who is quickly becoming one of my favorite players in the MHL The bulky PF showed great effort tonight and was a hound on the forecheck. He powered his way towards opponents with a ton of speed and was able to take away their breathing room with harassing pressure. He needs to learn to finish his checks more often instead of turning away too early. He missed out on a lot of great opportunities to shut down play with a booming hit along the boards. He played with a ton of confidence when the puck was on his stick and was able to effectively enter the zone multiple times. He has decent hands and is able to protect the puck with his body but needs to keep his feet moving as he was easily caught up to and stripped of possession a couple times. Vadim is fantastic without the puck in the OZ. He slips into open space and is able to become a passing target multiple times each shift. He generated a ton of chances through his off puck movement and was able to score on a chance late in the third. He cut to the slot with a defender on his hip but made a nice fake to separate from his man and jump into a wide open patch of ice at the hash marks. He opened up, ready for a one timer and fired a laser past the goalie’s glove to bring Loko’s lead to 4. His ability to find space is also seen in NZ. He sees the ice very well and picks lanes that allow him to slip past the defense and receive passes just before the blue line for breakaway opportunities. We have seen him end up 1v0 with the goalie at least once or twice in every one of his games that we have watched this season. He needs to work on his finishing ability in tight but with the number of chances he gets, he will have a ton of practice opportunities. Vadim still has a lot of refining to do with many aspects of his game but he continues to improve each viewing. Potential great value pick in one of the later rounds.
| Yegor Surin | Lokomotiv Yaroslavl | KHL | L | C | 6’1″ | 176 | Voronezh, RUS | 2006 | 2023-2024: B+ |
Game Grade: A
Comments: Surin had one of his best performances of the entire year tonight putting up 3A and played at a high pace all game. He flew around the ice and made sure to get involved in all three zones. His skating was high end tonight. He finished his checks hard into the boards as per usual and applied great pressure on the forecheck which forced a ton of turnovers. He came away with at least 3 steals from his effort and each time made a tight turn and quickly exploded up ice. He was constantly in motion and continually searched for better space to become a target for his teammates in the OZ. He uses heel to heel skating and quick crossovers to escape from pressure and propels himself into open space to provide more time to make a decision with the puck. His skilled hands were on full display tonight as he executed a ton of quick stick handles in very tight spots to evade incoming sticks and slip into space. The best part of his game tonight was his vision and passing ability. He had his head up at all times, scanning in all three zones, and consistently found great passing lanes which he took full advantage of to set up dangerous chances for his team. Yegor’s first assist came late in the first period when he cut from the boards to the slot, executing a gorgeous toe drag around a defender, then slid the puck back door for an easy finish. Great skill, vision, and execution to open up the scoring for Loko. His second came in the middle frame as he weaved his way through a maze of defenders while circling the top of the zone. He showed off great puck control under pressure and forced his way into the slot with confidence. With his head up, he spotted a teammate back door and slid it for an easy redirection. He made his teammates’ lives much easier with every pass he attempted this game. His third came a few minutes later when he started to break out after a faceoff win. With his head up he spotted a teammate and head-manned the puck to Konov which he took the length of the ice and finished in close. Surin’s pass did not necessarily create this goal but he showed great effort by powering up ice with speed and crashing the net in case of any rebounds. Surin seems to improve every single time I’ve watched him. My previous complaints mainly revolved around careless passes but he threw none of those in this game. We have called him a second round pick all year but if he keeps playing this way on all sides of the puck, he might creep his way into the late first.
| Roman Shokhrin | Loko Yaroslavl MHL | MHL | L | D | 6’4″ | 192 | Nizhny Novgorod, RUS | 2006 | 2023-2024: B- |
Game Grade: C+
Comments: Not a very good performance from Roman tonight. His skating looked very poor and might have been something we have overlooked a bit in past viewings. He has a very short stride using quick flicks outward instead of a powerful push. With the puck he skates in a triangle position with knock knees and has trouble moving around. He also stumbled all over himself tonight and fell to the ice at least 3 times that we saw without any help from nearby players. He is pretty agile for his size and able to walk the line/cut away from pressure but he is pretty inconsistent game to game and sometimes even shift to shift. There were a few times where he was able to go deep into the OZ and set up plays with great pass attempts. Roman has made a lot of improvement since last season and we have watched him play a couple of fantastic games this year but this was not one of them. Neutral Zone feels he is still worth a pick but his stock is falling.
Scout: Henry Lawrence