Prospect Info: 2024 Round 1, #10 Overall - LD Anton Silayev

[Its Always Sundstrom]

All we need is for him to be good at transition and I couldn’t care less about offensive production

If he mixes well with Luke, Nemo and potentially Casey with great to hopefully elite D, that’s a crazy top 4 even without Casey making it.

 

[Bcap88]

All we need is for him to be good at transition and I couldn’t care less about offensive production

With how the defense is set up skill wise silayev doesn’t need to produce 50 plus points, luke and Nemec will provide that. 30 points and shut down defense is more than enough

 

[Emperoreddy]

I'm not terribly worried about his point production

 

[My3Sons]

I'm not terribly worried about his point production

Don’t get too attached. There is still a chance Fitz trades him in the morning so don’t waste that new prospect smell while it’s still fresh.

 

[NJDevs26]

Don’t get too attached. There is still a chance Fitz trades him in the morning so don’t waste that new prospect smell while it’s still fresh.

This isn’t the NBA, ha

 

[My3Sons]

This isn’t the NBA, ha

Eddy has just been on the over the top trade train so I couldn’t resist razzing him a bit

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1806889620774457449

 

[Bcap88]

 

[Devils731]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1806846484513775826

TVA is a Canadian network.

 

[TrufleShufle]

Yea I could care less about his points, if everything works out with the players we already have, that's that last thing we need. Having a massive dude who no one notices for 15 game stretches while playing 18-20 minutes a night, until some insane Mcdavid/Mackinnon streaks past him for a goal, and everyone loses their mind because it was all his fault, and not that fact that it was a literal superstar on the other end of the stick, is exactly what we could use.

 

[StevenToddIves]

I'm going to go on the record with a positive spin in regards to Anton Silayev.

He's a unique LD -- the NHL may never have seen a player of 6'6 or above who skates as well as Silayev. He's not a "great skater for a big man", he's a great skater, period.

Silayev is excellent defensively already, and with his size, speed and wing-span he seemingly clogs up half the open ice in the defensive zone singlehandedly. He wins battles and can play the physical game. His positioning and reads need work, but I'd say he shows a strong proclivity in both areas. He's clearly a potential smothering, shut-down defender at the highest levels.

With the puck, we cannot make the mistake of thinking Silayev will ever be Luke Hughes or Cale Makar. However, he is much better with the puck at the same stage of development than most of the defense-first defensemen I have seen at this level. So we can also not make the mistake of thinking we've just drafted Jamie Oleksiak. This is a kid who I've seen make some nice outlet passes at a very strong KHL level and is capable of a bit of playmaking in the offensive zone.

Silayev will likely never be a big-time scorer, but the idea of a 40+ point shut-down stud with physicality is nothing to sneeze at, and I'd say it's fairly within reason to speculate this is the type of player Silayev can become.

Because I'm always asked this, I have to say that my pick in this situation would have been Zeev Buium. However, I am also happy with the pick of Silayev. With the Devils unexpectedly choosing between highly-regarded LDs Silayev, Buium and Dickinson, I think it became more a matter of "what type of player do we want?" than "who is the best player?" The Devils went with the player of greatest upside on the defensive side of the puck, which was Silayev.

 

[My3Sons]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1806889620774457449

His progression plan is pretty obvious in my view. Two KHL years. He signs an ELC and gets loaned back to KHL if he can’t stick with NJ out of camp. Maybe he comes over for playoffs the way Mukhamadullin did before he arrived full time.

 

[Bone Density]

This was my target for our team since day one. Cheshire cat faced. Need a Silayev avy now lol.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

I'm going to go on the record with a positive spin in regards to Anton Silayev.

He's a unique LD -- the NHL may never have seen a player of 6'6 or above who skates as well as Silayev. He's not a "great skater for a big man", he's a great skater, period.

Silayev is excellent defensively already, and with his size, speed and wing-span he seemingly clogs up half the open ice in the defensive zone singlehandedly. He wins battles and can play the physical game. His positioning and reads need work, but I'd say he shows a strong proclivity in both areas. He's clearly a potential smothering, shut-down defender at the highest levels.

With the puck, we cannot make the mistake of thinking Silayev will ever be Luke Hughes or Cale Makar. However, he is much better with the puck at the same stage of development than most of the defense-first defensemen I have seen at this level. So we can also not make the mistake of thinking we've just drafted Jamie Oleksiak. This is a kid who I've seen make some nice outlet passes at a very strong KHL level and is capable of a bit of playmaking in the offensive zone.

Silayev will likely never be a big-time scorer, but the idea of a 40+ point shut-down stud with physicality is nothing to sneeze at, and I'd say it's fairly within reason to speculate this is the type of player Silayev can become.

Because I'm always asked this, I have to say that my pick in this situation would have been Zeev Buium. However, I am also happy with the pick of Silayev. With the Devils unexpectedly choosing between highly-regarded LDs Silayev, Buium and Dickinson, I think it became more a matter of "what type of player do we want?" than "who is the best player?" The Devils went with the player of greatest upside on the defensive side of the puck, which was Silayev.

Love ya write-ups as always, STI. I agree for the points you just mentioned, he was a guy I assumed that would go top 5-7 that I just read up on to see if CBJ or someone in that range picked so I'm kinda excited they landed him at 10. As for the bolded, a lot of talk of MBN on the forward side while they were other better forwards ceiling wise but the Devils having a so-called need for a big power forward and a dman to play with their already drafted studs in Luke/Nemec. Do you think that played a role and if so, isn't it better that a team that has this collection in talent concedes a bit of BPA to find a guy who's slightly worse while filling a huge need?

 

[evnted]

Lou described it best with his orchestra analogy; the best teams are made up of players serving various, individual roles that, in combination, create a beautiful symphony. On the blue line, we currently have: a dynamic puck mover in Luke, a genius two-way threat in Nemo, an elite shooting defender in Dougie. Now? We get to add a physical, dominant, shutdown presence.

Let’s get this out of the way early: he’s huge. Silayev comes in at 6’7” 207lb, and you best believe that factors into his projection, majorly so. But, I want to quell the fears and make sure everyone knows this is NOT some size-centric selection by any means, and I’ll prove it by first discussing his game without his frame even factored in.

Silayev is not just a dominant shutdown presence, he is perhaps one of the best we’ve seen come through the draft. The player showcases an elite level understanding of the defensive position and he handles his own zone like a longtime veteran. His gap control is spectacular, he’s a complete menace in the corners fighting for pucks, his timing and anticipation are both excellent, and he defends middle ice like his life depends on it. In spite of his youth, Silayev’s defensive positioning is incredible, and every single movement he makes is deliberately calculated to suppress chances.

I hinted at it before, but he’s a physical beast, too. Not quite at the level of a Stian Solberg type bully, but Silayev is an absolute nightmare for opposing forwards to go up against in puck battles. The young defender absolutely owns the ice outside the crease and is more than willing to make anyone pay for trying to drive it. And while defending the rush? He’s always ready to crunch an opposing forward trying to streak in. Now, I don’t want this to come off like he’s only ever trying to kill forecheckers, he’s great at simply finishing checks and making proactive contact to take away space, but I imagine some huge checks will be a staple of his game long term.

Silayev is also an immaculate skater. Not perfect per se, his acceleration isn’t high end and his start and stop ability could use some work, but his four-way mobility is sublime and his top speed is quite fast. This is not a defender who is going to struggle against speed or get beat by cuts along the boards.

And perhaps the greatest aspect to his defensive game? He does all of this in combination. Silayev applies his effortless skating, great defensive stick work, and excellent physical edge in unison to beat forecheckers in a multitude of ways. He engulfs opposing forwards like a wet blanket, dampening their attack thanks to his contact, positioning, and active stick. And reminder, he’s doing this all at the KHL level against grown men (yes I said the line), we’re not talking about him beating up on children in a junior league.

Now then, take everything I just said, and scale it up a 6’7” 207lb beast. Every single aspect of his game gets that much easier to translate, and that much more effective with his reach and frame. Getting excited yet?

Of course, we certainly have some deficiencies to discuss, but I’ll present a bit of a caveat at the end. The biggest issue is that something changes with the player when he’s possessing the puck. The elite reads and anticipation are not always apparent. That’s not to say he doesn’t know how to handle the puck, but it feels as though, when trying to get it up to his forwards, he locks in on the first option he sees and commits to it, for better or for worse. So, sometimes you see him make sublime tape to tape passes that get a counterattack going quickly. Other times, you see him lob it straight to the other team, with our without being under pressure. Which side of him is the real one? I think there’s reason to believe in the good, he’s by no means getting lucky with the attempts that do connect, but it’s absolutely critical he open his eyes more and learn how to survey chances before committing, because he’s going to be pretty turnover prone if not.

One minor point to mention here is that Silayev, as a left shot defender, played a lot of RD this year. By no means can we use that as an excuse for his puck movement issues, very clearly you can load up tape and see him struggle from just about anywhere, but it does make it harder to get pucks up effectively when you don’t have the boards to rely on, so perhaps some of it could be influenced by that.

He's also not particularly skilled offensively, so anyone looking for points to validate the pick will be disappointed. Don’t let the historic KHL production fool you, either. He went on an (extremely unsustainable) early season hot streak that padded those numbers. Of course, that’s not to say he doesn’t offer anything offensively, his shot is relatively heavy for example, but no one should be expecting that much production. One positive, though, which could be a long-term benefit if built upon, is that his off-puck offensive zone movement shows flashes of very good ideas. This is a player who can activate, cerebrally attack pockets of space, and keep lanes open for his teammates to hit. We don’t see it a ton yet, and worse so is we didn’t even really see it in the MHL at the end of the year, but it does exist to a degree.

One last issue, which I really don’t care about but bares mentioning, is that his MHL playoff showing was bad. Straight up, just burn the tape bad. Minimal offensive contribution, sloppy puck management, and not even that great of shutdown play. This doesn’t really matter to me, though. Not only is it common for KHL level talents to underperform when sent down (his teammate Artamonov did the exact same thing), but it is quite easy to believe he was fatigued at that point. And, not to mention, his KHL playoff showing was so good that it seems silly to punish him for not playing down to the junior level. Still, it had to be said.

Now, what’s the caveat I was discussing? Well, I’ve already mentioned it: it’s the current composition of our roster. Silayev is not coming here to be a #1 or #2 defender, we already have young defenders who project to be that. He’s coming here to be an elite #3 who plays top penalty kill and eats a heavy, heavy defensive assignment. And guess what? That makes life easier for Luke and Nemo, too. They won’t need to be deployed in those types of roles as much now. His puck management, while still important to work on, is mitigated by the fact he has two of the best young defensive puck movers in the game next to him, as well as a forward core that’s absolutely loaded with them.

One positive for us is that Larionov looks to be an extremely forward-thinking coach, so I think we can trust that his development will be in good hands with Torpedo. Silayev, as well as fellow draft eligible Nikita Artamonov, were given unheard of opportunity to showcase their abilities at the KHL level, including even getting some power play reps at the start of the year, so I imagine Silayev will turn into a minute muncher sooner rather than later. Two years might feel long now, but as we saw with Luke in Michigan, it’ll fly by.

At the end of the day, every single team will want this player come playoff time. Every single one. And, while not the only reason, I imagine that’s a major factor why Tom and company picked him. Could you land a shutdown defender later in the draft? Certainly. Could you find one in free agency? Of course. Can you readily find a mobile 6’7” giant who’s already a proven shutdown beast in the second best league in the world as a teenager? Absolutely, positively NOT.

Simply put, this player should not have been available at 10. Bob’s consensus list from earlier this week did not just have him ranked 4th, it had him a near tier above all other defenders not named Artyom Levshunov. And, if we go further, he got as many votes as Levshunov did for top defender in the class. Two of my favorite outlets, Steve Kournianos and HockeyProspect, had him ranked 2nd and 5th, respectively. Every quote you can find from scouts raves about him, and if we factor in real scouting agencies, not just pie-in-the-sky armchair scouts, he was a near automatic top 5 selection. None of this is to say I bank my own opinion off of what other say, but it’s important to frame what the scouting community as a whole thinks of him.

And let me be honest here, while Silayev was my 9th ranked prospect, he was not my best available option, or next best, or next best, etc. But let’s focus just on the LD options because to me, given how the board shook out, that was the correct route to go. I liked the Dickinson pairing with our roster, definitely. But, Dickinson is nowhere near the shutdown guarantee that Silayev is, and while not to the same degree, he does showcase similar puck management issues. Buium? He’s awesome, and he went way lower than he should’ve, but even as a fan, that just didn’t seem to be a match given our roster. This goes back to the roster composition thing. What problem is he solving being on the team? What role is he filling? He would’ve been great, but he also would’ve been redundant to a degree. This pick is a big win for team composition.

Whether Silayev was your preferred choice or not, it is undeniable that he is a rare, immensely coveted archetype of player who will eat major minutes. He certainly has the potential to live up to the 10th selection, and potentially even overshoot it, but that’s secondary concern due to the nature of the player we’re landing and what he means to the overall composition of our blue line. We do have shutdown options in the farm and on the roster, that’s for sure, but nothing that even remotely compares to Silayev.

I cannot for the life of me imagine he comes in worse than something of a Tyler Myers. Is that what you want at 10? Absolutely not, but I’m saying, given his toolkit, advanced defensive game, and scalable success, I would be shocked beyond believe if he was not at least that good. What’s the upside, though? Probably something of a modern-day Chara, or even more physically dominant Bouwmeester. He has work do, absolutely, but this is a potentially special selection at 10.

And ultimately, that’s really what it boils down to. It is unfair that a team with a future blue line as good as ours is now adding this type of player, and I imagine anyone who’s currently down on the pick will inevitably see it that way long term. If Silayev can manage a measly 30 some points a season, at his size, with his mobility and advanced defensive game, and without being a turnover merchant, he will be seen as one of the best overall defenders in the league. Guaranteed.

Thank you, Tom, for wisely keeping the pick, and addressing a clear team need in the process. I promise you there were no Anton Silayev’s available on the trade market for 10th overall. This past season was unbearably bad, but I have no doubt Silayev’s long term value to the team will help ease the pain, in retrospect at least.

 

[Devil made me do it]

Chara was very raw early on in his career with the Isles. He was what you consider a late bloomer. Got better and smarter with age. And moving to a better system in Boston. I never in a million years expected that goofy girafe playing for the Isles to turn out and be the player he became.
From watching tape, Silayev's skating is obviously superior to that of Chara.
Again, he is a fit pick. Left shooting defenseman with size which was desperately needed.
I never liked Buium as a prospect. I don't get the hype about him. He looks undersized and there is little appeal to his game. Dickinson is the guy I coveted. Has the size, mobility and offensive upside. A lot of punch in his game. Silayev seems the opposite. More of a defensive type, which in this case is a better fit for what the Devils need. And just his presence in the ice, being so humongous and intimidating. He cloggs up a lot of ice just by his presence.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Love ya write-ups as always, STI. I agree for the points you just mentioned, he was a guy I assumed that would go top 5-7 that I just read up on to see if CBJ or someone in that range picked so I'm kinda excited they landed him at 10. As for the bolded, a lot of talk of MBN on the forward side while they were other better forwards ceiling wise but the Devils having a so-called need for a big power forward and a dman to play with their already drafted studs in Luke/Nemec. Do you think that played a role and if so, isn't it better that a team that has this collection in talent concedes a bit of BPA to find a guy who's slightly worse while filling a huge need?

In this particular draft "Best Player Available" was often a ruse. When the talent gap is so small between so many players, it's more a question of "what type of player are you looking for?"

This is to say -- Seattle at #8 overall. I thought Catton was a great pick for them. But someone could look at my list and say "but you had Nygard at #6 and Catton at #15"!!

My answer would be simple -- Seattle is a strong defensive team which is desperate for scoring. And while Nygard is a better 200-foot player than Catton, Catton is the better pure scorer. Therefore, the pick made great sense for the Kraken.

The converse of this would be Anaheim at #3. There is no tool, skill or argument which could put Sennecke over Demidov. I think the pick was made because of Demidov's Russian-ness and Sennecke's 6'3. If they both hit their talent ceilings, Sennecke could be an 80-point guy but Demidov could be a 120-point guy. It's just not close.

Ultimately, I agree with you that the Silayev pick had to do with Fitzgerald thinking far ahead into the future of the NJ blueline. With two bluechip, high-scoring future RD in Nemec and Casey and an offense-first veteran RD in Hamilton, the Devils braintrust wanted a guy who could skate and handle the puck, but mostly to shut it down in the defensive end. Clearly, they felt Silayev was the best choice to do this, and I think it's a smart pick.

It's not "better" or "worse" in 2024, it's "what do you want for your team?" The Devils wanted Silayev, and I'm excited to see how he progresses into a core role with the team.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Lou described it best with his orchestra analogy; the best teams are made up of players serving various, individual roles that, in combination, create a beautiful symphony. On the blue line, we currently have: a dynamic puck mover in Luke, a genius two-way threat in Nemo, an elite shooting defender in Dougie. Now? We get to add a physical, dominant, shutdown presence.

Let’s get this out of the way early: he’s huge. Silayev comes in at 6’7” 207lb, and you best believe that factors into his projection, majorly so. But, I want to quell the fears and make sure everyone knows this is NOT some size-centric selection by any means, and I’ll prove it by first discussing his game without his frame even factored in.

Silayev is not just a dominant shutdown presence, he is perhaps one of the best we’ve seen come through the draft. The player showcases an elite level understanding of the defensive position and he handles his own zone like a longtime veteran. His gap control is spectacular, he’s a complete menace in the corners fighting for pucks, his timing and anticipation are both excellent, and he defends middle ice like his life depends on it. In spite of his youth, Silayev’s defensive positioning is incredible, and every single movement he makes is deliberately calculated to suppress chances.

I hinted at it before, but he’s a physical beast, too. Not quite at the level of a Stian Solberg type bully, but Silayev is an absolute nightmare for opposing forwards to go up against in puck battles. The young defender absolutely owns the ice outside the crease and is more than willing to make anyone pay for trying to drive it. And while defending the rush? He’s always ready to crunch an opposing forward trying to streak in. Now, I don’t want this to come off like he’s only ever trying to kill forecheckers, he’s great at simply finishing checks and making proactive contact to take away space, but I imagine some huge checks will be a staple of his game long term.

Silayev is also an immaculate skater. Not perfect per se, his acceleration isn’t high end and his start and stop ability could use some work, but his four-way mobility is sublime and his top speed is quite fast. This is not a defender who is going to struggle against speed or get beat by cuts along the boards.

And perhaps the greatest aspect to his defensive game? He does all of this in combination. Silayev applies his effortless skating, great defensive stick work, and excellent physical edge in unison to beat forecheckers in a multitude of ways. He engulfs opposing forwards like a wet blanket, dampening their attack thanks to his contact, positioning, and active stick. And reminder, he’s doing this all at the KHL level against grown men (yes I said the line), we’re not talking about him beating up on children in a junior league.

Now then, take everything I just said, and scale it up a 6’7” 207lb beast. Every single aspect of his game gets that much easier to translate, and that much more effective with his reach and frame. Getting excited yet?

Of course, we certainly have some deficiencies to discuss, but I’ll present a bit of a caveat at the end. The biggest issue is that something changes with the player when he’s possessing the puck. The elite reads and anticipation are not always apparent. That’s not to say he doesn’t know how to handle the puck, but it feels as though, when trying to get it up to his forwards, he locks in on the first option he sees and commits to it, for better or for worse. So, sometimes you see him make sublime tape to tape passes that get a counterattack going quickly. Other times, you see him lob it straight to the other team, with our without being under pressure. Which side of him is the real one? I think there’s reason to believe in the good, he’s by no means getting lucky with the attempts that do connect, but it’s absolutely critical he open his eyes more and learn how to survey chances before committing, because he’s going to be pretty turnover prone if not.

One minor point to mention here is that Silayev, as a left shot defender, played a lot of RD this year. By no means can we use that as an excuse for his puck movement issues, very clearly you can load up tape and see him struggle from just about anywhere, but it does make it harder to get pucks up effectively when you don’t have the boards to rely on, so perhaps some of it could be influenced by that.

He's also not particularly skilled offensively, so anyone looking for points to validate the pick will be disappointed. Don’t let the historic KHL production fool you, either. He went on an (extremely unsustainable) early season hot streak that padded those numbers. Of course, that’s not to say he doesn’t offer anything offensively, his shot is relatively heavy for example, but no one should be expecting that much production. One positive, though, which could be a long-term benefit if built upon, is that his off-puck offensive zone movement shows flashes of very good ideas. This is a player who can activate, cerebrally attack pockets of space, and keep lanes open for his teammates to hit. We don’t see it a ton yet, and worse so is we didn’t even really see it in the MHL at the end of the year, but it does exist to a degree.

One last issue, which I really don’t care about but bares mentioning, is that his MHL playoff showing was bad. Straight up, just burn the tape bad. Minimal offensive contribution, sloppy puck management, and not even that great of shutdown play. This doesn’t really matter to me, though. Not only is it common for KHL level talents to underperform when sent down (his teammate Artamonov did the exact same thing), but it is quite easy to believe he was fatigued at that point. And, not to mention, his KHL playoff showing was so good that it seems silly to punish him for not playing down to the junior level. Still, it had to be said.

Now, what’s the caveat I was discussing? Well, I’ve already mentioned it: it’s the current composition of our roster. Silayev is not coming here to be a #1 or #2 defender, we already have young defenders who project to be that. He’s coming here to be an elite #3 who plays top penalty kill and eats a heavy, heavy defensive assignment. And guess what? That makes life easier for Luke and Nemo, too. They won’t need to be deployed in those types of roles as much now. His puck management, while still important to work on, is mitigated by the fact he has two of the best young defensive puck movers in the game next to him, as well as a forward core that’s absolutely loaded with them.

One positive for us is that Larionov looks to be an extremely forward-thinking coach, so I think we can trust that his development will be in good hands with Torpedo. Silayev, as well as fellow draft eligible Nikita Artamonov, were given unheard of opportunity to showcase their abilities at the KHL level, including even getting some power play reps at the start of the year, so I imagine Silayev will turn into a minute muncher sooner rather than later. Two years might feel long now, but as we saw with Luke in Michigan, it’ll fly by.

At the end of the day, every single team will want this player come playoff time. Every single one. And, while not the only reason, I imagine that’s a major factor why Tom and company picked him. Could you land a shutdown defender later in the draft? Certainly. Could you find one in free agency? Of course. Can you readily find a mobile 6’7” giant who’s already a proven shutdown beast in the second best league in the world as a teenager? Absolutely, positively NOT.

Simply put, this player should not have been available at 10. Bob’s consensus list from earlier this week did not just have him ranked 4th, it had him a near tier above all other defenders not named Artyom Levshunov. And, if we go further, he got as many votes as Levshunov did for top defender in the class. Two of my favorite outlets, Steve Kournianos and HockeyProspect, had him ranked 2nd and 5th, respectively. Every quote you can find from scouts raves about him, and if we factor in real scouting agencies, not just pie-in-the-sky armchair scouts, he was a near automatic top 5 selection. None of this is to say I bank my own opinion off of what other say, but it’s important to frame what the scouting community as a whole thinks of him.

And let me be honest here, while Silayev was my 9th ranked prospect, he was not my best available option, or next best, or next best, etc. But let’s focus just on the LD options because to me, given how the board shook out, that was the correct route to go. I liked the Dickinson pairing with our roster, definitely. But, Dickinson is nowhere near the shutdown guarantee that Silayev is, and while not to the same degree, he does showcase similar puck management issues. Buium? He’s awesome, and he went way lower than he should’ve, but even as a fan, that just didn’t seem to be a match given our roster. This goes back to the roster composition thing. What problem is he solving being on the team? What role is he filling? He would’ve been great, but he also would’ve been redundant to a degree. This pick is a big win for team composition.

Whether Silayev was your preferred choice or not, it is undeniable that he is a rare, immensely coveted archetype of player who will eat major minutes. He certainly has the potential to live up to the 10th selection, and potentially even overshoot it, but that’s secondary concern due to the nature of the player we’re landing and what he means to the overall composition of our blue line. We do have shutdown options in the farm and on the roster, that’s for sure, but nothing that even remotely compares to Silayev.

I cannot for the life of me imagine he comes in worse than something of a Tyler Myers. Is that what you want at 10? Absolutely not, but I’m saying, given his toolkit, advanced defensive game, and scalable success, I would be shocked beyond believe if he was not at least that good. What’s the upside, though? Probably something of a modern-day Chara, or even more physically dominant Bouwmeester. He has work do, absolutely, but this is a potentially special selection at 10.

And ultimately, that’s really what it boils down to. It is unfair that a team with a future blue line as good as ours is now adding this type of player, and I imagine anyone who’s currently down on the pick will inevitably see it that way long term. If Silayev can manage a measly 30 some points a season, at his size, with his mobility and advanced defensive game, and without being a turnover merchant, he will be seen as one of the best overall defenders in the league. Guaranteed.

Thank you, Tom, for wisely keeping the pick, and addressing a clear team need in the process. I promise you there were no Anton Silayev’s available on the trade market for 10th overall. This past season was unbearably bad, but I have no doubt Silayev’s long term value to the team will help ease the pain, in retrospect at least.

This is the perfect post for the Silayev pick and everyone needs to read it.

 

[pkbrux]

If you took most NHL teams and factored in their current and future defensemen, Buium may have been the best pick for a lot of those teams. Most teams need puck moving defensemen with a lot of upside. But when you look at the Devils current and future defensive projections, Silayev is 100% the correct selection IMO.

 

[NjDevsRR]

I'm going to go on the record with a positive spin in regards to Anton Silayev.

He's a unique LD -- the NHL may never have seen a player of 6'6 or above who skates as well as Silayev. He's not a "great skater for a big man", he's a great skater, period.

Silayev is excellent defensively already, and with his size, speed and wing-span he seemingly clogs up half the open ice in the defensive zone singlehandedly. He wins battles and can play the physical game. His positioning and reads need work, but I'd say he shows a strong proclivity in both areas. He's clearly a potential smothering, shut-down defender at the highest levels.

With the puck, we cannot make the mistake of thinking Silayev will ever be Luke Hughes or Cale Makar. However, he is much better with the puck at the same stage of development than most of the defense-first defensemen I have seen at this level. So we can also not make the mistake of thinking we've just drafted Jamie Oleksiak. This is a kid who I've seen make some nice outlet passes at a very strong KHL level and is capable of a bit of playmaking in the offensive zone.

Silayev will likely never be a big-time scorer, but the idea of a 40+ point shut-down stud with physicality is nothing to sneeze at, and I'd say it's fairly within reason to speculate this is the type of player Silayev can become.

Because I'm always asked this, I have to say that my pick in this situation would have been Zeev Buium. However, I am also happy with the pick of Silayev. With the Devils unexpectedly choosing between highly-regarded LDs Silayev, Buium and Dickinson, I think it became more a matter of "what type of player do we want?" than "who is the best player?" The Devils went with the player of greatest upside on the defensive side of the puck, which was Silayev.

Lou described it best with his orchestra analogy; the best teams are made up of players serving various, individual roles that, in combination, create a beautiful symphony. On the blue line, we currently have: a dynamic puck mover in Luke, a genius two-way threat in Nemo, an elite shooting defender in Dougie. Now? We get to add a physical, dominant, shutdown presence.

Let’s get this out of the way early: he’s huge. Silayev comes in at 6’7” 207lb, and you best believe that factors into his projection, majorly so. But, I want to quell the fears and make sure everyone knows this is NOT some size-centric selection by any means, and I’ll prove it by first discussing his game without his frame even factored in.

Silayev is not just a dominant shutdown presence, he is perhaps one of the best we’ve seen come through the draft. The player showcases an elite level understanding of the defensive position and he handles his own zone like a longtime veteran. His gap control is spectacular, he’s a complete menace in the corners fighting for pucks, his timing and anticipation are both excellent, and he defends middle ice like his life depends on it. In spite of his youth, Silayev’s defensive positioning is incredible, and every single movement he makes is deliberately calculated to suppress chances.

I hinted at it before, but he’s a physical beast, too. Not quite at the level of a Stian Solberg type bully, but Silayev is an absolute nightmare for opposing forwards to go up against in puck battles. The young defender absolutely owns the ice outside the crease and is more than willing to make anyone pay for trying to drive it. And while defending the rush? He’s always ready to crunch an opposing forward trying to streak in. Now, I don’t want this to come off like he’s only ever trying to kill forecheckers, he’s great at simply finishing checks and making proactive contact to take away space, but I imagine some huge checks will be a staple of his game long term.

Silayev is also an immaculate skater. Not perfect per se, his acceleration isn’t high end and his start and stop ability could use some work, but his four-way mobility is sublime and his top speed is quite fast. This is not a defender who is going to struggle against speed or get beat by cuts along the boards.

And perhaps the greatest aspect to his defensive game? He does all of this in combination. Silayev applies his effortless skating, great defensive stick work, and excellent physical edge in unison to beat forecheckers in a multitude of ways. He engulfs opposing forwards like a wet blanket, dampening their attack thanks to his contact, positioning, and active stick. And reminder, he’s doing this all at the KHL level against grown men (yes I said the line), we’re not talking about him beating up on children in a junior league.

Now then, take everything I just said, and scale it up a 6’7” 207lb beast. Every single aspect of his game gets that much easier to translate, and that much more effective with his reach and frame. Getting excited yet?

Of course, we certainly have some deficiencies to discuss, but I’ll present a bit of a caveat at the end. The biggest issue is that something changes with the player when he’s possessing the puck. The elite reads and anticipation are not always apparent. That’s not to say he doesn’t know how to handle the puck, but it feels as though, when trying to get it up to his forwards, he locks in on the first option he sees and commits to it, for better or for worse. So, sometimes you see him make sublime tape to tape passes that get a counterattack going quickly. Other times, you see him lob it straight to the other team, with our without being under pressure. Which side of him is the real one? I think there’s reason to believe in the good, he’s by no means getting lucky with the attempts that do connect, but it’s absolutely critical he open his eyes more and learn how to survey chances before committing, because he’s going to be pretty turnover prone if not.

One minor point to mention here is that Silayev, as a left shot defender, played a lot of RD this year. By no means can we use that as an excuse for his puck movement issues, very clearly you can load up tape and see him struggle from just about anywhere, but it does make it harder to get pucks up effectively when you don’t have the boards to rely on, so perhaps some of it could be influenced by that.

He's also not particularly skilled offensively, so anyone looking for points to validate the pick will be disappointed. Don’t let the historic KHL production fool you, either. He went on an (extremely unsustainable) early season hot streak that padded those numbers. Of course, that’s not to say he doesn’t offer anything offensively, his shot is relatively heavy for example, but no one should be expecting that much production. One positive, though, which could be a long-term benefit if built upon, is that his off-puck offensive zone movement shows flashes of very good ideas. This is a player who can activate, cerebrally attack pockets of space, and keep lanes open for his teammates to hit. We don’t see it a ton yet, and worse so is we didn’t even really see it in the MHL at the end of the year, but it does exist to a degree.

One last issue, which I really don’t care about but bares mentioning, is that his MHL playoff showing was bad. Straight up, just burn the tape bad. Minimal offensive contribution, sloppy puck management, and not even that great of shutdown play. This doesn’t really matter to me, though. Not only is it common for KHL level talents to underperform when sent down (his teammate Artamonov did the exact same thing), but it is quite easy to believe he was fatigued at that point. And, not to mention, his KHL playoff showing was so good that it seems silly to punish him for not playing down to the junior level. Still, it had to be said.

Now, what’s the caveat I was discussing? Well, I’ve already mentioned it: it’s the current composition of our roster. Silayev is not coming here to be a #1 or #2 defender, we already have young defenders who project to be that. He’s coming here to be an elite #3 who plays top penalty kill and eats a heavy, heavy defensive assignment. And guess what? That makes life easier for Luke and Nemo, too. They won’t need to be deployed in those types of roles as much now. His puck management, while still important to work on, is mitigated by the fact he has two of the best young defensive puck movers in the game next to him, as well as a forward core that’s absolutely loaded with them.

One positive for us is that Larionov looks to be an extremely forward-thinking coach, so I think we can trust that his development will be in good hands with Torpedo. Silayev, as well as fellow draft eligible Nikita Artamonov, were given unheard of opportunity to showcase their abilities at the KHL level, including even getting some power play reps at the start of the year, so I imagine Silayev will turn into a minute muncher sooner rather than later. Two years might feel long now, but as we saw with Luke in Michigan, it’ll fly by.

At the end of the day, every single team will want this player come playoff time. Every single one. And, while not the only reason, I imagine that’s a major factor why Tom and company picked him. Could you land a shutdown defender later in the draft? Certainly. Could you find one in free agency? Of course. Can you readily find a mobile 6’7” giant who’s already a proven shutdown beast in the second best league in the world as a teenager? Absolutely, positively NOT.

Simply put, this player should not have been available at 10. Bob’s consensus list from earlier this week did not just have him ranked 4th, it had him a near tier above all other defenders not named Artyom Levshunov. And, if we go further, he got as many votes as Levshunov did for top defender in the class. Two of my favorite outlets, Steve Kournianos and HockeyProspect, had him ranked 2nd and 5th, respectively. Every quote you can find from scouts raves about him, and if we factor in real scouting agencies, not just pie-in-the-sky armchair scouts, he was a near automatic top 5 selection. None of this is to say I bank my own opinion off of what other say, but it’s important to frame what the scouting community as a whole thinks of him.

And let me be honest here, while Silayev was my 9th ranked prospect, he was not my best available option, or next best, or next best, etc. But let’s focus just on the LD options because to me, given how the board shook out, that was the correct route to go. I liked the Dickinson pairing with our roster, definitely. But, Dickinson is nowhere near the shutdown guarantee that Silayev is, and while not to the same degree, he does showcase similar puck management issues. Buium? He’s awesome, and he went way lower than he should’ve, but even as a fan, that just didn’t seem to be a match given our roster. This goes back to the roster composition thing. What problem is he solving being on the team? What role is he filling? He would’ve been great, but he also would’ve been redundant to a degree. This pick is a big win for team composition.

Whether Silayev was your preferred choice or not, it is undeniable that he is a rare, immensely coveted archetype of player who will eat major minutes. He certainly has the potential to live up to the 10th selection, and potentially even overshoot it, but that’s secondary concern due to the nature of the player we’re landing and what he means to the overall composition of our blue line. We do have shutdown options in the farm and on the roster, that’s for sure, but nothing that even remotely compares to Silayev.

I cannot for the life of me imagine he comes in worse than something of a Tyler Myers. Is that what you want at 10? Absolutely not, but I’m saying, given his toolkit, advanced defensive game, and scalable success, I would be shocked beyond believe if he was not at least that good. What’s the upside, though? Probably something of a modern-day Chara, or even more physically dominant Bouwmeester. He has work do, absolutely, but this is a potentially special selection at 10.

And ultimately, that’s really what it boils down to. It is unfair that a team with a future blue line as good as ours is now adding this type of player, and I imagine anyone who’s currently down on the pick will inevitably see it that way long term. If Silayev can manage a measly 30 some points a season, at his size, with his mobility and advanced defensive game, and without being a turnover merchant, he will be seen as one of the best overall defenders in the league. Guaranteed.

Thank you, Tom, for wisely keeping the pick, and addressing a clear team need in the process. I promise you there were no Anton Silayev’s available on the trade market for 10th overall. This past season was unbearably bad, but I have no doubt Silayev’s long term value to the team will help ease the pain, in retrospect at least.

 

[Rhodes 81]

Man I'm still fired up about this. I just love this pick. I think those of you that are super down on it got married to the idea of certain prospects that were more commonly expected to still be available. Maybe Buium is as good of a prospect, but I don't think you can say for sure he's better.

The Mukhamdullin comparison is lazy, but one key reason I loved that pick as well was that you're talking about a D that played a real role on a KHL team at 17. That alone along with the size and skating is an awesome combination. I really think in 3 years we're going to be watching him swallow up offenses trying to establish possession in the zone and in time, dominating on the PK. The offensive worries are overblown. He has the skill to get the puck up ice and that's good enough to be an excellent defenseman.

They're not perfect analogies, but I truly think Silayev will be to Hughes and Nemec what Hjalmarsson was to Keith and Seabrook or even Daneyko was to Neids and Stevens. Past when our star forwards are aging out of their primes, these three D are going to carry our team on their backs.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

So curious, if the Wild called you up right now and said, "Hey, we'll give you Buium if you give us either Nemec or Luke"...would you make either of those trades?

I mean it’s a stupid hypothetical but no because they’re already playing in the NHL showing us what they can do. Nor would I do so with any prospect in the draft apart from Celebrini

 

[Devil X]

I mean I dunno much about the kid. But reviewing Mock Drafts from earlier just before the draft or Thursday most of them had this kid going 3rd to the Ducks. I think the lowest i saw him was 6. Means that then general consensus seemed to be he was a top 5 player maybe even top 3 entering today. To land him at 10 is pretty good.

Look forward to watching him grow and hope he can get out of that contact early haha

 

[Emperoreddy]

I would prefer to get him to NA asap and let him get used to smaller ice and our staff to help teach him his stick skills

 

[pkbrux]

I mean it’s a stupid hypothetical but no because they’re already playing in the NHL showing us what they can do. Nor would I do so with any prospect in the draft apart from Celebrini

I meant, who would you rather have at the time of their draft...2021 Luke Hughes, 2022 Simon Nemec or 2024 Zeev Buium? From the way you talk about them, seems like you like Buium the best, which to me is bonkers.