Yaroslav Matyev

June 2026 — Matyev is a project, and an honest read starts with how little reliable English coverage exists on him. What is documented is appealing on paper. He’s a big-framed, reportedly 6-5 left-shot defenseman who drew into 19 KHL games as one of the league’s youngest players in his pre-draft season, a level of trust most deep-tier prospects never earn that young. His actual draft year was spent back in the MHL, where he posted 12 points in 50 games for Amur’s junior team, a low-scoring club that suppresses individual numbers. The tools that interest scouts are his size paired with above-average mobility for his frame, plus flashes of puck-rushing and the occasional setup pass. The puck skills and decision-making are raw, and the offensive game is years from being a real weapon, if it ever is. The bigger drag is his environment: Amur is not known for developing talent, and a move to an organization with better resources may be needed for him to progress.

For fantasy, there’s almost nothing to project in the near term. The realistic NHL outcome, in a best case, is a big, physical shutdown defender whose counting stats stay low, and the path there runs through both development time and the usual friction of the Russian route. If it all breaks right, the offensive ceiling sits around 15 to 20 points, which is where the 2.5 upside lands. Andrew Epps