Nashville Predators Land a Steal in Egor Afanasyev
By Colby Guy
In some mock drafts, Egor Afanasyev was projected to be selected in the first round, but the Nashville Predators were able to snag him with the 45th overall pick.
In fact, NHL.com’s mock draft had Afanasyev going 24th to the Nashville Predators, which makes the Preds getting him at 45 even sweeter. Some mock drafts even had him as high as number 16 on their draft board as well.
All of those mock drafts are great, but the real question is.. who is Egor Afanasyev?
The 18 year old Russian winger stands at 6’4 and weighs in at 201 lbs, which adds some much needed size for the Nashville Predators roster.
He played in the USHL for the Muskegon Lumberjacks last season, putting up 27 goals and 35 assists for 62 points.
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He is a power forward who can score goals with his monster shot and also make plays at the same time. He is also a fairly good skater who can be an absolute problem for defenders.
He is a very good all around player on the offensive end with the only improvements that could be made could be with defensive positioning and skating.
He plays a game that could translate very well to the NHL, which is why I think this was an absolute steal for the second round.
A potential NHL Comparison, as far as a ceiling, would be Eric Lindros, who was one of the NHL’s best power forwards in the 1990’s and was inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2016.
Lindros also stood at 6’4 and consistently scored around 40 goals in his prime. He was also a 7 seven time NHL All Star and the 1995 Hart Trophy winner.
In total, Lindros scored 372 goals and 865 points in 760 games, so he is definitely not a bad player to be compared to at all.Both Lindros and Afanasyev are power forwards who have elite goal scoring abilities and solid playmaking abilities to go with it.
A floor for Afanasyev could be Milan Lucic, a guy who had several good seasons in the NHL with the same skill set, but fizzed out of relevance after signing a massive contract with the Edmonton Oilers.
Adding a guy who can possibly produce at the level of either of those two players along with Phillip Tomasino, who the Nashville Predators drafted with the 24th overall pick, could prove to be an absolute win for the team.
Next. Egor Afanasyev Prospect Profile. dark
Either way, it seems like the Nashville Predators stole a guy who could carve out a solid NHL career in the second round, which is very good news for Preds fans. He could be the guy the team needs to take it over the top into championship contention in the future.