Nikita Tyurin - Detroit’s Latest Russian Prospect

By Zak Egan (@LGRWProspects) - WWP Contributor

Nikita Tyurin, drafted in the 5th round of the latest NHL draft, is a six foot, 174 pound left-handed defenseman who plays in the Spartak Moskva system in Russia. Tyurin made his MHL, VHL and KHL debuts all this past season. It is pretty impressive for a player in their draft year who previously had not played in the MHL to get a MHL debut and a KHL debut in the same season. At the beginning of the year, Tyurin gave an interview with the team saying, “I have no idols - but I try to study the features of the game of the best hockey players in the world, I want to use something from their arsenal in my game. Of the players, I like defenders Cale Makar and Quinn Hughes - plus, we all attend Spartak matches in the KHL. I try to celebrate the actions of our team and all defenders, and remember something for myself.” Now that’s what you expect a young defenseman coming up in the game to say. I’m not here to say that there is any comparison to be had with the stars of the NHL and Nikita, but it’s a good mindset to have and I would say that his skating and composure under pressure are two of his best assets. Along with making his KHL debut, Nikita had a pretty accomplished season in his draft year. At the beginning of the year he said that the goal for the season was to win the Kharlamov Cup, and what do you know… he did. Tyurin also won MHL rookie of the week, MHL rookie of the month in October, he was named an MHL all-star, and also was named the best rookie in the Kharlamov Final. At this point I have watched 7-10 games of Tyurin along with compiling all of his goals and assists. It's pretty straightforward to see what an NHL scout might like about Nikita’s game and also what he needs to improve on if he wants to have a shot at playing in the NHL.Tyurin had a really impressive draft year, now lets get into what makes him an interesting prospect to follow for the coming years. 

Strengths

One really positive thing that I like about Tyurin’s game is his decision-making while breaking the puck out. Nikita has a calmness with the puck under pressure and a majority of the time makes the correct decision with the puck in the breakout. If there is not an immediate option to move the puck, he uses his skating and some deception to delay while teammates get open. Tyurin can also skate a puck out of the zone and beat a man if need be. I think that his decision-making is constantly on display, Tyurin knows when to make a progressive pass and when to skate a puck up, create space for his partner and reverse a puck D to D. Here is a clip of a two-man forecheck where Tyurin sees the pressure and makes a cheeky but simple backhand pass to break the puck out.

Here are a collection of breakouts from a few games:

Nikita’s passing ability is not only visible in the breakout. He is able to make good cross-ice passes in transition. Tyurin, as a rookie, was tasked with quarterbacking the second power play unit this year. While he did not showcase tons of high-end skill, he can effectively walk the blue line and has quite a bit of deception in his passing from the point. Tyurin opens the blade of his stick and uses his eyes to misdirect opponents into thinking where he’ll go with the puck.

Here are all of Nikita’s assists that he had this season and in the playoffs.

Another strength of his game from my perspective is his active stick and positioning - specifically in transition defense. I feel that Nikita closes gaps well and quickly with his length and pokes pucks off of opponents' sticks well. Tyurin is not an overly physical player (one of his weaknesses) but he does use his size well to separate the puck from his opponent and also frequently is able to stop cycles by pinning players to the boards. This is an action in the game that I rate because it temporarily stops play and can create a turnover of possession. Tyurin uses his body positioning well and that is a good attribute to have in defending and is a good step in becoming more physical as he adds strength. Here are a couple clips of his transition defense:

The foundation for both of these strengths in Tyurin’s game is his skating. His skating. specifically forward, is very fluid and natural. The stride looks good and one would hope as he adds strength to his body it becomes more powerful with time. I have not seen any examples of Nikita using 10-2 moves or any fancy hip opening movements but he uses his skating, and stops and starts, well to protect pucks. His skating definitely can still improve - pretty much every player's can. Tyurin has a smooth stride that fits with the calming presence he seems to exude on the ice. Here is a clip of his blue line walking ability and jumping into the play using his skating:

Weaknesses

I view Nikita's skating as a strength, but he does seem to have an over-reliance on skating forward. That’s not to say he skates backwards poorly, but in a game you’ll find him skating forwards at times where he should be skating backwards. He pivots well and gaps up well yet sometimes, in transition for example, he’ll skate forwards parallel to an opponent instead of backwards. It’s hard to describe but hopefully you get the gist. Nikita also has a tendency to want to leave the net-front and jump into the rush at times where the team did not have full control of the puck. Oftentimes his skating and reach allowed for him to recover but he needs to get better at recognizing when it is time to jump into the rush and when to stay at the net front. 

Another area that could use some improvement is Nikita’s shot. It definitely looks to me like he could benefit from adding some strength. He also just needs to shoot more and get better at shooting through traffic. Tyurin had 4 goals this year and one was an empty net. Here are those goals:

Some other areas that need some work are his physicality and meanness. I’d like to see him throw his body around a bit more and show a bit more of an edge. As I said earlier, I think he uses his body well but he is not throwing punishing hits or hits with "oomph". Other than this one:

Nikita can puck watch from time to time but largely I think he is decent off the puck. Although he does use his stick well in front of the net, he could use his body in a more physical way. Here is an example of a good net front stick lift:

One looming question will be what his offensive upside is. A great puck-mover who can break pucks out under pressure is a coveted thing in the NHL, but if he can add a bit more offense and skill to his game then he could really raise his ceiling.

Projection

As of right now Nikita has a long runway to go in his development. His current contract is until 5/31/27 and I wouldn’t expect Detroit to make a decision on him then unless he really popped in the next two years (they have his rights indefinitely). I see him as a puck moving defenseman with four-way mobility. As of right now there are a few traits that lead me to believe that he has a shot at making the NHL. The likelihood of that will obviously fluctuate in the coming years, but there is enough there to pique my interest. Hopefully he continues to maintain his role on both the power play and penalty kill and gets a couple call ups this season. I’ll be watching him closely this year.