Artyom Matyuk

September 2026 – Artyom Matyuk is a small, skilled, high-motor center the New York Islanders selected 173rd overall out of Chaika Nizhny Novgorod. He set career highs with 39 points, 26 of them assists, in 54 games in Russia’s top junior league, finishing third in scoring on a team headlined by Montreal first-rounder Gleb Pugachyov. The draw is the skill and the compete. He is an agile skater with slick hands who weaves through defenders and creates off his vision, and despite a 165-pound frame he logged 53 penalty minutes and earned a reputation for winning puck battles above his weight. The obvious limitations are size and geography. He needs to add real strength to hold up at higher levels, and as a Russia-based prospect his timeline to North America is uncertain and could stretch years. With the Islanders thin down the middle, he is by default one of their better center prospects, and he opened this season strong. For fantasy he is a deep-league, watch-only name, all skill and no proximity, so file him away and track whether he graduates from the MHL to the KHL this season before giving him any dynasty consideration. Andrew Epps