Artyom Barabosha

January 2025 – 2022 Seventh-round pick Barabosha has put up practically no production in whatever league he finds himself in between the KHL and VHL, but that will never be a part of his game. He is a physical defensive defenseman, sometimes to a fault. Because he focuses primarily on using the body to punish opposing forwards, he is prone to getting walked around on the rush if he improperly times the hit. Finesse is in no part of his game, with lackluster skating ability generating neither straight-line speed nor agility. His hands aren’t great, and he doesn’t have a particularly strong first pass. He brings to the table a shutdown defense and physicality. Players like that exist in the NHL, though he’ll need to work on his skating ability at the minimum if he ever wants to see NHL ice. JP Gambatese

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 are slightly underwhelming. He skates forwards and sideways pretty well to cut off opponents and force them into the boards but struggles with his backward skating, affecting his offensive habits. He commits to the backcheck early to avoid getting burned and misses chances to extend offensive possessions. 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 few key learnings will help solidify Barabosha’s potential as a bottom-of-the-lineup play-killer. Hadi Kalakeche