Mintyukov said he was glad to see his hard work rewarded as the top-ranked defenseman on Central Scouting's midterm rankings of North American skaters but knows there's more to be done.
"It surprised me a bit just because I don't think he had the fanfare as other guys, but we see him every day," Lazary said. "We have kind of been surprised that he hasn't had more fanfare. Now that the rankings have been released, there's been a lot of attention on him. But he's a special talent. I've been coaching in this league and other leagues for almost 17 years, and he's one of the better players I've ever seen come through."
PROSPECTS ON THE RADAR (listed alphabetically):
Adam Ingram, C, Youngstown (USHL):The 18-year-old (6-2, 165), No. 14 in Central Scouting's midterm ranking of North American skaters, leads all rookies in the United States Hockey League and is 11th among all players with 43 points (18 goals, 25 assists) in 35 games. Ingram, who has scored five points (two goals, three assists) in his past five games, is committed to attend St. Cloud State University in 2022-23.
"He's got good mobility with the puck, handles the puck well with quick hands and makes good decisions on the power play," Greg Rajanen of NHL Central Scouting said. "He has good hockey IQ, is hungry around the net, and also shows some battle along the wall."
Simon Nemec, D, Nitra (SVK): The 18-year-old (6-0, 190), No. 6 in
NHL Central Scouting's midterm ranking of International skaters
, is one of two 2022 NHL Draft-eligible players representing Slovakia in the men's ice hockey tournament at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. The right-handed shot has made the most of his opportunity as the seventh defenseman with one assist while averaging 6:42 of ice time in six games. He was averaging 25:43 of ice time in two games for Slovakia at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship before the tournament was canceled Dec. 29 due to coronavirus concerns. Nemec has scored 23 points (one goal, 22 assists) in 32 games with Nitra in Slovakia's top professional men's league this season.
Juraj Slafkovsky, LW, TPS (FIN):The 17-year-old (6-4, 218), No. 2 in Central Scouting's midterm ranking of International skaters, has made quite an impression as one of the youngest players in the men's ice hockey tournament at the Beijing Olympics. He is tied with Lucas Wallmark of Sweden for the tournament lead with five goals, has 15 shots on goal and is averaging 14:43 of ice time in five games for Slovakia. Slafkovsky has scored four points (one goal, three assists) in 21 games for TPS in Liiga, the top professional men's league in Finland.
"He uses his great size, reach and strength well, inside the rules," said Goran Stubb, NHL director of European Scouting. "He's an active, effective checker both in the offensive and defensive zone, has very good on-ice vision and with his combination of size, hockey sense and puck skills, and is tough to defend."
Photo credit Eric Young, Saginaw Spirit
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