By Rayan Tubeec

Player Information:

Position: Left Wing/Right Wing

D.O.B: December 22, 2003

2021-2022 team: Metallurg Magnitogorsk ( KHL, MHL )

Height: 6’1/185 cm

Weight: 179 lbs/81 kg

Shoots: Left

Nationality: Russia

RecruitScouting Rank: 5

Introduction:

Danila Yurov is regarded as one of the top ranked Russian players eligible for this year’s NHL entry draft. The Chelyabinsk native has bounced around the KHL & MHL without a real home yet, and has been given almost zero minutes a night in the KHL without any good reason. Metallurg’s Yurov is a dynamic and shifty winger with smart hockey IQ and good playmaking ability. Yurov currently has 0 points in 14 games in the KHL with Metallurg Magnitogorsk, which is very misleading point totals due to not touching much ice. The 6’1 winger also had 6 points in 2 games in the MHL and is expected to play in the 2022 World juniors in Edmonton. With all the background information out of the way, Let’s dive deep into Yurov’s game tape and see why he’s on everyone’s radar.

“Yurov is the most complete Russian born prospect in this draft. Unfortunately his relative lack of ice-time in the KHL has prevented him from showing off his finer offensive skills, but when pitted against similarly aged junior league peers he dominates games. His skating, shooting, size and hockey IQ are all good enough that I would expect him to be a sure thing to succeed at the next level once he matures and fills out his frame a bit more.”

Jack Dawkins – Russian Scout, Recruitscouting

Skating

Danila Yurov is a player who’s constantly in “go-go mode” when he doesn’t have the puck. He wants to get the puck all the time and presses heavily on opposing defenders whenever he’s on the ice. When he has the puck, he’s able to enter the offensive zone with possession instead of the inefficient dump in chase, and dish out a very effective pass to his line-mates. He’s an agile skater with sneaky speed in him, and always has his feet moving in the offensive & defensive zone. However, Yurov needs to work on extending his leg out to have a more efficient stride on the ice. For his crossovers, He’s pretty solid at getting the quick feet to build up acceleration, which allows him to practice good lateral movement when having possession of the puck. If I have to give a rating for his skating ability, it would be 8.5/10 as he has a solid foundation when it comes skating speed and shiftiness.

Shooting Ability

When you first watch Yurov, you can see that his head is up when he’s looking at the net. This allows him to find open spots that the opposing goalie is leaving open and try to shoot it there. However, Yurov needs power in his wrist shot. he doesn’t push down on his bottom hand enough to create torque to absolute rip the puck. Yurov usually resides on the outside of the “house” in the offense zone which is at the top of the circle, so if he gets in a little closer into the zone, he may have a better chance at scoring. A few instances during the beginning of this season, he has a habit of taking way too long to set up his wrist-shot which allows opposing players to get the jump on Yurov pretty quick. His snap-shot is pretty solid on the rush as he can use his body weight to flex his stick and allow speed on his shot. If I give a rating for Danila Yurov’s Shooting ability, it’s a 6/10 as their’s things that Yurov needs to tweak in his shot in order to make it lethal.

Stick play & forecheck

Yurov loves getting into puck battles, and he does it efficiently as he won 54% of his puck battles this season as a 18 year old playing in arguably the 3rd best league in the world. Yurov displays his excellent stick checking ability as he has a good active stick when pressing on an opponent which allows him to pick off passes. Yurov is able to stick lift proficiently away from defenders in the corners and look to give a feed to an open team which also him to become a threat offensively and defensively. Also helps that Yurov has the motor and work ethic to hound on defenders or forwards who have possesion of the puck. This makes Yurov very attractive to NHL teams with a heavy forecheck style of game. Yurov stick-play rating would be 8/10 as he’s very effective in terms of puck-battles and overall forechecking.

Playmaking

Although Yurov’s shot isn’t all to be desired, his play-making ability makes up for his shot inefficiencies. Yurov is very excellent on the breakout as he’s an excellent puck distributor. He can make tape to tape stretch pass from his end like he has the X-factor ability. He can use his shot as a way to create chances by utilizing rebounds, as Yurov can fire a wrister at the goalies pads which causes havoc at front. Yurov always has his head up and constantly scans the ice for open teammates who are in a good position to score. Yurov when he’s utilized on the powerplay looks for the guy across the offensive to set up a One-T or sets up the guy on the goal-line where the teammate can create a High-danger chance in front. Yurov’s Playmaking ability is worth a 8.5/10 Rating as he’s so effective in driving offense chances.

Comparsion & Conclusion.

Danila Yurov is a player with good two-way ability who can dish passes like crazy. It would be better if he was playing in the centre position rather than a winger as he’s so positionally sound, whether it be on the offensive or defensive side. I can see a top 6 forward who can be a terrific set-up man in yurov who has the ability to make a line much better. I can project Yurov to get around 60-70 pts a season in his prime and possess excellent defensive metrics. My player comparison for Yurov has to be Eilas Pettersson, as they are Dynamic forwards who can drive a line and are excellent with stick checking. both can distribute the puck effortlessly and possess a high level of IQ. Yurov is ranked 5th in RecruitScouing’s rankings and mine.

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