Artem Grushnikov

Defenseman

Hamilton Bulldogs/OHL

Height: 6’2″/ Weight: 174 lbs.

Size/Strength     Excellent
Skating       Great
Shot/Scoring      Good
Puckhandling      Good
Physical Play       Great
Offensive Play     Good
Defensive Play     Excellent
Hockey Sense      Great
Competitiveness  Good

Strengths

1. Russian Defenseman has great size and skating ability
2. His gap control, positioning, body and stick positions, and passing decisions all appear to be advanced well beyond his years
3. Excellent puck distributer all around on the attack; knows where the pucks should go and gets it there crisply.

Areas for improvement

1.  Need to be a little more involved offensively
2. Learning when to jump into the offensive attack

Scouting Report:

Despite his youth and talent, Grushnikov’s gap control, positioning, body and stick positions, and passing decisions all appear to be advanced well beyond his years. The Russian defenseman has great size and skating ability and is a calm and poised puck carrier with four direction mobility. Grushnikov is quick enough to stay with the smaller, elusive opposing forwards and outmuscles opposing players for pucks in the low defensive zone. Artem is a terrific stretch passer and is an excellent puck distributer all around on the attack. He knows exactly where the puck should be going and gets it there crisply. He is a solid option on the 2nd powerplay unit; he is very good at walking the blue line to open passing and shooting lanes; Grushnikov is also a deceptive attacker who uses fake shots to freeze defenders, then passing to an open teammate. Artem has the ability to be a little more involved offensively, as he has great skating ability (more in terms of edges/mobility than raw speed) and underrated hands. Artem Grushnikov has all the makings of a reliable shutdown defenseman, with the upside of a top-pair defenseman. According to the most recent mock drafts, Grushnikov is likely going to be a mid-first round pick.

Skill:

A safe, steady shutdown defensemen that has the potential to be a top pair defenseman

Style Comparison: Jaccob Slavin

NHL Potential: Top 4 shutdown defenseman

Watch as Artyom Grushnikov makes an amazing stretch pass to Ivan Didkovski to tie the Russia with Finland at the #WorldU17. The game now remains at 1-1 in the 3rd period. Gushnikov is a 2003 born player not eligible until the #2021NHLDraft. pic.twitter.com/lLVQLNmLn9

— TPEHockey (@TPEHockey) November 5, 2018

Season	Team	League	GP	G	PTS
2018-19	Russia U17	International-Jr	23	2	5
2019-20	Krasnaya Armiya Moskva	MHL	29	1	5
2019-20	Russia U18	Russia U18	2	1	3