LD Anton Silayev - Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod, KHL (2024 draft)

[tomd]

Yeah I don't get it.

Anyways it's not relevant for Silayev either. He's a competitor and certainly showed that defensively.

Well hopefully he becomes a great player b/c he's likely to be taken by one of our respective teams (Anaheim or Columbus).

 

[montreal]

Are the people criticizing this player watching him play, or just going off stats?

I have 2 games from the MHL where you can see a ton of him play,

 

[rt]

I have 2 games from the MHL where you can see a ton of him play,

All MHL games are available on YouTube on-demand for free.

 

[montreal]

All MHL games are available on YouTube on-demand for free.

My vids edit out everything and focus on one or two players, not shift by shift but close to it as I usually cut out if they are just standing around not doing anything to try and keep the length of the vid down.

 

[AMScouting]

One game of Silayev:

 

[Habs7631]

One game of Silayev:

Everytime I watch him play it’s the same thing with him. He’s such a weird prospect.

The combination of size/skating/reach/defense is definitely as advertised. Good luck creating any type of offense from his side and tough guy to try to beat 1on1. It’s actually scary how quickly he close the gap and how big he looks. He even shows some strong physical play in this clip. Insane that he was 17 playing in the KHL against grown men and he’s manhandling some of them.

I think people talk only about his tools but he’s actually very smart defensively? Like defensive IQ? I don’t know how to explain it, the way he position himself and his timing on poke-checks and hits is so nice. Its like he use his superior physical tools to push the forward where he wants them to go before making his move. He’s not too aggressive but when he makes his moves to strip the puck or hit its like always the right time?

But he’s such a black hole with the puck on his stick it’s pretty funny.

The second he feels the slightest bit of pressure/forecheck coming he just rips the pucks against the boards hoping it will get out of the zone. Even when he has plenty of time, he makes some very crazy decisions when it comes to zone exits.

The play at 2:30 is just an absolute disaster of a decision.

He has the puck in his zone and both teams are making a line change bringing in new forwards. The forward from the other team is applying a soft forecheck, not even going after Silayev hard. He his trying to buy enough time for his teammates to change before he goes to the bench himself.

This is the play in question.

I expect him to simply pass the puck to the other defenseman on the right side who’s wide open and has the whole lane in front of him to skate the puck up the ice and catch the other team in the middle of a line change. Or, simply calmly retreat behind the net and wait for his forwards to finish changing and try to attack. Or take the wide open lane he has and just skate the puck up himself.

What does he do? He tries a crazy suicide pass to his only forward on the ice who’s stuck in the middle surrounded by the other 2 defenseman. On top of that, the pass is too strong and in his feet. Poor guy has no choice but to try and touch the puck otherwise it’s an icing. Both D step up and one of them tries to absolutely demolish the guy. Silayev straight up setting up his forward with a suicide pass to get him sent to the hospital. Thankfully the guy laying the hit just missed it. If he connected, it would have been bad.

Of all the possible plays he can make in that situation why that one?

It's also interesting that at the 6:35 mark he takes the puck from behind his net. The forward tries to pressure him and he simply hits a couple of crossovers and display his superior skating to easily leave the guy in the rearview mirror and he goes 2/3 of the ice to gain the offensive zone, making it look easy. On that same play, he does very well using his body to protect the puck and he uses his absurdly long reach to keep the puck away from the forward. He could be so good at zone exits if he played like that more often and had more confidence in carrying the puck. But he flashes that side of his game way too rarely. Most of the time he panics when he has the puck.

On the offensive zone, it’s also pretty boring. He has only 2 plays when he gets the pucks at the blue line. Dump the puck in the corner to keep the cycle going or just rip a quick wrist shot to the net hoping someone can tip it.

He’s clearly the best defensive Dman in this draft by far but compared to the other top D in this draft his offensive game is straight up non-existent.

Curious to see where he ends up.

 

[majormajor]

Everytime I watch him play it’s the same thing with him. He’s such a weird prospect.

The combination of size/skating/reach/defense is definitely as advertised. Good luck creating any type of offense from his side and tough guy to try to beat 1on1. It’s actually scary how quickly he close the gap and how big he looks. He even shows some strong physical play in this clip. Insane that he was 17 playing in the KHL against grown men and he’s manhandling some of them.

I think people talk only about his tools but he’s actually very smart defensively? Like defensive IQ? I don’t know how to explain it, the way he position himself and his timing on poke-checks and hits is so nice. Its like he use his superior physical tools to push the forward where he wants them to go before making his move. He’s not too aggressive but when he makes his moves to strip the puck or hit its like always the right time?

But he’s such a black hole with the puck on his stick it’s pretty funny.

The second he feels the slightest bit of pressure/forecheck coming he just rips the pucks against the boards hoping it will get out of the zone. Even when he has plenty of time, he makes some very crazy decisions when it comes to zone exits.

The play at 2:30 is just an absolute disaster of a decision.

He has the puck in his zone and both teams are making a line change bringing in new forwards. The forward from the other team is applying a soft forecheck, not even going after Silayev hard. He his trying to buy enough time for his teammates to change before he goes to the bench himself.

This is the play in question.

View attachment 884681

I expect him to simply pass the puck to the other defenseman on the right side who’s wide open and has the whole lane in front of him to skate the puck up the ice and catch the other team in the middle of a line change. Or, simply calmly retreat behind the net and wait for his forwards to finish changing and try to attack. Or take the wide open lane he has and just skate the puck up himself.

What does he do? He tries a crazy suicide pass to his only forward on the ice who’s stuck in the middle surrounded by the other 2 defenseman. On top of that, the pass is too strong and in his feet. Poor guy has no choice but to try and touch the puck otherwise it’s an icing. Both D step up and one of them tries to absolutely demolish the guy. Silayev straight up setting up his forward with a suicide pass to get him sent to the hospital. Thankfully the guy laying the hit just missed it. If he connected, it would have been bad.

View attachment 884684

Of all the possible plays he can make in that situation why that one?

It's also interesting that at the 6:35 mark he takes the puck from behind his net. The forward tries to pressure him and he simply hits a couple of crossovers and display his superior skating to easily leave the guy in the rearview mirror and he goes 2/3 of the ice to gain the offensive zone, making it look easy. On that same play, he does very well using his body to protect the puck and he uses his absurdly long reach to keep the puck away from the forward. He could be so good at zone exits if he played like that more often and had more confidence in carrying the puck. But he flashes that side of his game way too rarely. Most of the time he panics when he has the puck.

On the offensive zone, it’s also pretty boring. He has only 2 plays when he gets the pucks at the blue line. Dump the puck in the corner to keep the cycle going or just rip a quick wrist shot to the net hoping someone can tip it.

He’s clearly the best defensive Dman in this draft by far but compared to the other top D in this draft his offensive game is straight up non-existent.

Curious to see where he ends up.

I hope folks take note that this is an MHL game.

We can't explain everything away with Silayev playing against men in the KHL. With the puck Silayev is below the average level of his age group.

 

[GrandmaCookie]

I hope folks take note that this is an MHL game.

We can't explain everything away with Silayev playing against men in the KHL. With the puck Silayev is below the average level of his age group.

How come Silayev is trending down so much pre-draft?

If we go by HFBoards popularity alone, seems to be 7-8 guy that get more attention than this guy.

Celebrini, Demidov, Levnushkov, Lindstrom, Iginla, Dickinson, Biuim, Sennecke all get more attention it seems.

Wheras a month ago is was trending top 5.

 

[Gliff]

How come Silayev is trending down so much pre-draft?

If we go by HFBoards popularity alone, seems to be 7-8 guy that get more attention than this guy.

Celebrini, Demidov, Levnushkov, Lindstrom, Iginla, Dickinson, Biuim, Sennecke all get more attention it seems.

Wheras a month ago is was trending top 5.

No new info. Everyone else had a combine.

 

[Marc the Habs Fan]

Also, HF (and hockey fans on the internet in general) tend to value skill players far more than big defencemen. So it's not a shock Silayev is not getting much hype on the web.

 

[57special]

How come Silayev is trending down so much pre-draft?

If we go by HFBoards popularity alone, seems to be 7-8 guy that get more attention than this guy.

Celebrini, Demidov, Levnushkov, Lindstrom, Iginla, Dickinson, Biuim, Sennecke all get more attention it seems.

Wheras a month ago is was trending top 5.

More attention, yes, but Silayev is still highly rated, and i think NHL teams will value him higher than amateur rankers who tend to value counting stats and forwards over Defense.

 

[Faceboner]

San Jose picks silayev

 

[Juxtaposer]

San Jose picks silayev

Wow, you really think he’s gonna fall to 14? Hope you’re right!!

 

[Faceboner]

Wow, you really think he’s gonna fall to 14? Hope you’re right!!

No.1 San Jose takes a goalie at 14

 

[Juxtaposer]

No.1 San Jose takes a goalie at 14

Silayev plays goalie too?? Incredible! You don’t have to mention that SJ is #1 though, I already know that.

 

[Faceboner]

Silayev plays goalie too?? Incredible! You don’t have to mention that SJ is #1 though, I already know that.

Yes

 

[Sergei Shirokov]

He could be the best DFD in the NHL one day. He's still quite raw & will not provide much offense, but man good luck playing against him.

An NHL team will iron out his issues as he learns to play in the structured NHL style, but like.. at his peak he could possibly play half the game at evens & be a force out there without contributing much in the offensive end at all

He's a marvel to watch.

 

[GrandmaCookie]

He could be the best DFD in the NHL one day. He's still quite raw & will not provide much offense, but man good luck playing against him.

An NHL team will iron out his issues as he learns to play in the structured NHL style, but like.. at his peak he could possibly play half the game at evens & be a force out there without contributing much in the offensive end at all

He's a marvel to watch.

A less offensive Hedman?

 

[Sergei Shirokov]

A less offensive Hedman?

Yeah.. Hesitate to compare to a HHOF like Hedman, but a less offensive version is really the only thing I can think. That's the ceiling anyways. He's a freak of nature.

Or maybe sorta like peak Alex Edler (w/o the shot) if Edler was 6'7 & skated way way way better.

He's raw so its projection but he has a massive ceiling as an even strength player

 

[tomd]

Silayev isn't a project per se but he is a total projection pick. If a team thinks he can generate 45+ points per year then he is worthy of a top 2 pick; 30-45 points is a top 3-6 pick; less than that is probably a 7-14 pick. Unless a team really wants a shutdown D then he could go anywhere after 2OA.

 

[Tomen]

Looking at some more statistical data ( a NHLe like model that HockeyProspecting uses which only takes a look at offensive production) it seems that for draft eligible defenders that are at least 6'6 Silayev ranks at #4 since the last lockout only behind Hedman (who had a monster season), Owen Power and Dougie Hamilton. He is closer to Power, Hamilton like production than to just other normal big defender like Oleksiak, Tyler Myers, Zadorov.

Definitely an intriguing prospect.

 

[coooldude]

Looking at some more statistical data ( a NHLe like model that HockeyProspecting uses which only takes a look at offensive production) it seems that for draft eligible defenders that are at least 6'6 Silayev ranks at #4 since the last lockout only behind Hedman (who had a monster season), Owen Power and Dougie Hamilton. He is closer to Power, Hamilton like production than to just other normal big defender like Oleksiak, Tyler Myers, Zadorov.

Definitely an intriguing prospect.

The problem with this is when and how the points were scored. He put up like 8 in 11, then he went 45 games with 0g/0a/0-1SOG..I know because I checked the stats thinking this was a Hedman prospect in the making. He was zero offensive threat for the vast majority of the season and the shots on goal he did get were typically floaters from the point that got swallowed up for a whistle. The stats are not indicative of a Power/etc offensive profile at least to this point.

Not to say he can't make it happen but it's a LOT of projection. I'm not saying he's a bad prospect btw for anyone who's about to get angry. I'm just discounting the NHLe type approaches.

 

[Tomen]

The problem with this is when and how the points were scored. He put up like 8 in 11, then he went 45 games with 0g/0a/0-1SOG..I know because I checked the stats thinking this was a Hedman prospect in the making. He was zero offensive threat for the vast majority of the season and the shots on goal he did get were typically floaters from the point that got swallowed up for a whistle. The stats are not indicative of a Power/etc offensive profile at least to this point.

Not to say he can't make it happen but it's a LOT of projection. I'm not saying he's a bad prospect btw for anyone who's about to get angry. I'm just discounting the NHLe type approaches.

Oh I agree with you that NHLe type approaches shouldn't be taken as serious consideration but for me in this sense it makes me more hopeful that there might be a tad more offensive potential there than just a pure big DFD type of player. Obviously it's a lot of projecting and it should be taken with a grain of salt. Is it likely that he hits it? I personally don't think so but if a NHL team thinks he can be an Oleksiak/Parayko type DFD with a bit more production (let's say averaging around 30-40 Points) I can see why they have him as the highest rated defensive prospect on their board.

 

[Caser]

From Bob McKenzie's Final NHL Draft Ranking: Many attractive and diverse options after Macklin Celebrini | TSN:

“At the end of the day, all that really matters is that he’s a 17-year-old who played regularly in the KHL and played well and showed he has all the tools be a shutdown NHL defender who can still skate and carry or pass a puck up the ice,” said a scout. “That’s a unicorn.”

“He’s going to be an elite defender,” another scout said. “A huge minute muncher. That and that alone provides huge value, but he’s not without some offensive ability, but it’s most definitely secondary.”

 

[viper0220]

After reading the article from Bob, I think the two Russians, Demidov and Silayev will fall out of the top 5.