Artyom Barabosha

July 2022 – The New Jersey Devils selected Artyom Barabosha with their seventh-round, 198th-overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. Barabosha is a physically-punishing, defensive-minded blue-liner with decent skating, but his puck skills come off as slightly underwhelming. He skates forwards and sideways pretty well to cut off opponents and force them into the boards, but struggles with his backwards skating, which in turn affects his offensive habits. He commits to the backcheck early to avoid getting burned, and misses chances to extend offensive possessions as a result. He makes quick decisions on the breakout, but doesn’t pre-scan on retrievals which leads him to almost always go for the first option he spots. A couple of key learnings will help solidify Barabosha’s  potential as a bottom-of-the-lineup play-killer. Hadi Kalakeche