Afanasyev, 18 (1/23/01), was selected by the Predators in the second round (45th overall) of the 2019 NHL Draft and has tallied 12 points (5g-7a) in 11 games with the Ontario Hockey League's Windsor Spitfires this season. This week, the left wing extended his point streak to five games (4g-4a) by posting five points (2g-3a) in two games and jumped to second on the Spitfires in scoring. He's found the scoresheet in all but three of his games this season and has seen time on the Windsor power play, posting two goals and two assists.

The 6-foot-3, 204-pound Afanasyev is in his rookie OHL season after spending the previous two campaigns with the USHL's Muskegon Lumberjacks. In 2018-19, he led the Lumberjacks in goals (27), assists (35) and points (62) en route to a spot on the USHL's Third All-Star Team. He finished 10th in the USHL in points and his +24 plus-minus was the sixth-highest among all league forwards. It was a 48-point improvement from his rookie USHL season in 2017-18, when he netted six goals and 14 points, and he also competed in the 2019 USHL/NHL Top Prospects Game.

Internationally, the Tver, Russia, native represented Russia at the 2017 World U-17 Hockey Challenge, posting two goals and five points in five games.