LD Shakir Mukhamadullin (2020, 20th, NJD; traded to SJS)

[Rennlist]

I got a chance to watch him in the exhibition game the other night against Team Canada and the kid looks like a player. We'll see how he looks today.

 

[Speyer]

Devils need their prospects to pan out if the want to advance with their rebuild. Lets hope Shakir can mantain his positive trajectory from this season.

 

[Dread Clawz]

He always just had to smarten up his game a little and use a little constraint. He looked pretty good the other day, let's see how he does the rest of the way.

 

[cudi]

Devils need their prospects to pan out if the want to advance with their rebuild. Lets hope Shakir can mantain his positive trajectory from this season.

Like every rebuild in the history of time?

 

[Speyer]

Like every rebuild in the history of time?

To be fair their rebuild has been stalling for years. Its time for the team to make some progress...

 

[PizzaAndPucks]

I feel like Shakir is going to be given a ton of minutes. I will he happy even if he has just an average tournament because if he is trusted as their top D man for all situations and leads the team in minutes than it probably is a role suited for a player who is 19 or 20 and has played in the WJC20 before. Either way it will be nice to see a Devils D prospect getting big minutes in the tournament. Smith was a top 4 D the last 2 years for Canada but Shakir seems to be their go to guy.

 

[FlyguyOX]

The kid is just not very intelligent. Egregious turnovers and head scratching plays just as often as eye popping plays

 

[SoundAndFury]

The kid is just not very intelligent. Egregious turnovers and head scratching plays just as often as eye popping plays

Were there any "egregious turnovers" today? Nothing but a solid play. I said this before but it seems like he just became an easy target for comments like this despite his really very solid play for an 18 y.o. guy.

 

[Fatass]

Were there any "egregious turnovers" today? Nothing but a solid play. I said this before but it seems like he just became an easy target for comments like this despite his really very solid play for an 18 y.o. guy.

He’s really good. He’s going to be a top four National League D man, and a good one. Really liked his game tonight.

 

[Bologna 1]

Thought this kid looked really good tonight against the US

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

As a Devils fan I really liked what I saw tonight. Hoping the draft pundits might have just missed him going into the draft cause he played so few minutes last year.

 

[wings5]

The kid is just not very intelligent. Egregious turnovers and head scratching plays just as often as eye popping plays

Now I know people just pick on him for no reason without really watching him. He looked good and anyone who actually watched the game could see that.

He’s really good. He’s going to be a top four National League D man, and a good one. Really liked his game tonight.

Let's calm down here, kid is 18 there's no way to say that with certainty yet

 

[NJ DevLolz]

He played very well against USA last night. Of the five times he was targeted on zone entries, Shaq only allowed one controlled and broke up four

 

[Auto Pilot]

So far he has looked pretty good. His screw ups in the Canada game were more execution than making a wtf out there plays that shouldn’t have been made.

His break out passing has been good. Had two in the Canada game that just threaded the needle through team Canada through the neutral zone from his d zone. Gave Russia one of their best scoring chances, if not their best, with one of his passes. Defensively he’s been a lot better than I thought given how criticism from some scouts seemed to be his decision making in his own end.

Last night in the US game he was good at preventing entries into the Russian d zone. Also threw a hit that broke up a play that he took the brunt of, but once he tacks on some more weight he will be trucking someone.

I would love to see him get some PP time given how that’s been a strength of his in the KHL. Already know he has a hard shot, just would love to see him use it more and get a chance on the man advantage to do so.

 

[Fatass]

Now I know people just pick on him for no reason without really watching him. He looked good and anyone who actually watched the game could see that.


Let's calm down here, kid is 18 there's no way to say that with certainty yet

He’s even younger than I thought, and playing that well against a top team. Wow! Jersey fans should be excited about this kid; he’s going to be really good. He does have some filling out to do though.

 

[Fogelhund]

He has some real nice elements to his game, just needs to fill out... a lot. But, he's a young kid, and can easily do that.

 

[Atas2000]

So far he has looked pretty good. His screw ups in the Canada game were more execution than making a wtf out there plays that shouldn’t have been made.

His break out passing has been good. Had two in the Canada game that just threaded the needle through team Canada through the neutral zone from his d zone. Gave Russia one of their best scoring chances, if not their best, with one of his passes. Defensively he’s been a lot better than I thought given how criticism from some scouts seemed to be his decision making in his own end.

Last night in the US game he was good at preventing entries into the Russian d zone. Also threw a hit that broke up a play that he took the brunt of, but once he tacks on some more weight he will be trucking someone.

I would love to see him get some PP time given how that’s been a strength of his in the KHL. Already know he has a hard shot, just would love to see him use it more and get a chance on the man advantage to do so.

His offensive game was never in question. As a former forward he has the instincts. He knows when and how to pinch, he sees the offensive opposrtunities and is expected to be able to make those outlet passes. He needs to solidify his defensive play to be that 1st round kind of guy. He can get there obviously and then the Devils will have their draft pick success. To be honest american forwards just mailed it in for most of the game yesterday. Eager to watch how this russian D holds up against the Czhechs and the Swedes.

 

[Lou is God]

His offensive game was never in question. As a former forward he has the instincts. He knows when and how to pinch, he sees the offensive opposrtunities and is expected to be able to make those outlet passes. He needs to solidify his defensive play to be that 1st round kind of guy. He can get there obviously and then the Devils will have their draft pick success. To be honest american forwards just mailed it in for most of the game yesterday. Eager to watch how this russian D holds up against the Czhechs and the Swedes.

Why would they mail it in? To me it was Russia who took them off their game.

 

[Baaaaaaaaaaaaah]

I was never into this guy for the draft. Mid to late 2nd for me. But I have to say he looks like a legit 1st rounder the last couple months.

 

[Body Checker]

Looks good out there so far this wj

 

[Atas2000]

Why would they mail it in? To me it was Russia who took them off their game.

In terms of pre-tournament hype and players reputations they were supposed to be star ladden and maybe second only to Canada in this tournament. None of it was in any form visible from the first minute. That wasn't just Russians being that great, that was also those American stars completely anemic for most of the game. Btw, Russia top forwards weren't exactly great either, but the depth players delivered big time. Also something the US team was lacking.

 

[Atas2000]

I was never into this guy for the draft. Mid to late 2nd for me. But I have to say he looks like a legit 1st rounder the last couple months.

Not really. Still looks like a legit 2nd round defenceman pick. That's not a bad thing. Shea Weber and Roman Josi say hello.

 

[majormajor]

As a Devils fan I really liked what I saw tonight. Hoping the draft pundits might have just missed him going into the draft cause he played so few minutes last year.

He was talked about plenty, certainly not slept on. A lot of people found him intriguing but were turned off by his error prone game. If those people are ultimately proven wrong it will be because they didn't foresee him cleaning up his game to a sufficient degree, becoming a much smarter better trained D-man.

 

[SoundAndFury]

Not really. Still looks like a legit 2nd round defenceman pick. That's not a bad thing. Shea Weber and Roman Josi say hello.

I seriously don't know what else do you want from him.

The package is amazing and the performance is good if not great. What makes him a "legit 2nd round pick"? And just because guys like Josi or Weber were picked in the 2nd doesn't mean that's the norm what 2nd round picks are.

 

[Atas2000]

I seriously don't know what else do you want from him.

The package is amazing and the performance is good if not great. What makes him a "legit 2nd round pick"? And just because guys like Josi or Weber were picked in the 2nd doesn't mean that's the norm what 2nd round picks are.

For defencemen it is. First round pick for defencemen are mostly future top pairig guys with little to no doubt about it. Second round pick defencemen are those who can develop up to that level, but there are still question marks about it on draft day. That is what Mukhamadullin is to me. Are you projecting Mukhamadullin to be the Devils' top pairing defenceman in say two years?