| Marat Kalimullin | Ladia Togliatti (MHL) | MHL | L | D | 6’1″ | 154 | Togliatti. RUS | 2005 | 2023-2024: B |
Game Grade: C
Comments: Kalimullin caught Neutral Zone’s eye with a couple of impressive defensive plays and some smart pass decisions that pushed play up ice quickly. Marat is a lanky but smooth skating two way defenseman. He uses his skating ability to keep up with opponents and transition the puck with speed, using agile changes in direction to evade pressure. One defensive play that stood out came in the first period. Avto was rushing down ice and Kalimullin maintained a perfect gap between himself and the puck carrier. He forced his man to have to stay towards the outside with his skating and body position, then made a well timed step up to poke the puck away and shut down the rush. Marat used his skating well in the defensive zone while possessing the puck. He made hard cuts away from pressure, keeping his head up and scanning for breakout options. He consistently made quick, crisp passes up ice and helped advance the puck with smart decisions. There were a few moments under pressure where he just flipped the puck away. In those situations he had more time than he thought and could have reverse escaped but was not aware of his surroundings. He should have scanned for the ability to make more sound decisions. We liked Kalimullin’s game and his development but he is not at a level of play to be an efficient / consistent MHL player yet and nowhere close to being a pro level defenseman.
Matvei Krivonozhkin | Lada Togliatti | VHL | L | D | 6’3″ | 183 | Togliatti. RUS | 2006 | 2023-2024: C+ |
Game Grade: C
Comments: Neutral Zone was impressed with Kirvonozhkin’s defensive ability and quick decisions with the puck. Tonight we saw brief moments where he showed off similar plays but we left our viewing underwhelmed with his overall game. Early in the match, we noted that his gap in many situations was too tight to the puck. On opponent rush attempts he was too close getting caught flat footed and was easily walked around multiple times. He also got too close to his own teammates when they had possession of the puck which took himself out as a passing option and blocked a skating lane for his teammate to move into. When calm, he showed off a decent passing ability but a majority of his passes were rushed and off target. When pressure was applied, he often just whacked the puck up ice, iced the puck, or threw a horribly placed pass directly on the tape of an opponent. He did make a couple quick passes on the powerplay and helped set up a chance or two but had an overall weak passing game. Another thing that holds Matvei back is his foot speed. At this point he does not have the pace to beat a forechecker so he can carry the puck up ice. We also noted he did not anticipate defensive transition quickly enough and could ger caught watching the play which made him unable to recover. Some flashes of what we saw in our previous viewing but an overall poor game from Krivonozhkin.
| Daniil Rangayev | Avto Yekaterinburg | MHL | R | C | 5’11” | 154 | Togliatti. RUS | 2004 | 2021-2022: C |
Game Grade: C
Comments: Rangayev showed off a fast style of play and some slick hands. He made shifty cuts away from pressure with the puck and had a knack for getting to open space. He scored the opening goal of the game on the powerplay with a perfectly placed one timer, top shelf, after sneaking into open space. Solid night for Rangayev.
Logo Courtesy of Ladia Togliatti
Player Evaluations by Henry Lawrence