Artem Shlaine

January 2025 – Shlaine is in the fifth year of his NCAA tenure with Arizona State University this season. After four straight sub-point-per-game seasons, he’s been his school’s top scorer on a per-game basis, with 18 points in 16 games. He has been the team’s best forward and rewarded with nearly 20 minutes of ice time every night. His puck skills have been on full display as his best asset, using his wide range of moves to dance around defensemen easily. His high hockey IQ allows him to find open space easily and rattle off high-danger shots more often than the average player. He missed a few games due to injury but has returned with a vengeance and has been on an absolute tear since the New Year. He is an excellent play driver and likes the puck on his stick in transition, though his skating is admittedly nothing to write home about. However, he has a strong motor and is active in the forecheck, which helps prolong his team’s possessions. On top of that, Shlaine is responsible and is one of college hockey’s best players in the faceoff circle. He certainly has the potential to play bottom-six minutes in the big leagues, though the clock is ticking on that front for the 22-year-old unless he takes the jump to the AHL after the NCAA season ends. JP Gambatese

March 2022 – Shlaine’s production has increased slightly this season, with 17 points in 36 games for UConn. This places him seventh on the team in scoring, and he’s been able to push himself into the top six on an occasion or two. His next step is to become a mainstay on the team’s top two lines and increase his production rate even further. Hadi Kalakeche

April 2021 – Shlaine has been struggling to maintain a decent score at the NCAA level as a freshman; he has only one goal and eight assists in 23 games and has not earned any more than a bottom-six role on an average program in Connecticut. Hopefully, he can find the right track next season, perhaps in a more prominent role than the one he currently employs. Hadi Kalakeche

October 2020 – Shlaine is a great forward skater with good technique and acceleration in his stride. He can also put defenders on their heels with his hands and thread passes efficiently. His numbers at the High School prep level have plateaued slightly over the last two years (1.61 ppg in 2018-2019, 1.70 ppg in 2019-2020), and his underlying numbers in his six games in the USHL were decent, third in draft-year players for primary points per sixty minutes. Shlaine has concerns on the defensive side of the puck, the concerns being that he seems to think that the more things happen on the ice, the better. His focus is not on shot suppression or assisting the breakout; he relies on offense to drive his game, and if he manages to pan out, the offense is likely all you will get from Shlaine. Starting in November, he is committed to UConn for his NCAA first year. A long-term project, but in the sixth round, any pick with a slight chance of becoming an elite playmaker is an interesting swing to take. Hadi Kalakeche