Daniil Chayka

Defenseman

Guelph Storm/OHL

Height: 6’3″/ Weight: 185 lbs.

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

Strengths

1. Mobile defenseman with good size and excellent feet. Displays excellent lateral quickness on his crossovers and nice edges to help him accelerate into an open space. 
2. Defensively, Chayka is very sound positionally and his long reach makes his defensive range massive
3. Is a complete two-way defenseman that plays with lots of poise and extremely high Hockey IQ

Areas for improvement

1.  Needs to more consistent offensively, if he wants to become a prolific two-way defenseman
2. Should use his size a defensively

Scouting Report:

Daniil Chayka is one of the older players in the 2021 NHL draft, and it shows; he plays with such confidence and poise for a young defenseman. Chayka has everything scouts look for in a defenseman; he has good size, skating ability, a good point shot, and an excellent hockey IQ, which allows him to mold his game into whatever is required of him. He is a smooth skater, plays in all situations, and eats up huge minutes. Chayka makes a great pass-first out of the defensive zone and is more than willing to jump into the play into the offensive attack. He has a good shot from the point, but it doesn’t exactly overpower goaltenders, so Chayka shoots the puck on goal for deflections. Defensively his size and skating make him hard to beat one-on-one. Even at a young age, Chayka has shown excellent leadership qualities, which is even more impressive to GMs and coaches. Daniil Chayka is a complete two-way defenseman with the upside to be a top-pair defenseman in the league. For this reason, it is not unreasonable to see Chayka be drafted in the top 15.

Skill:

Smooth-Skating 6’3″ defenseman that plays with tons of poise and confidence and has high hockey IQ.

Style Comparison: 

NHL Potential: Top 4 two-way defenseman

Season	Team	League	GP	G	PTS
2018-19	Guelph Storm	OHL	56	5	14
2019-20	Guelph Storm	OHL	56	11	34
2020-21	CSKA Moskva (Loan)	KHL	8	1	1