A puck-moving offensive defenseman, Knyazev has a very fluid skating stride and displays seamless edges and great acceleration. His backwards speed, agility and gap control are all excellent. Defensively, he’s got great strength that helps him clear the crease or stop speedy forwards from entering the zone, but his intensity is lacking a bit. He will need to learn to balance his risk taking and put in more effort to defend to advance to the next level, but he owns all the tools to be an excellent defender. Due to his offense-oriented mindset, he still struggles in his own zone. He has decent strength, which helps him win many board battles. He has great offensive instincts and is adept at jumping into the action when he sees an opportunity. With his quick feet, great vision and excellent first pass, he’s exceptional at starting the breakout from his own zone. He always has his head up to look at every option, but with his great hand-eye coordination and puck control, he can still dodge opponents and skate through traffic with ease. He loves to use fake passes and shots to destabilize his opponents to get better passing or shooting lanes. He possesses a powerful slap shot that can be dangerous when directed at net, but that often gets blocked by opponents. He distributes the puck with ease and moves around the offensive zone smoothly.