Recap:

20. Sasha Mutala

19. Matthew Steinburg

18. Alex Beaucage

17. Tyler Weiss

16. Brandon Saigeon

15. Adam Werner

14. Igor Shyvryov

13. Ty Lewis

12. Cam Morrison

11. Nikolai Kovalenko





As we enter October and the top 10 of my prospect list, Daniil Zhuravlyov becomes the second player on this list that is currently not playing hockey in North America, along with fellow country men Nikolai Kovalenko. Both are playing in the KHL currently.





The 6'0" 165lbs Russian Dman was also apart of the Avs 2018 draft class. He was selected with the 146th overall choice, in the 5th round. Coming into his draft year, Zhuravlyov split time between the Juniors and Minors over in Russia. Playing in both the MHL and VHL. Spending the majority of his season with Irbis Kazan in the MHL. He had a very solid season here, where he showed a lot of offensive promise. He posted 9 goals and 18 points n 29 games played. Where Zhuravlyov really excelled though and made a name for himself as far as NHL teams and scouts were concerned was at the WJC-U18 tournament. This is often considered the most important tournament as far as scouting goes for draft eligible prospects. Zhuravlyov took advantage of that and showed off his puck moving skills. He played a major role for that team. He ended the tournament with 5 assists in 5 games. He was buzzing all over the ice and for stretches of the tournament looked like Russia's best dman by far.





After being drafted by the Avs I was a little weary about his development, especially early on in the season. Again for the second season in a row he was splitting time between the VHL and MHL, this time spending the vast majority in the VHL. Not that this was a horrible sign for Zhuravlyov himself, but the fact of the matter is, leagues outside the KHL in Russia are very hit or miss. For me myself, it was hard to find a lot of film to watch him on and really do anything else other than stat scout. Which if we are being real, is A.) virtually impossible to do in those leagues for defensive prospects and B.) not reliable given those leagues and their history of stat recording. He ended up playing 44 games total, 40 of which were played in the VHL. The vast majority of prospects not in the KHL tend to spend more time in the MHL as well so this was another reason I was starting to question his developmental path to a degree. He posted 5 assists, 8 PIMs and +4 rating. Virtually nothing to go off of if you can't watch the film. So how can I possibly have this guy so high on the list if I can't watch him at all? Well he did something right for the people in Russia and was able to play in quite a bit of international competition. As an 18 year old he made Russia's WJC team which was huge for him. Russia tends to lean on older players and ride those guys. It's not everyday you see an 18 year old dman make the team and get as much ice time as he did. That alone really stood out to me.





Playing alongside Kovalenko in the WJC's, Daniil helped the team earn a Bronze Medal. He looked like the type of player Avs fans could really get behind and be excited about. Still so young at only 18 years old at the time. You saw a very confident puck moving dmen, who wasn't afraid to push some tempo when he was out on the ice. Not only that, he was defensively responsible as well. He ended up appearing in 9 more U20 international contests and showed me enough to be really high on this kid. He is still so young, he's got a slight, slender frame but at 19 years old you can definitely work with it. Since then he has already appeared in 3 more U20 contests in 2019-2020, making it look like he shouold be a lock for the WJC team again, if there were any questions remaining. He posted 2 assists in those contests as well. Zhuravlyov has opened the season on Ak Bars Kazan roster in the KHL. Appearing in 10 game sand already posting 3 assists. What this kid is doing at 19 years old is not normal. I'm really excited to see him again at the WJC's and am thrilled to see what he can do in his first full season in the KHL.





When you watch this kid take the ice, you see a responsible kid. He is not just all offense, however he shows you the offensive flair and upside that really gets you excited about a prospect. Now I already mentioned he is only 165lbs at 6'0". So he will obviously need to fix that in order to play pro hockey in North America, whether it be in the AHL or NHL. But at 6'0" tall, that shouldn't be much of an issue if he does decide to make the transition to North America. He moves the puck well and moves it quickly up the ice when exiting the zone. He is not afraid to carry the puck either, this is where he creates the majority of his chances offensively. The one main area he struggles with is getting bodied by bigger forwards in front of the net. Now again that part of his game should come with is maturity. He is playing pro hockey against grown men in the KHL so that should really help develop his game as well.





With guys like Zhuravlyov there is always concerns regarding when or if he will come over. That will always be the question regarding him until we know for sure 100% one way or the other. I love his game and think it would be suited very well in North America and would love to see how he handles the transition. To be completely honest I do not know too much about his current contract situation in the KHL. It is my understanding that he would be available for the Avs to sign at the end of this season if they wanted too, however I can not confirm that 100%. For him though as far as this season is concerned, I am really just looking for him to stick in the KHL. He is playing on a real solid team, so for a 19 year old dman to stay on the team the entire season, that would really be saying a lot. He is already off to a good start offensively with his production. The biggest point of the season from an evaluation stand point in my opinion though will be at WJC's. It is sort of a turning point for a lot of prospects. It can make of break their season and kind of jump start a lot of areas in their development and how they are viewed by scouts and teams. For more casual fans it will also be their chance to watch him in a live setting as well. For the WJC's, and it being his second go around I will have some pretty high expectations for him. I'll be excited to see how he performs on a big stage.