Photo Credit: Avangard Omsk
Yegor Chinakhov is an over-ager and is the son of Vitali Chinakhov, former Russian hockey player and was drafted in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Rangers. The Omsk, Russia native was eligible for the 2019 NHL Draft, but was passed over. Granted, his offensive production in 2018-19 was nowhere close to what it was in 2019-20. In 2018-19, Chinakhov had tallied eight goals and eight assists. This past season, he quadrupled his offensive production. In 56 games played with the MHL’s Omskie Yastreby, he mustered up 27 goals and 42 assists. In addition, he was featured in two games for the VHL’s Izhstal Izhevsk and recorded three points (two goals and one assist) in his short stint.
Not only did Chinakhov increase his offensive production at a high rate, but his 69 points was the fifth highest in the MHL this season. With his electric shot, he successfully put himself back on the map.
Player Profile
D.O.B – February 1, 2001
Nationality – Russia
Draft Eligibility – 2020
Height –5’11
Weight –179 lbs
Position – Right Wing
Handedness – Right
Chinakhov’s Style Of Play
As I mentioned above, Chinakhov has a quick blistering shot. His wrist and snap shot are quite fierce. He can rip shots about the glove and pick corners extremely well. In the clip below, you will see the Russian winger identify his opponent’s penalty kill unit and that they have formed a line blocking the slot. Instead of opting to pass the puck through the danger zone, he sees that he has a teammate at the net and as soon as the teammate drifts to the side, Chinakhov fires a snap shot above the glove. He picks the precise moment to fire his shot. Sure, he could have taken the shot with his teammate in front of the net, but the chances of success could have been minimal as the puck could have ricocheted off of his teammate. Instead, he waits for the moment where the goaltender is aiming to regain his sight-lines, but he does not give the goaltender enough time to get re-adjusted.
If you want to see another highlight goal, we have another one for you to check out. This time around, Chinakhov completes a controlled zone entry and fires a wrist shot from right outside of the perimeter. He manages to get the puck past the goaltender’s blocker.
Aside from his shot, Chinakhov is fairly strong at feeding tape-to-tape passes and drop passes. He is often positioned along the half-wall, especially on the power play and feeds smooth tape-to-tape passes. But, there are some inconsistencies with his passing. When he elects to complete a cross ice pass, his accuracy is too inconsistent and it seems to vary by game.
From a puck handling perspective, Chinakhov is not bad, but there could be some improvement. There are times where he will manage to control the puck in tight spaces, but he will also cough up the puck too easily. The biggest challenge for Chinakhov is how he handles the puck along his blade. The puck sits at the edge of the stick blade, which makes him susceptible to losing the puck when encountering pressure.
The defensive zone is Chinakhov’s weakest zone. There are instances where the winger will attempt to wave his stick and poke-check, but he often misses the mark. In addition, when he is putting on pressure along the blue-line, his speed and mobility burns him. Instead of applying consistent pressure, he will get challenged and burned by speedier puck movers. There are similar challenges in the offensive zone when Chinakhov is attempting to fore-check, but his lack of speed hurts him as his attackers easily move the puck away from him. Also, he does have some physicality in his play, but my concern is with Chinakhov following through on his body checks and keeping himself balanced.
The ultimate challenge for Chinakhov is his skating. His speed and mobility need improvement. There are several instances where his skates are too far apart. When your skates are too far apart and you are gliding forward, it becomes a challenge to play in tight situations especially near the net. Or if you have to divert and turn around, your ability to switch directions at a fast rate becomes a challenge. In the clip below, you will able to see how far apart his skates are and the challenges that he faces when skating up to the net with his skates that far apart.
Unfortunately, his feet placement also impacts his edge work. When your feet are that far apart, it can be difficult to navigate around traffic with the puck. In the clip below, you will see Chinakhov confront his attackers, but fails to get around them due to his wide stride. He does not have the ability to utilize his outside edge to turn because of how wide apart his feet are.
The good news is that his skating can be addressed and improved upon. So, I’m not overly concerned with his skating ability. If he works with an instructor or two and does not adapt, that is when I would get concerned.
But, as I stated above, Chinakhov has an excellent shot and NHL teams will certainly love his ability to rip snap and wrist shots top shelf.
Comparison
Tanner Pearson, Left Wing, Vancouver Canucks
Tanner Pearson was an over-ager once upon a time ago and like Chinakhov, Pearson has a dominant shot. Pearson does possess a stronger defensive game and better physicality, so Chinakhov is off the mark there. But, if Chinakhov can improve his defense, physicality and skating, he could resemble Pearson.
stats from InStat Hockey and EliteProspects
Prospect report written by Josh Tessler. If you would like to follow Josh on Twitter, his handle is @JoshTessler_.
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