Anton Silayev is literally the 2024 NHL Draft’s biggest unicorn
In a 2024 NHL Draft class that boasts a plethora of high-end defense prospects, one stands out — literally — in Russian blueliner Anton Silayev.
Silayev stands at 6-feet 7-inches tall and weighs 207 pounds. Only a few players in NHL history have gone on to have long and successful careers at such a stature — Zdeno Chara, Tyler Myers, Hal Gill, and Jamie Oleksiak are a few notable names at 6-feet 7-inches and up.
Silayev, however, appears to be well on his way to being the next.
The 18-year-old played the entire regular season in the KHL this season. He stepped into 63 games with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod, where he scored 11 points (three goals, eight assists), and added five more KHL games in the playoffs with two points — both assists. He then finished the year with 10 playoff games in the MHL with Chaika Nizhny Novgorod, where he scored three points, again all assists. The year prior, he played in the MHL with Chaika, scoring eight points (two goals, six assists) in 41 games.
His performance this season landed him at third overall in FCHockey’s Final ranking for the 2024 draft.
Silayev’s skating makes him a unicorn
To start off, Silayev is such an intriguing player for his skating alone. Very few hockey players at high levels are as tall as he is, and even fewer are strong skaters. Silayev is a complete outlier in that regard. Despite his frame, he skates as if he is closer to 6 feet than 7 feet. His strides are clean mechanically, showing an effortlessness in his skating that is remarkably impressive for his size. His stride is also very long. Paired with the power he generates, the smooth stride, and the amount of space he can cover, he is shockingly fast. Not only does he get back into plays, but if he gets caught deep in the offensive zone, he can catch up and prevent clean entries against smaller players—players who should not be caught by someone as big as Silayev.
Perhaps even more impressive is just how smooth his edges are. He can weave his way up the ice, getting around obstacles around him. His crossovers are also very smooth and powerful, aiding in his pursuit of pucks or players when needed. However, that does not mean he is a perfect skater. Because of his height, he has a higher center of gravity. Thus, he does have some issues with balance going into battles, as he can stand a little too upright. This allows players with good strength to get under him and knock him off balance, winning puck battles against him. But that’s something he can adjust to with more strength training and a coach who can focus on getting him lower in his stance.
Offensive zone presence
When it comes to the offensive zone, Silayev is certainly more of a shooter than a passer. Across three randomly tracked games this season, Silayev recorded seven shot attempts. Of those seven, only one was on net, resulting in a 14.29% accuracy rate. Additionally, all seven of his shots came from low-danger areas—specifically, the point. Four of his shots were blocked due to two separate bad habits. First, he has a tendency to look down at the puck before shooting, which prevents him from checking for opponents in the shooting lane. Second, he often takes shots very quickly after receiving the puck, appearing almost rushed. As a result, the angle of his shot hardly changes, making it easier to block.
Regarding the shot itself, Silayev improved throughout the year. Initially, he didn’t have much power behind his shots despite his size. This was because he didn’t lean into his shots, generating power primarily with his arm strength. He didn’t shift his weight from his back foot into his upper body by leaning forward and getting lower in his stance. Additionally, the aforementioned bad habits affected his shooting. However, when he takes his time to settle the puck and pick up his head, his accuracy is quite impressive. All three of his goals this season were notable for their placement, just inside the posts and by the goalie’s blocker. If he can work on being more patient at the point with his shooting, he will become a much larger threat as a shooter.
Conservative passer with a shoot-first mentality
Silayev is much more of a shooter. But that does not mean he ignores his teammates on the offensive end. In total, he recorded seven offensive zone pass attempts, completing four of them, resulting in a completion percentage of 57.14%. Only one of his passes led to a shot assist—the final pass before a shot on net—and it was not registered as a scoring chance. Meanwhile, of his seven attempts, only one was deemed high-danger—passes to the home-plate area in front of the net and cross-ice passes. That pass was incomplete. All three of his incomplete passes were intercepted by the opposition.
Ultimately, he was not much of an impact as a passer from the back end. When he did make a pass, it was usually to his partner at the point—he had five pass attempts at low-danger, all of which were passes sent to his partner. This season, three of his assists came off shots he took that were tipped or finished off on rebounds. Another assist came from a zone entry pass he completed, so he wasn’t in the offensive zone for that assist. Finally, one other assist was from the defensive zone when his teammate scored on an empty net from their own end. That’s five of his assists that were not passes he made in the offensive end. Additionally, four of his assists came on the power play and one on the penalty kill. Including the empty net assist, that’s six assists not at five-on-five.
Silayev’s offensive game summarized
Silayev’s style isn’t clean—especially as a passer. However, there is still good value that he provides from the back end. For starters, he is aggressive. While his stats don’t exactly paint that picture the way a guy like Zayne Parekh’s stats do, there’s more potential for Silayev. He recorded five keep-ins—situations where he prevented the puck from exiting the zone. That’s just one less than Sam Dickinson and three less than an uber-aggressive Artyom Levshunov. Both of those players played the same number of games but logged significantly more minutes overall than Silayev in the KHL.
Silayev pinches up quite a bit in the offensive end, doing a good job holding the line when he does. He has a good understanding of his reach and frame, using all of it to keep the puck in. However, there’s no doubt he is lacking when it comes to overall puck skill and offensive dynamism when the puck is on his stick. He needs to work on his shooting habits and open up his passing game more. Right now, he is a bit one-dimensional, and that one-dimensional skill—his shot—also needs work.
Silayev showed flashes of a strong puck mover
When it came to transitioning the puck up the ice, Silayev showed flashes. However, playing as a U18 player in the KHL, he wasn’t leaned on much to lead the transitional game. Thus, he was directly involved in just nine zone entry attempts, with four entering the zone with possession. That’s a controlled entry rate of 44.44%. Another four of his attempts were dump-ins, with one of them being retrieved by teammates. Thus, five of his entry attempts led to offensive zone puck possessions, a 55.56% rate. Only one of his attempts was deemed a failure, getting denied at or just beyond the blue line.
When it comes to gaining the offensive zone, Silayev isn’t very aggressive or involved. He isn’t rushing up the ice as a trailer or leading the rush, but he does display good poise and patience with the puck. He largely plays more of a support role, making the simple, short-area pass that helps kick-start entries. However, he did have a couple of solid stretch passes up the ice, though he didn’t look for that often.
Exiting the defensive zone more of his strong suit
Similar to his approach in gaining the offensive zone, Silayev did not have a ton of direct involvement in exits, but he was far more noticeable. Across those three games, he was directly involved in 10 zone exit attempts. Of those, six exited the zone with possession, resulting in a 60% controlled exit rate. An additional two attempts were clearances—exits that did not lead to controlled possession. This means that eight of the 10 attempts cleared the zone and ended the opposition’s possession, giving him an 80% clearance rate. The other two attempts were both failures—one being an icing and the other being kept in by the opponents.
As previously mentioned, while he does not have a ton of involvement generally, his poise really shows on his exits. Pressure does not faze him, and he remains calm with a forechecker on him. He also made an indirect impact on breakouts, as he didn’t always get credited with direct involvement but did well to get the puck to a teammate in space. There were also multiple occasions where pressure mounted, and he and his partner were in a bit of trouble, but Silayev found a way out with quick and smart passes.
Strong defensive ability and tons of efficiency
Silayev is solid in his own end. He understands his frame and utilizes his reach and length to keep puck carriers away from the middle. Ultimately, he recorded 38 defensive zone puck touches in the three games tracked, averaging 12.7 defensive zone puck touches per game. In those touches, he had five giveaways, resulting in a turnover rate of 13.16%. However, he did force seven takeaways—moments where he was the primary cause of a turnover by his team in the defensive end—including two intercepted passes.
Additionally, he directly faced 32 rushes on his side of the ice. He allowed nine controlled entries, resulting in an entry allowed rate of 28.13%. He denied four entry attempts at or just beyond the blue line, giving him an entry prevention rate of 12.5%. This left 19 dump-ins against him on his half of the ice, largely due to his aggressive pinches and long reach discouraging opposing forwards from skating with the puck on his side. He was also tasked with retrieving a dump-in on 14 occasions and successfully retrieved 13 of them. His skating and length made it extremely difficult for forecheckers to beat him to those pucks.
Defensive game summation
When it comes to defending the rush, Silayev closes gaps quickly and effectively. He times his pinches well, and even if he doesn’t make a play when he does pinch, his skating and reach can bail him out of costly errors. He can easily reach his stick back to keep the play to the outside and then use his skating to catch up to the play. While this isn’t a negative by any means, it was a bit surprising that, despite his aggressive pinches, he didn’t play very physically against the rush. For such a big player, he didn’t often look for a hit.
In the zone, Silayev uses every bit of his long reach to keep plays out of the middle. He positions himself well as the weak-side defender, locking up his man at the net front. When the puck is on his side, he closes in slowly, keeping plays away from the middle by using his reach and frame to his advantage. However, there is one notable blemish in his game. While his reach is usually a big advantage, it can also be a target for forwards. If an opposing forward approaches the net with a teammate in the slot and Silayev is using his stick to cover the passing lane, there’s a gap between the blade of his stick and his body, under the shaft of the stick.
Because he has such a long stick, that opening is bigger than those of other defenders on the ice. With a bit of patience and a quick angle change, the passing lane can open. Players were able to slide passes through that gap and into high-danger areas several times. The positive thing about this issue is that it can be improved with experience and quick adjustments. Additionally, those specific situations don’t happen often enough to be a huge problem.
Projection: Where will he go and what role will he play?
Silayev is a rare breed. In recent years, size on the blue line has grown in importance again, and he has plenty of that. Skating is a huge focal point for defensemen as well, with players getting faster and the pace of play continuing to speed up. He also checks that box. But he’s also smart with how he uses that combination of size and speed, which is what has led to him being one of the premium defenders in this class. That said, he feels like a top-three selection. If he doesn’t go in the top three, there’s a very slim chance he falls outside the top five.
As for his projection to the NHL, it would surprise me and many others if he didn’t play in some NHL games down the line. His size appeals to managers and coaches, and his skating combined with that gives him an additional bonus. The fact he already has experience against men in the KHL will likely make his transition to the physicality of the game a bit easier. But his potential is interesting. His offensive game lacks dynamism, as mentioned. His transitional abilities were solid, but in limited opportunities. His defensive game was solid, with one blemish that could take some adjusting. That said, he could be a top-pair, minute-munching defender or more of a depth option with size and defensive upside. He should get NHL games, but how well he plays remains a question.
What others are saying
“Silayev is a two-way defender that has a lot of good in his game that would translate to the next level. To me, he looks like a guy who would become more of a shutdown defender. He uses his size extremely well defensively and is really good at boxing people out in net-front areas. He also initiates hits without getting out of position, which younger physical defenders often do.” – FCHockey crossover scout Samuel Tirpak
“Silayev has become one of the most talked about prospects in the upcoming draft over the course of this season and it’s not too hard to figure out why. He’s an incredibly mobile and defensively-astute defenseman already eating up minutes on a KHL blue line. This combination of size and mobility allows Silayev to snub out rush attempts effectively while also being able to grind opponents down along the boards. Additionally, his ability to read passing lanes in motion makes him very effective at picking off build-up chances and reversing momentum. On top of this, he performs with the calm and controlled manner of a seasoned vet.” — FCHockey regional scout Jake Janso
Silayev’s tracked games: Jan 9th, 2024 @ CSKA Moskva, Feb 9th, 2024 vs. HK Sochi, Mar 9th, 2024 @ SKA St. Petersburg