How overlooked is Danila Yurov?
Danila Yurov has emerged as one of the top prospects for the 2022 NHL Draft. The technical skill base in tandem with his mind, competitive nature, and 200 foot game to complement is beyond noticeable. There’s no question he is an elite player, but just how elite is Yurov?
I believe he has the pure upside to become the best player to come out of this draft class, right up there with Shane Wright. There’s an elite offensive skill set that has been utilized incorrectly while getting KHL time over in Russia, but Yurov has maintained his dominance against his age group. He’s shown it both at the U18s and the World Juniors for a brief amount of time. Plus of course, his dominance in the KHL feeder MHL U20 league, where he’s dominated for quite some time there for the last few years.
“Speed of hand, speed of foot, speed of mind; train for each of these…but never forget, the most important is speed of mind.”
Anatoli Tarasov
Yurov has all three of these traits, but his best asset is his mind. He has the ability to use his mind in many unique circumstances all over the ice. On puck retrievals in low-danger and dangerous areas on the ice, he frequently pre-scans and shoulder checks to identify options and determine attack routes. In tandem with his feet and hands, getting out of the corners and escaping pressure comes easier than most for Yurov.
The Film Room
Yurov also does an excellent job of being proactive, and using that to his advantage. It allows him to be proactive on pucks, getting to pucks, and with his off-puck routes to provide support for his teammates. It also allows him to create the best routes for himself individually, by finding pockets of space that puts him in areas to succeed on puck receptions. An example of that is shown below:
As the eventual F1, Yurov starts by swinging through center. Realizing he is in a low event area in neutral ice, Yurov changes to a slant route through the dot lane that opens a bank play for his teammate. That subtle awareness not only extends the possession, but allows the Russian squad to gain the offensive zone with ease.
On the entry as F1, immediately Yurov is forced to problem-solve. The defender commits his entire weight to the inside with Yurov going out, allowing extra space to be created from the committed defender. Yurov eventually manages to get around him, and then establishes body positioning on the next opposing player in puck pursuit. Using his feet and hands, Yurov is able to extend the zone at the end with a low-high pass from the corner.
That is one prime example of how Yurov is able to work. He doesn’t give up on pucks right away, but also has the mental strength to keep grinding in a tough situation starting from the defensive zone.
Yurov does an excellent job in this in-zone offensive sequence. Right away, he cycles the puck along the boards, drifts high, and then leverages an open tunnel right down the slot through his awareness. That creates a scoring opportunity in the slot for Yurov, and then he does an excellent job on the puck retrieval. He pre-scans and shoulder checks 3 times, leverages the committed defender’s inside weight, spins out, and immediately gets off the wall. Once he gets off the wall, he explodes down the funnel, and finds a teammate that ends up with a near-goal if he connected on that one-timer.
I absolutely love players who are proactive while forechecking as well. Honestly, why run a guy through the endboards anyways? More likely than not, a defender will reverse, rim, or wheel around the net on a breakout. So, if an attacker finishes his check, the puck probably won’t even be there. What Yurov does instead is he surfs, and then uses his stick positioning to block the reverse breakout attempt. Right away off the forced turnover, Yurov works the puck to the slot and finds an open teammate on the tape for a high quality scoring opportunity. No goal here, but the work from Yurov nearly ends up with a goal in this scenario.
Without that, none of this would have happened. Yurov’s excellent at reading situations on the forecheck through his quick-thinking proactive mind, and relies more on angles and anticipation to intercept pucks. It’s a modern-day form of puck pursuit that I believe is more successful than the typical “go in on the forecheck, and finish checks as hard as possible.” He’ll still finish checks on the forecheck and work physically, but he relies more on modern-day techniques instead. I absolutely love it.
His puck tracking ability is highly underrated and allows him to control possession for his team and force turnovers.
Another example of his proactive mind is in this second clip. Yurov intercepts the puck in the slot, swings, and makes a tape-to-tape outlet pass. Right after he makes the pass where the video doesn’t show, Yurov sprints in a straight-line through the middle. That creates the passing lane for his teammate, and ends up with a prime scoring opportunity in a prime scoring area. Yurov finishes with a nice short side shot.
He never looks down here either, and always kept his head up. This allows him to keep steady ice awareness and find teammates with ease. He doesn’t panic when he is being pressured either.
Yurov also does an excellent job of using manipulation and deception for 1-on-1 situations. Manipulation and deception, along with his proactive mind, are three traits that all translate to the next level when players have them at a young age. Yurov uses both manipulation and deception frequently in his game to leverage defenders to his advantage.
He can stickhandle using his hip pocket, using inside-out dekes, stickhandling between the defender’s feet and stick for manipulation, and has slick puck positioning to handle pucks in tight. He’s a highly versatile puck-handler, allowing him to control the play in dangerous areas under pressure, and low-event areas under pressure like the corners or the boards.
In this clip, he does an excellent job using his hip pocket to get the defender to bite and commit towards him. Once that defender turns his feet entirely in the direction opposite that Yurov is going, that allows Yurov to take full advantage of all the space he wants. Yurov does that and gets to the inside effectively, doesn’t get a forehand scoring opportunity, but gets a high-danger scoring chance on his backhand.
Yurov does a great job attacking the middle in this clip right on the breakout, and weaves through three defenders upon offensive zone entry. He maintains possession of the puck on the middle of his blade, and quickly is able to change his hand positioning to go forehand-backhand, back-fore, and then forehand-backhand again. Yurov also extends his top elbow out, allowing him to control the puck within any range that he desires. If he keeps that arm and elbow tucked, he wouldn’t allow that arm to have any sort of range. He probably would’ve lost the puck in that circumstance too.
It goes to show how skilled Yurov is handling pucks from range, close quarters, adjusting his hands on the fly in tight situations, and how agile he is with his hands and puck positioning on his blade. He is a highly skilled puck-handler, and should be able to expand upon this skill as he moves up to higher levels as well. He is also highly skilled relying on body positioning to protect pucks from defenders, and doesn’t allow easy inside contact with his body positioning as well.
Towards the end of the clip after slicing through the trio of defenders, Yurov extends the zone by continuing his route around the net, and finding a simple low-high play for possession purposes.
Last but not least, Yurov has a very unique patience to his game as a forward. This is something players don’t typically do, but Yurov does. Similar to Adam Fox’s x-ray level vision on the ice, Yurov doesn’t force low-probability plays that he doesn’t think will work. He instead looks for a better option and a better play to make while being pressured or not, and has the ability to do that in a split second.
In this clip for example, Yurov initially thinks about making a play to the weak side defenseman in space off the draw. He doesn’t, and instead goes for higher probability by taking the shot. A little risky, yes, but Yurov’s patience is beyond his age and beyond what this little clip shows.
He has a unique processing ability to scan multiple times, and not force a play when it isn’t there. He takes it upon himself to drive individual play and take advantage of opportunities while they are there. Yurov is more of an opportunistic type of player than other upcoming draft-eligible players that I’ve seen tape of thus far.
Ratings
Skating: 8.5 / 10
Puck Skills: 9 / 10
Off-Puck Play: 8.5 / 10
On-Puck Play: 9 / 10
Competitiveness: 8.5 / 10
Deception: 8.5 / 10
Tight Areas: 8.5 / 10
Proactiveness: 9 / 10
1v1: 8.5 / 10
Ice Awareness: 9 / 10
Truthfully, there’s no low points to Yurov’s game, making him a highly versatile and uber-talented player. He has the offensive instincts and smarts that can allow him to play center, but I would say he is more suited to play wing at higher levels. It seems to be more of a natural, comfortable fit for him when he plays wing anyway. Yurov also brings the ability to bring comfort attacking along the perimeter and up the middle of the ice, and isn’t afraid to interchange. He is very dangerous as a puck carrier, passer, and shooter going through the middle of the ice through the neutral zone and in the offensive zone.
Like I mentioned before, Yurov’s overall awareness at both ends of the rink, proactiveness, and incorporation of consistent manipulation and deception are stellar. He is always finding ways to leverage those aspects of his game, and it helps him be a game changer for his team as well.
Potential and Comparison
Yurov has the potential to become an elite top-line scorer capable of at least 80+ points in the NHL. I would even consider him for the first overall spot, because long-term I think he can pan out into something special. The skill gap with his mind, toolsy hands, and footwork that he has at this age can only be expanded upon further. With added skill development from the NHL team that selects him with a well-constructed developmental model, I believe he can reach his upside.
He compares favorably to Nikita Kucherov based on pure style. Kucherov wasn’t the most highly regarded at his age, but in his draft year, didn’t get much opportunity in the KHL and dominated against his age group. Not just his age group with his club team, but also on an international stage like Yurov has. Kucherov also has the proactiveness, deception & manipulation, instincts, small area play, and elusiveness that helped him translate to higher levels.
Yurov is a bit more polished than Kucherov was at the same age, and shouldn’t take too long to come over to North America. Ideally for Yurov, he could’ve came over through the CHL Import Draft to play a year in North America next season as a developmental route. Smaller ice, quality competition, and at least 20+ minutes nightly of ice time. However, with Russian and Belarusian players banned from the import draft this year, he’ll stay in Russia for at least another year anyways. His KHL contract runs through 2022–23, so it would take at least one more year for him to come over if he wanted to.
Ideally Yurov gets playing time in the MHL or VHL next year since things haven’t really worked out consistently with the KHL team, and then makes the move to North America for 2023–24. He should need AHL time for at least a year or two to get acclimated to a smaller rink on a professional stage, then has the potential to be NHL ready in around 3–4 years of time.
