Surin Sure In Good Company
March 5, 2024
By Grant McCagg
Yegor Surin is one rugged comrade. The Russian heat-seeking missile is rivaled in this draft class only by hulking Swedish defenceman Gabriel Eliasson when it comes to physical competitiveness, and he is one of the hardest-hitting forward prospects I’ve ever scouted. It is appropriate that he plays for Yaroslav “Loko” as he is just that…but in a good way.
Typically, you see an opponent knocked down occasionally in collisions. With Surin, it is about every second hit. He’s like a dog on a bone on the forecheck, and a relentless one at that. At 6-1 191, the 2024 draft-eligible center/winger is one of the more intriguing prospects in this draft class.
What is perhaps most impressive about Surin is that he has a complete game. He is sound defensively and is consistently creating offence with his speed, skill, shot and forechecking prowess.
There are no nights off for Surin. He has been on the ice for only 27 goals against in 55 games, so his defensive numbers are solid. Surin is on the ice for 1.41 more primary points per 60 minutes than he is goals against. He is on the ice for 2.22 more points per 60 than goals against. Both are outstanding numbers. Instat has Surin’s CORSI rating at 68 percent, further evidence that he is dominating the MHL this season. His +36 plus/minus stat is also top ten in the MHL.
He is ninth in MHL scoring with 53 points in 43 games and second in penalty minutes with 108. He is the type of player who is bound to frustrate his coach by taking an inopportune penalty on occasion but it typically won’t be for tripping or slashing; it will be for running over an opponent too forcefully. Having such a weapon usually pays off in a long playoff series. Opposing defencemen have to keep their heads up when he’s on the ice as he is gunning for them at all times.
Spartak defenceman Veniamin Korlyov discovered that in a recent game as Surin plowed him over, and the 6-4, 224-pound defenceman took exception to it and fought Surin, who handled himself rather well considering that Korolyov has three inches, 30 pounds and a three-year age advantage on him. With his style of play, he will need to be able to handle himself as NHL players won’t put up with his physicality without pushback. Here is a video featuring the three scraps Surin has been in this season:
Surin Versus Chernyshov
Igor Chernyshov is considered the second-best Russian forward prospect in this draft after Ivan Demidov. He’s at least an inch taller than Surin but that is irrelevant when you compare their playing styles. Surin is ultra-competitive while Chernyshov is inconsistent with his work ethic. Chernyshov scored at the same pace as Surin in the MHL this season despite averaging almost three more minutes of ice time per game. Surin’s points per 60 in the MHL was 4.62 while Chernyshov’s was 4.00.
Chernyshov arguably has more natural offensive skill but Surin’s constant competitiveness is going to translate better when the rinks get smaller, the games get tighter and the going gets rougher in the NHL.
Chernyshov was on the ice for 2.41 goals against per 60. Surin’s mark was 2.02. The goal differential per 60 for Surin this season in the MHL was +2.62 while Chernyshov’s was 1.59. That is a substantial difference. Surin also averaged almost one hit per game more than Chernyshov in junior this season – 1.53 hits per game to Chernyshov’s 0.67 despite the difference in maturity and experience.
The tendency during the season is to not move Russian prospects much in the rankings because of a lack of familiarity. Chernyshov has been ranked in the 20 range on most public lists, and Surin is typically ranked somewhere in the second or even third round. Expect that to change.
It’s understandable that Chernyshov was considered the superior prospect going into the 2023-24 season as Surin was listed at 5-10, and he didn’t exactly light it up last season in the MHL. Chernyshov had 19 goals to Surin’s eight last season, and averaged a point per game while Surin averaged just .56 ppg.
It must be remembered, however, that Surin played all of last season as a 16-year-old. He turned 16 last August while Chernyshov was 17 in November…almost nine months older and already familiar with the MHL as he’d played in 18 contests the previous season.
Not being able to travel to Russia to scout these players and having little access to information on these players, it’s difficult to get much of a read on personalities but it’s apparent that Russian hockey coaches and managers are impressed by Surin’s character as he was the captain of Russia’s U17 team last year and its U18 team this season. Surin went head-to-head versus Chernyshov and the U20 Russian team in a 4 Nations tournament in November and the U18s upset them. Surin was a thorn in the side of Chernyshov in that contest before his ejection for fighting with ten minutes left. A player’s character often matches his work ethic and if that’s the case, it’s no wonder that he is named captain of Russia’s U17 and U18 teams.
The fact that Surin put up better numbers this season in junior is a testament to the vast improvement Surin made in his game, and if it were up to me to choose between either Surin or Chernyshov, today I would take Surin. Chernyshov played more games in the KHL this season but it was in large part because he is nine months older.
Last year we saw two Loko junior prospects in Dmitri Simashev and Daniil But rise sharply on a lot of NHL draft lists well after the season ended as NHL scouts found the time to study videos of Russian prospects. I suspect that we will see a similar rise for Surin.
Here are Surin’s 2023-24 regular season scoring highlights:
Here are his most notable 2022-23 hits:
Here are his many notable 2023-24 hits:
I took clips from two of Surin’s games in the first half of the season, and will add at least one more from his playoff. Here are notable plays from his Dec. 27 match versus Dynamo St. Petersburg:
Here is Yegor Surin versus Almaz on August 30, 2023:
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