Look Over There: Top Prospects Playing in Europe
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As the 2023-24 season kicks into full gear, I wanted to take this chance to dive into some of the best drafted and un-drafted prospects playing in a variety of leagues across Europe. We’ll start with a handful of prospects who are eligible for the 2024 Draft and then jump into prospects playing in leagues such as the KHL, SHL, Liiga and more!
2024 Draft Prospects
Anton Silayev, LD, Torpedo (KHL)
Anton Silayev has been a fascinating prospect to watch early on this season. I’ll admit that he was nowhere near on my radar coming into this season. Yes he had the size and the skating already, but he only managed 8 points in 41 MHL games and there was no part of me that could have predicted the star power he would exude this year.
Silayev currently has 8 points in 21 KHL games and has been a phenomenal two-way player despite the fact that he doesn’t turn 18 until April 2024. He has terrific skating technique and I think he’ll be able to move at NHL speeds very soon. Silayev is under contract for another two seasons in the KHL after this one so the team that drafts him in the 2024 Draft is likely going to be able to plug him into their lineup as a polished high-end defender with a ton of pro experience.
I see a lot of similarities between him and Simon Edvinsson, although Silayev is even bigger and appears to be further along in his development than Edvinsson was at the same age. He has good gap control while defending the rush and can make stops with his massive frame or his freakishly long reach. If there’s any prospect in the world capable of becoming the next Victor Hedman, it’s Silayev. The only thing that will hold back his draft position is his nationality and his contract situation in the KHL.
Draft Range Right Now: 2nd-10th Overall
Michael Brandsegg-Nygård, RW, Mora IK (HockeyAllsvenskan)
Michael Brandsegg-Nygård tore up the J20 Nationell in Sweden last year in his age-17 season and he kept that momentum going this Fall. He played just 5 games in the J20, scoring a whopping 10 points, before earning the call up to Mora’s pro team where he has been playing ever since. The points haven’t started to pile up in the Allsvenskan quite yet, with just 1 assist to his name over 9 games, but Brandsegg-Nygård is a top prospect in this year’s draft regardless.
Brandsegg-Nygård has good NHL size (6-foot-1, 194 pounds already), skates like the wind, and creates a ton of offense for someone of his age. Clearly the pace and defensive load of playing against grown men as an 18 year old has been a bit tough for him early on this year, but he has so much skill with the puck and a really heavy shot so I expect he’ll break through eventually.
Draft Range Right Now: 8th-20th Overall
Konsta Helenius, C/LW, Jukurit (Liiga)
Konsta Helenius is an excellent playmaker who competes hard enough to succeed in the Finnish Liiga as a 16-year-old. He finished last season with 11 points in 33 professional games, good enough for third among all U19 skaters. Helenius is level-headed under pressure and makes remarkable passes look routine, setting his teammates up for success. He was one of Finland’s best players at the 2023 U18 World Championship, driving play on offense and showing an encouraging amount of engagement defensively.
Helenius’ two-way play against pros as a teenager has been very impressive, especially in transition where he is able to keep up with the pace of play both physically and mentally. It’s still early but he has been excellent in the Liiga so far this year, with 6 points in his first 13 games and his shot has looked far more dangerous so far as well. Hopefully we can get another look at him against his own age group at this year’s World Junior Championship where I expect he could be an important piece for Team Finland.
Draft Range Right Now: 4th-8th Overall
Leo Sahlin Wallenius, LD, Växjö Lakers HC J20 (J20 Nationell)
Leo Sahlin Wallenius hasn’t received much attention early on this season but I am confident that will all change. Sure, he hasn’t put up the gaudiest offensive numbers early this year with 12 points in 15 J20 games, but he has shown more than enough through league play and his time with Team Sweden at the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup to prove that he’s not someone to be ignored.
His greatest strength right now is his skating, especially in transition where he can often catch opposing defenders on their heels and make their lives miserable by burning right by them. Sahlin Wallenius is also a great offensive contributor on the rush, either as a puck carrier or as a trailer where he knows how to find open ice. His defensive game is great against his age group, especially when it comes to his stick work. There’s a good chance he’s a first round pick in the 2024 Draft when all is said and done.
Draft Range Right Now: 20th-40th Overall
Aron Kiviharju, LD, HIFK (Liiga)
Aron Kiviharju has been the most talked about 2024 Draft eligible player over the last year or two, after playing most of his age-15 season in the top U20 junior league in Finland, scoring roughly a point per game as a small defenseman. Kiviharju’s stature (5-foot-10) will likely go a long way to dictate his draft position next summer (unless he gains another inch or two), but that would be doing him a disservice as he’s one of the smartest players in this draft class. He is an excellent puck handler in transition and walks the blue-line very confidently in the offensive zone.
Kiviharju suffered a knee injury in practice that is reportedly going to keep him out until February which will likely pull down his draft stock considerably. He will need to come back swinging this Winter if he wants to be drafted early in the first round, but if not, someone is going to get a super valuable pick with him a bit later into the first round. Kiviharju has lots of potential to become a top-four offensive defenseman who provides a ton of value on the power play.
Draft Range Right Now: Completely Unknown (probably 16-64th Overall)
SHL
Axel Sandin Pellikka, RD, Skellefteå (Detroit Red Wings)
Axel Sandin Pellikka (ASP) has been off to a phenomenal start in the SHL this season, already surpassing his 5 points from the 2022-23 season with 6 points (5 of which are goals) in just 12 games. He has also scored 3 points in 5 Champions League games. ASP is a really intelligent player who competes really hard in all areas of the game.
Those traits combined with a really heavy shot for a 5-foot-11 defenseman has made him a dangerous offensive weapon this year. If he can keep this kind of scoring up, it won’t be long before he’s patrolling the blueline in Detroit behind Moritz Seider.
Jonathan Lekkerimaki, RW, Örebro (Vancouver Canucks)
Jonathan Lekkerimaki has not had an easy year. Through a bout of mononucleosis, a foot injury, and a concussion, he didn’t have the post-draft season that anyone hoped for with only 9 points in 29 Allsvenskan games. However, he got healthy near the end of the season and scored a remarkable 15 points in 15 playoff games to end the season.
This year he was loaned to Örebro in the SHL and has been off to an incredible start. Lekkerimaki has 7 goals and 10 points in 12 SHL games, giving him the most goals and points among all U20 players and even tying him for the league-lead in goals. This is the bounceback he really needed and it looks like Lekkerimaki could be ready to make the jump to the AHL next season and join the Abbotsford Canucks.
KHL
Matvei Michkov, RW, HK Sochi (Philadelphia Flyers)
Rarely does the second most talented player in a draft class slip all the way to 7th overall, but that’s exactly what happened with Matvei Michkov. A combination of his size, reported (though unconfirmed) character issues, and a contract that will keep him in the KHL for at least two and a half more years led to his slide. Michkov is an incredibly dynamic offensive player and while he isn’t as well-rounded as some of the prospects who were taken ahead of him, it’s hard to argue that he doesn’t have more raw talent than most of them.
Michkov had trouble making SKA St. Petersburg’s lineup, only getting into a single game in the first few weeks of the season. Eventually they loaned him to HK Sochi, where he spent most of his draft season, and he has been lights out since with 14 points in 14 games. That would be enough to make him the second-leading scorer on SKA but they refused to play him in a prominent role. I expect Michkov will perform similarly in a top-six role with SKA either later this season if they recall him, or next season, and he will look like a true KHL superstar by the time he joins the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2026-27 season.
Alexander Nikishin, LD, SKA St. Petersburg (Carolina Hurricanes)
Alexander Nikishin has emerged as one of the very best hockey players not playing in the NHL over the past 13 months or so. He scored 55 points in 66 KHL games last year and has picked up right where he left off with 11 games in his first 19 games this season.
Nikishin is big (6-foot-4), has a heavy slapshot, and skates remarkably well for someone of his size. If the Hurricanes are able to convince him to come to play for them in the 2025-26 season, he appears to be a very safe bet to be a top-four defender immediately upon arrival.
Liiga
Lenni Hämeenaho, RW, Ässät (New Jersey Devils)
Lenni Hämeenaho never really drew too much attention in his draft year, despite scoring a very impressive 21 points in 51 Liiga games. The biggest reason he didn’t go higher in the draft was because the vast majority of his offense came from right in front of the net where he was very comfortable setting up shop.
Hämeenaho created very little offense of his own in his draft year and was clearly a step or two slower than most Liiga players. Early results this year have been incredibly promising as he has already scored 10 points in just 14 games and has added a new dimension to his offensive arsenal as a dangerous shooter off the rush.
Jani Nyman, RW, Ilves (Seattle Kraken)
The Seattle Kraken are putting in work trying to build a high-end prospect pool from scratch and drafting Jani Nyman in the second round of the 2022 Draft is a big step in the right direction. Nyman is a big winger with the size and strength to compete against men in Liiga (the top Finnish pro league) without looking out of place. He is primarily a shooter but he has clearly devoted time to growing his playmaking game as well. Watch for Nyman to be a huge piece for Team Finland at the upcoming World Junior Championship.
NL (Switzerland)
David Reinbacher, RD, EHC Kloten (Montreal Canadiens)
David Reinbacher was one of my favorite prospects in the 2023 Draft as a strong two-way defender with the size and skating to be an impactful top-four defender in the NHL very soon. Some argued that his offensive upside was lacking for such a highly drafted defender, but I disagree. Reinbacher played a top-four role in the NL last season, scoring 22 points in 46 games as an 18-year-old.
He also played at the World Juniors where he was Austria’s best player by a country mile despite playing through most of the tournament with the flu. Reinbacher is going to be a great NHL defenseman someday and I think his offensive game is good enough to translate as well. He has only played 3 games in the NL so far this season after spending a few weeks with the Canadiens so there’s not much to glean from his play there so far, though I expect he will do enough to earn at least a big role with the Laval Rocket in the AHL for next season.