LD Anton Silayev - Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod, KHL (2024, 10th, NJ)

[Garl]

1 In general, players produce more difficult in the KHL, but points can't tell the whole story. There are many players who produce more in the NHL than in the KHL. The advantage of Sweden or Switzerland for a pro is that the trips are shorter but generally, KHL is seen as a bigger challenge. Name me a player who plays in the SHL or NLA because the championship is tougher and more prestigious than the KHL...

2 One player does not affect the level of a league. The national base makes the difference. No match between the level of current national players compared to 10 years ago.

3 My point is that you don't know of any Russian defensemen or goalies for the next few years in the draft.

4 Silayev, Nikishin, Michkov, KHL level... It’s okay, we all understand here.

It has already been said but a 6-7 defenseman who establishes himself in the KHL at 17 years old in a top 4 - this is necessarily a player who will be selected very high. We don't even talk about the points. Even with a collapse in offensive production, he will be top 20 like Mukhamadullin was.

1. There are lots of players in Europe who woudl have been in KHL now normally, I don't think I need to explain why.
2. National base? Well in Sweden this base at least as good as in Russia and they have 14 teams while in Russia they have 20. Imports used to be an advantage of KHL, but not anymore. And where was all of this awesome "russian base" before 24.02.22, when imports dominated KHL scoresheets?
3.For goalies I know that Andreyanov is very hyped for 2025. Now, I am not scouting in Russia, so I don't need to know this, but people who do scouting usually know.
4.Look, historically KHL doesn't produce much when it comes to NHL talent. Which defensemen has KHL produced? Voynov? Michal Kempny? Oscar Fantenberg? It is not much, we can say Gavrikov and Zub maybe, but that's it. Very small achievement in 15 years. Even with forwards it produced Panarin, Tarasenko, Kuznetsov, then Kaprizov and that's pretty much it, well maybe Nichushkin can be counted along with Kuzmenko. It is strange that you act as if KHL was some kind of talent factory, they don't produce much and lots of their top players totally flopped in NHL.

As for Silayev, yes, I don't see him falling out of the 1st round now, however, he is still a mistery box for me.

 

[Garl]

Jokerit was not raising the level of the league. The team never made it past the 2nd round.

There was no star before the war. The league level has not collapsed because there are 30 fewer Swedish players. Their departure is offset by a recession in the number of teams (26 teams in 2021; 23 this year) and the improvement in the level of national players compared to the previous generation. Hrivik and Gernat are top players for SHL and NLA. In the KHL, there are better than them.

Through all the Czech and Slovak players, I perceive the difference in level between the leagues. Compares the level of North American players playing in the KHL compared to SHL or NLA. The KHL group is clearly the best (Alex Galchenyuk, Gemel Smith, Cédric Paquette, Madison Bowey...).

Jokerit obviously was raising the level of the league. 2nd round was unbreakable due to SKA/CSKA playing in the West.

How is their departure offset by number of teams? It makes no sense, Jokerit and Riga left, Lada joined. Jokerit and Riga didn't use russian players at all. Number of russian team actually grew.

The exodus was massive and those were mostly top players on their teams.

This "improvement of russian players" is based on air. Where was that "improvement" when euros were in KHL? And why it is that average guys who played in Europe like Broadhurst or Kristof or Rendulic are leaders of their teams?

Hrivik and Gernat are good players. They were not "stars" in SHL or NL. They were/are good players in KHL aswell.
Who were top NL defensemen last year for example?
Well some of them: Lehtonen, Heed, Djuse, Loov, Dahllbeck recently played in KHL and were also good there. A guy like Oliwer Kaski was actually better in Russia than in Switzerland.
In SHL some of the top guys: Bengtsson, Fantenberg, Pokka, Lennstrom, Hultstrom also recently played in KHL and were good.
Robin Press was easily best defenseman and player on playoff Severstal team last year and now is a TOP 4 defenseman and best scoring D on league leading Metallurg team. Several years ago he failed to make SHL roster

Regarding north americans, last year NL had O'Neill, Desharnais, Connelly, Sceviour, Ennis, Winnik, Noreau, Schroeder, Arcobello, Audette, Azevedo, Sheahan, Gelinas, Abdelkader I mean, it is comparable at least. Gemel Smith and Paquette are role players with no serious skill, Galchenyuk looks washed up, same with Bowey. I mean would someone in NL take Galchenyuk over someone like O'Neill or lets say Dominik Kahun? Or Bowey over Tommernes? No way

 

[Astyanax]

Your participation on the site essentially amounts to belittling players of Russian and Belarusian nationality.

Demidov in the 1st round is such a no-brainer. Silayev was unknown until then because no one has access to Russian hockey outside of KHL/VHL/MHL.

But in general, a defender who has a full season under 18 in KHL - that's 1st round.

The idea of seeing him very high like Simashev last year is not surprising.

Silayev's profile is so rare.

I absolutely agree and yet nikishin(went in 3rd) I was so hoping detroit would man up and take AN in the second. But alas, where these young men go and to whom and where they belong it not for us to say.

 

[Astyanax]

10 points this is Tarasenko. He should break the U18 record.

It's so crazy. In 6 games, he went from unknown to a credible profile to be number 1 in the draft.

Chronic or ephemeral ?

So, is it just either, or? No Grey area in-between? After all he is just 17. I mean one day, your smoking that good stuff and the next day your flying those diaphanous gossamer wings too close to the flame.

 

[Astyanax]

Hopefully more than Erik Johnson-lite. One of the more disappointing hot shot prospects in my time.

I turly mean no disrespect, but who wouldn't want Eric Johnson on their team? Did he live up to first overall, maybe not. But that was not a great draft. There were some surprises but in a redraft of the top 10 alone I think I still take him 5 or 6. Hindsight makes it all so clear.

 

[Guadana]

Owen Power was better skater and more offensively talented in his draft year. More like Simon Edvinsson from recent draft picks.

Although both are really not similar anyway when it ocmes to Silayev(based on small sample size so far.)

Edvinsson is a better skater than Power.

 

[Dirtyf1ghter]

1. There are lots of players in Europe who woudl have been in KHL now normally, I don't think I need to explain why.
2. National base? Well in Sweden this base at least as good as in Russia and they have 14 teams while in Russia they have 20. Imports used to be an advantage of KHL, but not anymore. And where was all of this awesome "russian base" before 24.02.22, when imports dominated KHL scoresheets?
3.For goalies I know that Andreyanov is very hyped for 2025. Now, I am not scouting in Russia, so I don't need to know this, but people who do scouting usually know.
4.Look, historically KHL doesn't produce much when it comes to NHL talent. Which defensemen has KHL produced? Voynov? Michal Kempny? Oscar Fantenberg? It is not much, we can say Gavrikov and Zub maybe, but that's it. Very small achievement in 15 years. Even with forwards it produced Panarin, Tarasenko, Kuznetsov, then Kaprizov and that's pretty much it, well maybe Nichushkin can be counted along with Kuzmenko. It is strange that you act as if KHL was some kind of talent factory, they don't produce much and lots of their top players totally flopped in NHL.

As for Silayev, yes, I don't see him falling out of the 1st round now, however, he is still a mistery box for me.

1. This is not enough to say that KHL is behind NLA or SHL. The fact that 3 teams were trimmed makes up for this loss. The weakest players also left the league.

2. I had thought about your argument about the equivalent Swedish national base with less teams. But there are many more expatriate Swedes. About 80 more. And there are more foreigners in the KHL. Which as a whole are a cut above.

3. Ok so let's assume that Russia will continue to produce elite players every year.

If KHL teams played the Champions League, they would dominate the competition.

Jokerit obviously was raising the level of the league. 2nd round was unbreakable due to SKA/CSKA playing in the West.

How is their departure offset by number of teams? It makes no sense, Jokerit and Riga left, Lada joined. Jokerit and Riga didn't use russian players at all. Number of russian team actually grew.

The exodus was massive and those were mostly top players on their teams.

This "improvement of russian players" is based on air. Where was that "improvement" when euros were in KHL? And why it is that average guys who played in Europe like Broadhurst or Kristof or Rendulic are leaders of their teams?

Hrivik and Gernat are good players. They were not "stars" in SHL or NL. They were/are good players in KHL aswell.
Who were top NL defensemen last year for example?
Well some of them: Lehtonen, Heed, Djuse, Loov, Dahllbeck recently played in KHL and were also good there. A guy like Oliwer Kaski was actually better in Russia than in Switzerland.
In SHL some of the top guys: Bengtsson, Fantenberg, Pokka, Lennstrom, Hultstrom also recently played in KHL and were good.
Robin Press was easily best defenseman and player on playoff Severstal team last year and now is a TOP 4 defenseman and best scoring D on league leading Metallurg team. Several years ago he failed to make SHL roster

Regarding north americans, last year NL had O'Neill, Desharnais, Connelly, Sceviour, Ennis, Winnik, Noreau, Schroeder, Arcobello, Audette, Azevedo, Sheahan, Gelinas, Abdelkader I mean, it is comparable at least. Gemel Smith and Paquette are role players with no serious skill, Galchenyuk looks washed up, same with Bowey. I mean would someone in NL take Galchenyuk over someone like O'Neill or lets say Dominik Kahun? Or Bowey over Tommernes? No way

All the guys you mention are the best in their league and correspond to very good KHL players. But I never thought otherwise. But the KHL summit is higher.

Here is the list of SHL vs KHL defenders. But I'm talking to a blind man.

You take a guy like Robin Press and compare his points at the start of his career compared to his points during his peak without mentioning that his time in Liiga in the meantime demonstrates a clear evolution which continued in the KHL.


You stuck for a year on the Simashev topic by not listening to the echoes that presented him as the best defensive defenseman in the NHL.

 

[WarriorofTime]

He might be the most underrated prospect in this year's draft.

 

[ijuka]

He might be the most underrated prospect in this year's draft.

I think Recrutes has him first overall.

 

[MichaelFarrell]

This guy might go top 3. He’s a beast. 6’7, physical, decent mobility, he jumps into play in the offensive zone, and can QB a power play? Sh*t man, he might go number one.

 

[Marc the Habs Fan]

https://www.tvasports.ca/2023/09/27/konyushkov-serait-deja-un-joueur-cle-pour-montreal---igor-larionov

«La première fois que je l’ai vu, c’était l’an dernier et il n’avait que 16 ans, se souvient Larionov. Je l’avais invité à un de nos entraînements. Je me suis tout de suite dit : "C’est tout un joueur." Il me rappelle un jeune Borje Salming. Avec son cœur, ses qualités de patineur et son tir, j’essaie de le développer pour qu’il devienne ce genre de joueur.»

Larionov compares Silayev to a young Borje Salming with his heart, his qualities as a skater and his shot. Larionov is trying to mold him into that type of player.

Larionov adds that they invited him for a practice last year, which was the first time he saw him, and immediately Larionov told himself ''He is one heck of a player.''

 

[NotProkofievian]

https://www.tvasports.ca/2023/09/27/konyushkov-serait-deja-un-joueur-cle-pour-montreal---igor-larionov

Larionov compares Silayev to a young Borje Salming with his heart, his qualities as a skater and his shot. Larionov is trying to mold him into that type of player.

Larionov adds that they invited him for a practice last year, which was the first time he saw him, and immediately Larionov told himself ''He is one heck of a player.''

Larionov is doing a great job with Torpedo.

 

[austin63867]

Pointless in his last 5 games.

Watching his game against Vityaz on the 26th and my view feels a bit mixed in this one. Really good skating for his size and decent shutdown defense but he deals with a few coordination issues and doesn't really stand out too much or manages to take over enough to be the top D prospect for me. Definitely some R1 traits but I have to see more.

 

[austin63867]

So I watched 5 of Silayev's games so far, and I'm torn on how I feel on him. Again, that skating for his size is rare, and he has a nice shot with some decent playmaking. The issues I have is that Silayev struggles with turnovers and bad bounces and can't recover, sometimes leading to breakaways from the other team. He does struggle with coordination sometimes, but sometimes he's fine so maybe it's a growing pain. Feel sometimes he gets distracted watching the puck and loses focus of the rest of the ice, which leads to teams getting chances because he doesn't cover them like he should be doing. Not sure if this is a consistent pattern but I noticed it in 2 of his Games where he's puck watching in his own zone. Half of his points as well are secondary assists, but the 3 others are decent plays. His offense is a bit better than Simashev, which was a concern because Simashev had better MHL numbers, but Simashev was a much more advanced defensive player.

Feel that Silayev has the skills to be an NHLer, but he's still very raw, and I think some time in the MHL would do him good, even with his strong start. There's times he's a legitimate two-way D, but there's times where he doesn't seem KHL ready. The size and skill combo is definitely worth taking the chance on, but I'm not even sure he's a first Rounder for me if he's just 6'2 or 6'3. There's still months left to go so I'm not going to say his potential is limited, because I see the potential for him to be a skilled player. I don't think he can take over like Dickinson and he doesn't have the offensive puckhandling skills of Kiviharju. Feels like a mid-to-late 1st Rounder as of right now, but if he develops from his best assets (shooting, poise) he could be deserving of the Top 10 in the future as the tools are there for a top-line D, but if the draft was today, I couldn't justify that. I just didn't see someone I think can be a top-line Defenseman just yet. But there's room in Silayev's future to do so, he just has to prove he didn't just get lucky with a hot start.

 

[austin63867]

One very concerning play was against Minsk where Silayev completely fans a pass attempt, leading to a (Red Wings Legend) Gemel Smith breakaway chance. Silayev does good catching up but he almost cost the team a goal. A few seconds later, Silayev gets caught puck watching in his own zone and loses Smith in coverage, where Smith manages to almost score because Silayev is distracted following the puck, not noticing Smith behind him at the net. A few concerning moments in his game that show that he's still a deeply raw prospect.

 

[BKarchitect]

Great reports. Nice to see some in-game evaluation. Lots of either X points in X games and 6-7 he’s amazing therefore he is clearly a better prospect than so and so who has only 2 points” on one side versus “Russian dman gonna disappoint” on the other.

I think he’s certainly getting noticed as BMac’s initial 2024 rankings show but the idea that he is big and putting up some points equating to he’s a natural OFD phenom and should be a top 3 pick is heavily premature. Sample size and opportunity play huge roles. I’m not saying this is going to happen but what if he gets dealt to SKA or CSKA later this year and ends up playing a large slate of MHL or VHL games? Does that suddenly make him a less impressive piece of clay for some franchise to draft and mold? Or is some of the hyperbole related to his opportunity to put up some points on an all-offensive system with Torpedo and Larionov and on a team that is going to live with the mistakes and rough edges?

 

[GermanSpitfire]

Great reports. Nice to see some in-game evaluation. Lots of either X points in X games and 6-7 he’s amazing therefore he is clearly a better prospect than so and so who has only 2 points” on one side versus “Russian dman gonna disappoint” on the other.

I think he’s certainly getting noticed as BMac’s initial 2024 rankings show but the idea that he is big and putting up some points equating to he’s a natural OFD phenom and should be a top 3 pick is heavily premature. Sample size and opportunity play huge roles. I’m not saying this is going to happen but what if he gets dealt to SKA or CSKA later this year and ends up playing a large slate of MHL or VHL games? Does that suddenly make him a less impressive piece of clay for some franchise to draft and mold? Or is some of the hyperbole related to his opportunity to put up some points on an all-offensive system with Torpedo and Larionov and on a team that is going to live with the mistakes and rough edges?

This is a fantastic post, as were your evaluations @austin63867.

 

[austin63867]

This is a fantastic post, as were your evaluations @austin63867.

Glad it was helpful. I will say that there are things Silayev does that are projectable to the NHL level. His skating is good, not even just for his size, and he's already a decent forechecker. I do think there is the potential that eventually I'll have him Top 10 with more time but right now feels too soon and is just going off projectables. He's a first Rounder for me but maybe in the late teens to early 20s for me.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Thanks for the write-up! Sounds like he is very raw, but some of that is expected for a young defenseman. He will be a curious one to follow throughout the draft process.

 

[austin63867]

Thanks for the write-up! Sounds like he is very raw, but some of that is expected for a young defenseman. He will be a curious one to follow throughout the draft process.

Yeah definitely. He's not as refined as Dickinson and Levshunov but he's an impressive player who can go either way in his development. There's massive upside with his potential no doubt. The fact that I rate him lower isn't a criticism of him, it's just that he's much more raw than many of the other top players.

 

[GermanSpitfire]

Glad it was helpful. I will say that there are things Silayev does that are projectable to the NHL level. His skating is good, not even just for his size, and he's already a decent forechecker. I do think there is the potential that eventually I'll have him Top 10 with more time but right now feels too soon and is just going off projectables. He's a first Rounder for me but maybe in the late teens to early 20s for me.

That’s exactly where I’m at also, FWIW.

Not that he can’t become a top-10 selection, but his early season heroics look better on the stats page then they do when watching him play.

 

[Hale The Villain]

You guys don't know what you are talking about

Grant McCagg has him as the best prospect in the draft

Get educated haters

 

[austin63867]

I watched Silayev's most recent match (9/28/23) vs AK Bars Kazan, and I have to say that this was the game I was somewhat hoping to see from him.

Feel this was his most confident outing, as he looked more composed both with and without the puck, not being overly hesitant, and being much smarter with his decision making. Did feel that at times Silayev could get a bit panicky, especially in pressure where he makes a few panic passes that don't seem to have a target. I thought he did alright in retrievals in this game as well.

Skating is a bright spot, he's a quick skater, both forwards and backwards, and I think that's something that will help a lot. I think he's good at getting zone entries, but at times he gets stopped, but i'm not sure if that's a result of not having the physicality to beat older defenders or if he doesn't have the creativity to change up his route. I liked how at times he was the first one to react in puck battle situations at full ice, being the first one at the puck in open play.

In terms of his offense, I thought some of his shots were too quick for his own good, where he'd take a shooting chance even if his form isn't at 100%. I like the confidence, but he could use a second more at times, and it's not like he's taking shots where he doesn't have that extra second. Feel the same about his passing, where it's fine, but like I mentioned before, when he's under pressure, accuracy and awareness lessen a bit.

Overall, I think this game helped showcase some of the better aspects of Silayev's game, and my biggest gripes over his game weren't too heavily on display. I think this game showed that he belongs in the KHL for now, but I do maintain that I'd like to see him get some MHL time down the road. I still don't feel he's a #1D but I saw maybe a 2-3 D. Definitely feel more confident that he has top-four potential.

I think I see more of a lottery pick than before, where I mentioned late teens to early 20s, with a chance to go very high on draft day if he gains more control over his game.

Positives - Skating, Calmness, Two-Way Vision
To Work On - Turnovers, Coordination, Puck Accuracy

 

[Garl]

Aaaaaaaaand I was right again))

Hot streak, interesting prospect but the talk of 1st overall or Top 5 was an overreaction.

I will repeat that here and not only here people misread KHL results and put too much weight on "historical" stats.

 

[Dirtyf1ghter]

People who don't understand that players are not evaluated based on the number of points... especially police defensemen.

The first year of discovery, I'm willing, I was like that but when you accumulate the years of draft - that you see Dragicevic and Simashev year after year - it's less acceptable. Obviously Silayev wasn't going to keep up the pace. The points record for a U18 is only 10 and 2 for a defender. It is his ability to be effective on the ice in the KHL that is evaluated.

Simashev was 6th without scoring a point and 6cm less.