Kuzmin is a prospect with some very appealing elements to his game, but also one with enough glaring weaknesses that it puts his entire NHL upside into serious question. First of all, his hands are absolutely dynamite, maybe even among the best in the entire 2021 class. He can pull off behind-the-back dekes to fool defenders and get around them wide to create scoring chances. He also has deception in his hands that he can use to fake out defenders head-to-head and buy himself time on the rush. At his best he can make some truly eye-popping moves that most of his peers could only dream of. He’s a tiny winger, but plays with a lot of heart and purpose most of the time. Will do his best to play physically on the forecheck, though results are only middling. He was clearly trusted a lot by his coaches this past year, logging tons of ice time. On the downside, unfortunately, his combination of size and skating is a huge concern. Simply put, he’s just not a good enough skater for his size. His hands can buy him time and space on the bigger ice, but they alone won’t be enough in North America. His decision-making can also be pretty unfortunate at times. He occasionally makes poor, unforced decisions that end up as turnovers and the puck going back down the ice, which makes you question his vision. Shot isn’t a major weapon unless he can get within a few feet of the net. He also isn’t able to make any kind of positive impact defensively, not just because of his lack of size and skating, but also because he seems to track he play in his own zone a little slowly. Few prospects in this draft have as much boom-or-bust potential as Kuzmin has.

– FCHockey’s 2021 NHL Draft Guide