Marat Khusnutdinov a Potential Diamond in The Rough

 

It has become somewhat of a trend to have a notorious ‘Sleeper’ in the draft classes, last year everyone was caught up with Nils Hoglander and Pavel Dorofeyev, I believe that Marat Khusnutdinov is ‘that’ player from the 2020 draft class. Marat spent the 2018/19 season within the Vityaz Podoslk system where he became a regular feature on both the U17 and U18 teams. His impressive youth league stint was enough to garner the attention of North American scouts and as a result Khusnutdinov was selected 8th overall in the CHL import draft by the Erie Otters the following summer. Despite the interest from abroad , he opted to remain in Russia and instead signed with Russian powerhouse organisation SKA St. Petersburg. He was promoted to the MHL for the 2019/20 campaign , a nerving move at the time as he was not guaranteed playtime with upwards of 7 other skaters on the verge of Draftday success. He was gifted the ‘A’ upon his arrival which didn’t surprise many given his tendency to adopt a leadership role wherever he goes even having Captained Russia on an international level. Khusnutdinov skated in 44 games last season where he amassed a total of 38 points (13 goals + 25 assists). Many were surprised by his ‘lacking’ form in front of net, it is worth noting that he had an average TOI of 14:46 whilst playing a 3rd line Checking forward role. I find the importance of production in the MHL to be somewhat of a touchy subject given the immense gap in ability, St Petersburg were the best in the West as they hosted a record of 55-5-4 while the likes of ORG Junior boasted a 1-61-2 record ! Khusnutdinov appeared to find consistency among this talent gap as he registered 16 points in 19 games (0.84 PPG) against top 15 teams and 22 points in 25 games (0.88 PPG) against the bottom half. He showed his class under pressure as well as he held an even strength primary point production per game of 0.57 , only bettered by Amirov and Nevolin , it is also worth mentioning that Amirov is 10 months older. He capped off an impressive few years with some success on the international stage as he captained his country to Gold at both the Hlinka Gretzky Cup and the u18 championship , while his offensive production was lacking he played a key role in Russia’s triumph with his Two-way game.  

Draft Rankings 

ProHockeyReport 21st

Bob McKenzie , TSN 58th

Future Considerations 76th

Top Shelf Prospects 42nd

Elite Prospects 32nd

There is no doubt in my mind that his skating is the leading facet of his game, he is an explosive skater. He possesses fantastic acceleration which is a direct result of an outstanding first step. He possesses a low centre of gravity and a strong lower body which permits him to alter his velocity and direction in mere seconds, this combines with his fantastic edgework to put defenders on the backfoot , he is a real threat going forward as a result. His powerful strides also allow him to fight through checks. He bears quite a profound understanding of the fundamental skills behind skating, he holds a strong knee bend while carrying it just inches in front of his foot to optimise thrust and propulsion. He also adopts a wide skating stance at times to increase balance , strength and manoeuvrability while in possession of the puck. It becomes apparent while watching him play that the transitional game is at the forefront of his game , he often recovers the puck from behind his own net , carries it up the ice with ease and hands a scoring chance to his teammate on a plate. It’s striking how confident he is on the puck , he attacks the neutral zone with pace all the while his head is up . scanning the ice for seams that he can exploit. It is important to note that on many occasions over the course of the last season he did present his teammates with excellent scoring opportunities only for them to squander the occasion. He possesses the innate ability to flip the ice in his favour.

Now to get into the nitty gritty of the young Russians game. Khusnutdinov is extremely talented on the backcheck. He appears to know the exact levels of pressure to apply to the opposition and rarely over commits to a play and never leaves his blue liners exposed. He applies this pressure to the right areas to counteract the transition and cycle game. He possesses a high octane motor and works relentlessly to win possession back. I believe that his defensive work ethic is directly attributed to his smaller 5’9” frame, he constantly had to outward the opposition to succeed and has carried that all the way through his career. He focuses on his positional game as his size traditionally deters him from physically guarding the puck. He knows the exact angles to gain leverage against sizeable opponents. His positional awareness is also through the roof, he can pinpoint the exact location of every player on the ice at any given time. He carries his defensive acumen over to the penalty kill and applies his cautious style in most environments. 

The Mosckow native is somewhat of an offensive dynamo. Whether he’s setting up a teammate or going for goal himself , you’d never bet against him to capitalise. His fantastic skating ability and great strength on the puck allow him to hold onto possession in the offensive zone , he draws a crown in creating ample space for his teammates to move into. He can find a linemate with ease ! He often weaves his way through the opposition finding himself in a passing lane. He possesses a profound arsenal of shots. He uses a relatively straight stick which allows him to generate power in confined spaces. The puck can explode off his stick and he is consistent in getting shots off through screens or when blanketed by a defender.

I can say with confidence that Marat Khusnutdinov projects to be an emphatic middle six forward who can provide value on both special team units. Will an NHL scouting team place their trust in him or will he fall past the first round as Hoglander did ? Only time will tell !

Written by Ruairi Navin