Prospect Ramblings – The Curious Case of Anton Silayev
Aaron Itovitch
2023-09-11
The 2024 NHL draft is still well over nine months away, but it is never too early to start looking at standout players.
While most of the standouts in this years’ 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.
In three games this season so far, he has averaged 17:53, and he hasn’t looked out of place. Matching up against SKA, Dynamo Minsk, and Lokomotiv, he’s been facing some serious competition. 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’s Size/Skill Combo
He’s only played three games in the KHL, but he hasn’t gone unnoticed. In his first week in the league, he was named one of the KHL’s top players of the week:
KHL Top Players of Week 1:
🇨🇳 @JeremySmith30 (@KRSchina)
🇷🇺 Alexander Nikishin (@hcSKA_News)
🇷🇺 Nikolai Goldobin (SPR)
🇷🇺 Anton Silayev (@torpedonn_eng) pic.twitter.com/jUcg9OAWhP— KHL (@khl_eng) September 11, 2023
Silayev has caught the eye of many. I personally noticed him way back in July when I was doing my preliminary 2024 scouting:
A player that should be on EVERYBODY’s radar this season —
Anton Silayev is one of the biggest 17 year olds on the planet, and he has no mercy for his opponents. His skating isn’t great, but for a 6’7” guy he’s not horrible.
In my small sample he seems to be very smart
— Aaron Itovitch (@itovitch) July 20, 2023
While some scouts already believe he’s a top-five lock, I’m not quite that bullish. It’s hard to look at him and not see the appeal, however!
The roar of Torpedo fans! Vasily Atanasov scores in back-to-back games!
17-year-old Anton Silayev collects first KHL point (assist). pic.twitter.com/DVntBz6n9J
— KHL (@khl_eng) September 6, 2023
https://x.com/sickpodnhldraft/status/1699806023781941294?s=20
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