Andrei Svechnikov – Right Winger – 6’2 187lbs – 17 Years Old – Barrie Colts in the OHL – 5gp 3g 2a 5p
While Dahlin enters the season as the presumptive first overall selection, his main rival is in the form of Russian sniper Andrei Svechnikov. Andrei is the younger brother of Detroit First Rounder Yevgeni Svechnikov and has already shown far more progression than his sibling.
The big winger has had an interesting career as he moved from Russia to the USHL last season to acclimatize to the North American game. As a 16 year old he put up 29 goals and 58 points in just 48 games. He was named Rookie of the Year and on the All-Star Team for the league and I think had his team made the playoffs he would have won the Forward of the Year. As he was third in PPG and fifth in goals scored despite missing at least four games than the guys ahead of him. Now to put this into perspective, we need to look at his contemporaries in the USHL. This is based on the year before their draft year. In case you were wondering where players like Phil Kessel or Patrick Kane are, well Kessel played in the U20 league but it was a different league at the time and Kane never played above U18 before moving to the OHL. Also I left Tomas Vanek off this list not only due to it being so long ago it is irrelevant…but also because his numbers were RIDICULOUS.
Andrei Svechnikov 48gp 29g 29a 58p Clayton Keller (7th Overall) 32gp 14g 23a 37p Auston Matthews (1st Overall) 24gp 20g 28a 48p Jack Eichel (2nd Overall) 24gp 20g 25a 45p Kieffer Bellows (19th Overall) 58gp 33g 19a 52p Jeremy Bracco (61st Overall) 34gp 9g 28a 37p Taylor Cammarata (76th Overall) 60gp 27g 42a 69p Zemgus Girgensons (14th Overall) 51gp 21g 28a 49p
As you can see, he fits firmly in with Matthews and Eichel, though their goal scoring ability is fairly unmatched. Not that it matters much either, but Svechnikov was 15/16 during that year, unlike Matthews or Eichel who were both 16/17. Not a huge difference, but it is interesting to note. What I’m getting at is that he has the pedigree to be an extremely impactful player. That and the USNDP team tends to have better teammates than the various other USHL squads.
Then we can go on to his international play. Which has been superb. At the U18’s he dominated scoring 4 goals and 9 points in 7 games. He was also the MVP for both the U17 and U19 (Junior B) tournaments. Lastly he scored 4 goals in the 5 games of the Ivan Hlinka Tournament for Team Russia.
At his best, Svechnikov is a sniper and offense generator. His shot, his skills, his skating and his ability to find open space make him an elite prospect. His defensive game does need work, which is no surprise considering his age and position, but that’s always something that can be worked on. Other than that, there aren’t too many flaws to his game. While he would likely shoot first, he has that Kessel-like ability to make subtle plays and make things happen. Having seen both play, I can honestly say that he is Vladimir Tarasenko come again. If you followed Tarasenko during his draft year you would know he was a top-5 pick WITH the “Russian Issue… by basically every scout with a brain. Yet he fell because he stayed in Russia. Svechnikov won’t have this problem, he (and his brother) have made their commitments clear. They want to play in North America.
It’s a wait and see in my opinion on if Svechnikov will pass Dahlin for the number one spot. I think this could be a year where team need actually plays a factor as the two are so close.
NHL Comparable : Vladimir Tarasenko