ANTON SILAYEV

Defense
6’7/207
Left
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod/KHL

Related: Artyom Levshunov

Russian scouts are very excited about the hulking 6’7 Defenseman’s toolkit, which includes size (obviously), solid skating, and good heads-up decision-making. Silayev could be a top-five pick when all things are said and done. Although his point production isn’t anything to brag about, having only put up 10 points in 34 games this season, he continues to get consistent ice time because of his great two-way play. While he remains very raw, especially for a defenseman playing in the KHL as a draft-eligible, his tools are rather unique and the ceiling is high. Anton Silayev could take time to develop, so it could take 4 years before he is NHL-ready, because of how raw he is, but because of his size and raw skillset, he has top 4 potential bottom-pair defensemen at worst.

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

Strengths

1. Silayev covers a ton of ice, needing only three or four strides to cross the neutral zone. While he’s a bit wonky on his skates and rarely looks graceful, he uses his skating very effectively on both sides of the puck.
2. Silayev relies on his extraordinarily long reach and powerful strides to close gaps quickly and very aggressively.
3. With the puck on his stick, Silayev flashes above-average passing mechanics and vision, which allows him to be a positive impact in the breakout.

Areas of Improvement

1. his decision-making both with and without the puck and his composure remain real works in progress.
2. Still very raw and lacks the offensive production to be an elite two-way defenseman at the NHL level.

Scouting Report

While most of the standouts in this year’s draft are hovering around six feet, Russian dman Anton Silayev quite literally STANDS OUT from the crowd. At 17 years old, Silayev stands at 6-7 and weighs 207 pounds. Not only that, his stride has taken strides over the summer, and he has become a sneakily strong skater. Even more interesting? He’s getting real minutes as a 17-year-old in the KHL. There’s no other way to look at it, Anton Silayev is legit. He’s equally been playing on his off-side, and excelling on the right. Silayev lit up KHL scoresheets for the first month of the season and garnered a fair bit of attention, but fell back down to earth, and became the defensive stalwart that he has become known as. While he remains very raw, especially for a defenseman playing in the KHL as a draft-eligible, his tools are rather unique and the ceiling is high. Silayev covers a ton of ice, needing only three or four strides to cross the neutral zone. While he’s a bit wonky on his skates and rarely looks graceful, he uses his skating very effectively on both sides of the puck. Defensively, Silayev relies on his extraordinarily long reach and powerful strides to close gaps quickly and very aggressively. Early in the season, he regularly over-committed, leading to odd-man rushes against, and while he can still be aggressive to a fault, this element of his game has improved significantly. With the puck on his stick, Silayev flashes above-average passing mechanics and vision, which allows him to have a positive impact in the breakout, defaulting to stretch passes and give-and-go’s. His decision-making both with and without the puck and his composure remain real works in progress, which may end up being the deciding factor in him ending up falling
out of the top 10. Comparable to Tyler Myers, current defenseman for the Vancouver Canucks, who was drafted 12th overall in his draft, Anton Silayev has a very similar skillset to Tyler Myers but has a higher offensive upside. At worst, Anton Silayev could be what Tyler Myers is now, if all pans out, he could turn out to be a Victor Hedman-type defenseman.

Skill: A hulking but mobile defenseman who covers a ton of ice with powerful strides and a long reach

NHL Comparable: Tyler Myers

NHL Potential: Top 4 Shutdown defenseman

Season	Team	League	GP	G	PTS
2022-23	Chaika Nizhny Novgorod	MHL	58	2	10
2023-24	Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod	KHL	34	3	10

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