Prospect Info: Shakir Mukhamadullin (#20 pick - 2020 draft)

[NjdevilfanJim]

May be. Vilen shows good hockey too.
It is difficult to rank, Shakir has serious experience and plays an important role in the second best league. The abundance of prospects may "somewhat devalue" the importance of a particular hockey player, but all of them - even Luke - are not defensemen in the NHL until they become them. A defenseman in the NHL is a very difficult job. I don't think Fitz will break up with Shakir, only if it's an important trade (such as Meier), and the presence of Orlov and Vilen, as it seems to me, should not affect it in a coordinated way.

Orlov playing on the adult level in his D+1 year. Injury spoiled his season, but now he is playing everywhere, his club is trying to give him every opportunity in МХЛ, ВХЛ and КХЛ. I will break down his game soon, but before I will make breakdown video and write analysis about Gritsyuk and Bardakov.

Thank you appreciate the time you put in and the insight you share with us on this forum...

 

[PizzaAndPucks]

The fact that you call it a market - I know this is the standard now and I've surely done it too - misses what this is all about. I agree on your first point, playing time is nice, though at least in Shakir's public quotes he's fine with the AHL next season. Your second point, I don't assume that a person who grew up in central Russia has the same feelings about what is a good place to live as you or I.

NJ isn't a bad place to live. I mean anywhere is nice when you make alot of money but I'm pretty sure those Russians would love a change of scenery. I'm not gonna get too political on hetr but the Bay Area looks like a great place to live. I know alot of players like the warmer market teams along as they are competitive. You don't see alot of players going crazy to play for the Red Wings , Blackhawks or Canadiens like they have in the past.

 

[forceten]

"those Russians"?

 

[Blackjack]

What, exactly, do people think Shakir is? People are surprised by this? He was a first round swing on upside and he’s been playing in the KHL since he was 17.

And there seems to be this perception that he’s a lumbering pylon that can’t think the game. Like, he’s an elite defender in the KHL and he just turned 21. There are never guarantees, but the idea that he should be a toss in for Meier is just bizarre to me.

 

[My3Sons]

What, exactly, do people think Shakir is? People are surprised by this? He was a first round swing on upside and he’s been playing in the KHL since he was 17.

And there seems to be this perception that he’s a lumbering pylon that can’t think the game. Like, he’s an elite defender in the KHL and he just turned 21. There are never guarantees, but the idea that he should be a toss in for Meier is just bizarre to me.

His biggest flaw is that he hasn’t been as good statistically as Nikishin. To be fair Mukhamadullin didn’t seem to improve all that much last season but he has definitely looked better in the shift by shift videos from @Guadana who deserves great appreciation for putting those together for us. The highlights only serve to reinforce that. I’d like to hang onto him if they can. I think he can be the third pair Jack of all trades guy behind Siegs and Luke in two years.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

What, exactly, do people think Shakir is? People are surprised by this? He was a first round swing on upside and he’s been playing in the KHL since he was 17.

And there seems to be this perception that he’s a lumbering pylon that can’t think the game. Like, he’s an elite defender in the KHL and he just turned 21. There are never guarantees, but the idea that he should be a toss in for Meier is just bizarre to me.

We’re so filled to the brim with d prospects that he gets overlooked. Plus, people are anchored to the idea that he was a reach pick and the hobby scouts shat all over him.

 

[Devs3cups]

What, exactly, do people think Shakir is? People are surprised by this? He was a first round swing on upside and he’s been playing in the KHL since he was 17.

And there seems to be this perception that he’s a lumbering pylon that can’t think the game. Like, he’s an elite defender in the KHL and he just turned 21. There are never guarantees, but the idea that he should be a toss in for Meier is just bizarre to me.

You’re right. I think Shak might go the other way in a Meier deal, not because he’s a throwaway, but because he’s a legitimate prospect. Kid has taken big strides this year.

 

[Devils731]

Shak was a toolsy pick that had some plus skills but also some things he struggled with.

Whenever he does something a little extra it seems like he’s learning to use his tools more and more to impact the game positively.

 

[Rhodes 81]

I think a portion of the fan base does not appreciate what it means to be a regular defenseman in the KHL at 18/19/20 like he has been. For me, I would be just as sad about losing him in a Meier trade as I would Holtz, and the only reason I would be ok with it is because of the depth we have at that position. I think ultimately it is inevitable that he is traded, but I wouldn't mind seeing him in a Devils jersey for a season or two first and making sure we really understand what we've got in Hughes and Nemec before that.

 

[Guadana]

What, exactly, do people think Shakir is? People are surprised by this? He was a first round swing on upside and he’s been playing in the KHL since he was 17.

And there seems to be this perception that he’s a lumbering pylon that can’t think the game. Like, he’s an elite defender in the KHL and he just turned 21. There are never guarantees, but the idea that he should be a toss in for Meier is just bizarre to me.

NONONONONO

Bad pick. Fitz was wrong and stupid.

And 50 NHL games maximum.

 

[Guadana]

Shak was a toolsy pick that had some plus skills but also some things he struggled with.

He was 17-18 yo KHL defenseman. Who did grow fast. When he played on international junior level, he immidiatly looked great as defenseman.

That was fun and joy to look how he matured as a player. And if he will be a center piece of Meier trade, it will not be "oh, we robbed them", he is a very good prospect.

 

[PizzaAndPucks]

I don't want to trade Holtz or Muhk for Meier but that is what one of the pieces going the other way would need to be. Meier is pretty damn good , Holtz and Muhk have potential to be really good. Unfortunately we would have to part with one of them and we would only have to play them twice a year so they will be very far away and we never really haunt us too much. I think San Jose will pull for Holtz more than Muhk. Holtz could be reunited with his buddy Eklund over there so that could be a big incentive to bring him in. They have played together on their SHL team and are friends. Would be nice to Holtz go somewhere he would be excited to play and get a ton of opportunity.

 

[Blackjack]

I don't want to trade Holtz or Muhk for Meier but that is what one of the pieces going the other way would need to be. Meier is pretty damn good , Holtz and Muhk have potential to be really good. Unfortunately we would have to part with one of them and we would only have to play them twice a year so they will be very far away and we never really haunt us too much. I think San Jose will pull for Holtz more than Muhk. Holtz could be reunited with his buddy Eklund over there so that could be a big incentive to bring him in. They have played together on their SHL team and are friends. Would be nice to Holtz go somewhere he would be excited to play and get a ton of opportunity.

Yeah, I think I agree. Muk and a 1st I’m okay with. Holtz and a 1st I’m okay with.

I’m not okay with Holtz and Muk and a 1st.

 

[Guadana]

Yeah, I think I agree. Muk and a 1st I’m okay with. Holtz and a 1st I’m okay with.

I’m not okay with Holtz and Muk and a 1st.

I like both prospects, clearly our best prospects outside Simon and Luke. But this is a price you pay for 1st liner. Would be happy to save one of them, but we should win the offer race. And we should be ready to pay the price.

 

[Guttersniped]

I don’t mind trading Muk because he doesn’t have that much runway with 2 year ELC and the KHL to go back to.

I don’t know how many young defensemen we can realistically have in our line-up, or more specifically, how many a coach will tolerate at once while trying to make the playoffs.

I’m assuming he’s fine with being in the AHL in the short term, but I’m more worried about him being frustrated if he finds himself stuck in a purgatory similar to what Holtz’s stuck in.

SJ might be intrigued by him (even if many of their fans aren’t), I don’t see anyone like him in their prospect pool. He potentially gets a lot more NHL ice time a lot faster there.

I don’t see them particularly interested in Casey after they drafted the undersized RHD Mattias Havelid one spot before we took Casey. (Even though this Casey-crazy board assumes they’re more horny for him.)

Casey has his own risks, I think we have to leave him in college for few years for his own physical safety.

That gives him the option of staying in college to become a UFA, but he is from a family of Devils fans and seemed excited to be drafted by us. So he can cook in college while unsigned.

 

[PizzaAndPucks]

I don’t mind trading Muk because he doesn’t have that much runway with 2 year ELC and the KHL to go back to.

I don’t know how many young defensemen we can realistically have in our line-up, or more specifically, how many a coach will tolerate at once while trying to make the playoffs.

I’m assuming he’s fine with being in the AHL in the short term, but I’m more worried about him being frustrated if he finds himself stuck in a purgatory similar to what Holtz’s stuck in.

SJ might be intrigued by him (even if many of their fans aren’t), I don’t see anyone like him in their prospect pool. He potentially gets a lot more NHL ice time a lot faster there.

I don’t see them particularly interested in Casey after they drafted the undersized RHD Mattias Havelid one spot before we took Casey. (Even though this Casey-crazy board assumes they’re more horny for him.)

Casey has his own risks, I think we have to leave him in college for few years for his own physical safety.

That gives him the option of staying in college to become a UFA, but he is from a family of Devils fans and seemed excited to be drafted by us. So he can cook in college while unsigned.

Casey playing a few years for Michigan is fine but I'm not really worried he is going to bale on this organization. Also the Mattias Havelid is son of former Devils legend Niclas Havelid lol.

 

[Xirik]

I don’t mind trading Muk because he doesn’t have that much runway with 2 year ELC and the KHL to go back to.

I don’t know how many young defensemen we can realistically have in our line-up, or more specifically, how many a coach will tolerate at once while trying to make the playoffs.

I’m assuming he’s fine with being in the AHL in the short term, but I’m more worried about him being frustrated if he finds himself stuck in a purgatory similar to what Holtz’s stuck in.

SJ might be intrigued by him (even if many of their fans aren’t), I don’t see anyone like him in their prospect pool. He potentially gets a lot more NHL ice time a lot faster there.

I don’t see them particularly interested in Casey after they drafted the undersized RHD Mattias Havelid one spot before we took Casey. (Even though this Casey-crazy board assumes they’re more horny for him.)

Casey has his own risks, I think we have to leave him in college for few years for his own physical safety.

That gives him the option of staying in college to become a UFA, but he is from a family of Devils fans and seemed excited to be drafted by us. So he can cook in college while unsigned.

What you say could be definitely true but I do remember Muk being very surprised at being picked so early and wanted to show the Devils organisation that they were right in their faith in him.

I don't think there is that big of a gap between being top pairing KHL defenceman for a couple years and being an NHL defenceman. The Rinks are now exactly the same size as NHL ones I believe.

I worry more about Luke Hughes transition from College to the NHL and the amount of mistakes he's going to have while acclimating to the big leagues.

Muk will be with the comets for playoffs then come next training camp and pre-season he's going to have a great showing.

 

[HBK27]

I like Casey a lot and hope he's not part of a deal...but it's tough to see where he slots in on this team in a few years with a right side of Hamilton, Marino & Nemec. Good problem to have, but just given our depth at the position it just seems like there's a decent chance he gets dealt at some point.

 

[Ripshot 43]

I like Casey a lot and hope he's not part of a deal...but it's tough to see where he slots in on this team in a few years with a right side of Hamilton, Marino & Nemec. Good problem to have, but just given our depth at the position it just seems like there's a decent chance he gets dealt at some point.

If Nemec pans out anywhere near his ceiling or is on a path for that in 3 or so years, we won’t have space for Hamilton, Marino and Nemec (minutes wise). So at that point we may see Hamilton or Marino moved from the team and space made for an ELC defender in Casey.

 

[billingtons ghost]

As people say "before the trade".

Hope people will watch this clip because I spent some time to make it.

Shakir is #85.



This video is a cutting of active moments with different situations from the final segment of the season from different games. I used clips from 5-6 games or something like that.


Shakir shows great development this season. Some people called skating, passing and game under pressure with the puck as his weaknesses. Now its is his dignities. He is still can make turnovers - it`s very fun to watch for haters, but for haters KHL have stats of completed passes - 86.64% - it`s top-5 result from defensemen.
Shakir is accurate with the puck and very agressive. He can drive by his own, can exit the zone by his own or by a pass, same with offensive transition. And he can create dangerous chances by accurate long passes. He is faster with the puck as puckhandler, that helps him to carry the puck and manage the puck on the blue line.
He has very hard and accurate shot. Not as potential scorer but as potential creator for rebound chances. This qualities make him good PP blue liner.

He is stronng on the boards and use his stick as instrument. He isn`t winning all puck battles, but he is very useful. He closing the gaps - big frame helps him and it makes very hard for opponents to find options. But there we should name his real weaknesses - he is often trying to close the zones and sometimes opponents drive the net. Shakir should work more on his game against driving the net.
Salavat use him as net front protector and he is good in protecting offensive forwards from the puck. In this case he should work on his game in situations when his partner losing his opponents behind the net. It`s tough situation for any defenseman, but I should call all the things I viewed.
Shakir is a big dude and he spend more microseconds for turning his body, so I don`t think he is good option as SH defenseman, at least as first defensive forecheker, but even this tasks he is trying to complete.

Overall Shakir is trying to play in agrssive game as defensive defenseman and as offensive defenseman. He is using his body, closing gaps(it`s very hard to show on video clips, but when Shakir is on his feet, opponents often just cant find opportunities and just cycle the puck) and playing with vision. He made some turn overs this season, but it`s not the "regular" thing anymore and it`s something that happening with defensemen who play qb role.
Shakir has potetnial to play top-4 role and have good tools for that. I trully think that he can be some kind of version of Severson or Graves - Defenseman with good physics who can join offense and play defensive role competently, but should have defensive active defenseman as partner.


Would I trade him for Meier? Absolutetly. For Kane, Reinhart etc? Absolutetly not. Shakir is a player with NHL potential. I don`t think he is really NHL ready, but I saw many of his games after his draft, I saw a lot of Utica games previous season and all of Devils games this season. And I think he is better player than Bahl. He is very interesting prospect and I would say I like our scouting group who was smart enough to find dimond in the rough.

Thanks for doing this. It's an eye opening video. The raw skills on display are so enticing and the thought of him filling out and polishing the edges makes his trajectory look ridiculous. He hasn't been in the NHL yet and alot can change but there is so much to like here in these clips. Especially the headiness in the corners. I didn't expect that.

 

[Devs3cups]

Not necessarily talking about play styles (even though I see certain similarities), but Muk reminds me of Marino on the ice. Lanky, steady guys.

Btw @Guadana, great work as always! Thanks for the content!

 

[Guadana]

Not necessarily talking about play styles (even though I see certain similarities), but Muk reminds me of Marino on the ice. Lanky, steady guys.

Btw @Guadana, great work as always! Thanks for the content!

I think Marino is better and faster work with his hands and legs as forecheker. I think Marino use shorter stick(I can be wrong) and I think he has lower weight balance(body balance, I don`t know how exactly saying. center of mass?)

As always? I worked much harder for this video!

Thanks for doing this. It's an eye opening video. The raw skills on display are so enticing and the thought of him filling out and polishing the edges makes his trajectory look ridiculous. He hasn't been in the NHL yet and alot can change but there is so much to like here in these clips. Especially the headiness in the corners. I didn't expect that.

A lot of defensemen cook longer. It`s tougher job to play overall. Reason why I don`t like Shero because he decided to draft Zacha and especially Mcleod when we absolutely should draft Werenski\Provorov and McCavoy\Chychrun in the moment. I`m not talling about level of talent - of course it would be ideal to draft Rantanen and Thompson\Debrinkat, but you cant know everything in the moment, and you should just act by a plan. If you have a plan. And plan should be good. Shakir taked some time to be better young player on adult level - nothing surprised. And its not like everybody are surprised that everything he shows, is going from nothing. He shows well game on junior tournaments, he shows flashes in KHL. And his game overall for his age were quite good. But that was fun to ride his mistakes for twitter darlings. What they are still doing btw.

When someone stubbornly makes "a product" less valuable, it is only more pleasant for the buyer to get a good product cheaper. In this case, the Devils paid a real price for talent, and now Shakir may well become the central part of the trade for a top-line player, although until recently we heard that he is not worth our time just for familiarization and have no NHL potential.

 

[Shakir ONeal]

Do not trade this mans

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

NONONONONO

Bad pick. Fitz was wrong and stupid.

And 50 NHL games maximum.

I actually like the Mukahamdullin pick but it was hard to be excited on draft night. It almost felt like Fitz took Muk as a bit of a reach after Rags took Schneider. But I had no problem with swinging on a pick with our last of our first rounds when we got Holtz + Mercer.

 

[Guadana]

I actually like the Mukahamdullin pick but it was hard to be excited on draft night. It almost felt like Fitz took Muk as a bit of a reach after Rags took Schneider. But I had no problem with swinging on a pick with our last of our first rounds when we got Holtz + Mercer.

He didn`t. We have 3 picks in the night. He didn`t make a pause when he could. And they didn`t focused on Schneider, they focused on Amirov. And Shakir was his partner. And Schneider isn`t typical Fitz defenseman. May be they had him over Shakir in their list, but there were clearly no alarms and no surpises.

I was not excited in the moment. I liked Peterka and Khusnutdinov. But this feeling left me quickly. After the draft they played on euro adult tourney and on junior tourney , where Shakir clearly looked good and looked better than Broberg.