The Vancouver Canucks need right-side defencemen at both the NHL level and in their prospect pool. This cannot be denied.
The truth is, however, that they just need defencemen. Any defencemen. The Canucks don’t have any blue-chip prospects on defence on either the left or the right side. Akito Hirose, Jack Rathbone, Elias Pettersson, Kirill Kudryavtsev, and Cole McWard are all decent prospects but none of them are surefire NHL players, let alone the type of prospects with the clear potential to have a significant impact as a high-end, top-four defenceman.
Maybe one of those prospects defies the odds with their development and becomes a top-tier defenceman for the Canucks. But there’s no denying that their best bet of adding such a defenceman is to do so at the draft with the 11th overall pick.
The Canucks will have options if they want a defenceman. There’s a chance that David Reinbacher is available, they could reach for the smooth-skating Tom Willander, or they could grab an exciting offensive defenceman in Axel Sandin Pellikka.
Or, the Canucks could take a chance on a Russian defenceman that might be better than all three of them: Dmitri Simashev.
"He's so large and mobile."
The appeal of Simashev is immediately obvious. The left-shooting defenceman is 6’4” and over 200 lbs but skates like he’s 5’10”.
Defencemen his size are not supposed to be able to skate like he does. They’re supposed to have awkward, lumbering strides and turn like ocean liners. Instead, Simashev is remarkably agile on his skates, with impeccable edgework that allows him to change direction on a dime and leave forecheckers sliding off into oblivion as he breaks out with the puck.
The skating stride is damn near flawless, making him not just a good skater for his size but one of the best skaters in the draft, period.
“He has perfect posture, sinking deep into his stride, with ample flexibility through his hips, knees, and ankles, allowing him to generate power and agility that few can match,” reads his scouting report from Elite Prospects.
That combination of size and skating makes him an absolute nightmare to play against, as he gives opposing forwards no space whatsoever. Opposition rushes simply end when they reach Simashev, as he shuts down everything that comes within his prodigious reach and he can extend that reach all over the ice with his mobility.
There’s no room to get to the middle of the ice against Simashev, as he forces everything to the outside, then pins players to the boards with his size and strength. There’s a clear path to Simashev becoming a shutdown defenceman at the NHL level.
“He thwarts oncoming rushes with his footwork, his closing speed, his active stick, and his penchant for denying the line at every opportunity,” said Cam Robinson in one scouting report for Elite Prospects. “He’s so large and so mobile, that playing against juniors looks almost too easy for him at times.”
To go with his size and skating, Simashev also seems to have a great head for the defensive game, making smart choices with how he defends rather than chasing a big hit or getting caught puck-watching. His habits are top-notch: he keeps his head on a swivel, gets good body position in puck battles, ties up sticks, and, when the situation calls for it, knocks opponents flat on their backs.
Elite Prospects ranked Simashev as the best neutral zone defender and shutdown defenceman in the draft. As an added bonus, his smooth skating makes everything look so effortless that it’s easy to project him into major minutes at the NHL level. He just looks like a guy who can play 25 minutes a night and not even be breathing hard.
"Bordering on an elite level."
The catch with big, physical defencemen is that they lack an offensive dimension to their game. If you just look at the numbers, you might think that’s the case for Simashev as well.
Simashev got into 18 games in the KHL as a 17-year-old, which is impressive on its own, but had zero points in those 18 games. In the MHL, Russia’s junior league, Simashev managed just 12 points in 33 games, which is not the type of production you expect from an NHL prospect, let alone one worth taking high in the first round.
When you watch Simashev, however, it’s a completely different story.
Simashev has shockingly good hands for a 6’4” defenceman, which he leverages in combination with his skating to make breaking out with the puck look easy. That makes him a danger in transition, as he can fly up the ice to create odd-man rushes.
In the offensive zone, Simashev’s four-way mobility allows him to hold the blue line effectively and he’s got some deception in his game, frequently faking shots to freeze a forward challenging him, then using his stickhandling to slip into space.
“The skating, the puck control, the puck protection / physical skills, are all bordering on an elite level,” says Simashev's scouting report from Smaht Scouting.
Simashev has all the tools to put up points. His shot needs work — someone with his size, strength, and coordination should be able to hammer the puck — but his skating and stickhandling create opportunities in the offensive zone and he’s a good enough passer to turn those opportunities into chances for his teammates.
He’s just not particularly creative and it limits him in the offensive zone. Perhaps an aversion to risk was coached into him — the last thing a 17-year-old defenceman in the KHL wants to do is make a mistake — but he has a tendency to make the safe play.
That said, Simashev has shown flashes, at times looking like he’s right on the precipice of figuring things out and having as big an impact offensively as he does defensively.
“Becoming more sophisticated and daring with the puck will allow Simashev to make good on his promise at the next level,” says Elite Prospects. “Little things like going for the best option rather than the expedient one in transition, activating with more regularity into the rush, better managing space from the top of the offensive zone. All stuff that’s well within his means.”
If Simashev can add more offence, he could blossom into a true number-one defenceman that can play major minutes in all situations. Even if he doesn’t, however, his value defensively and in transition makes him seemingly a lock to play on a second pairing.
There’s really just one problem: Russia.
The complicated Russian factor
The Russian factor is impossible to ignore, especially in the current political environment where the relationship between Russia and the West is frosty at best.
Russia’s ban from IIHF events meant there was no chance to scout Simashev in international tournaments against the best of his peers in this draft class. That also meant a lot of video scouting of Simashev instead of in-person viewings, which could affect how NHL teams rank him.
It also affected his rankings in the public sphere. While Simashev is in the top ten for several outlets, including Elite Prospects, McKeen’s Hockey, Dobber Prospects, and Smaht Scouting, he’s ranked much lower by others.
TSN’s Bob McKenzie has Simashev ranked 19th overall, while his colleague, Craig Button, has him out of the first round entirely at 49th.
There are other elements of the Russian Factor to consider. Simashev is signed with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl for two more years, so the earliest he could come to Vancouver would be for the 2025-26 season. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as the Canucks will be in need of cost-controlled talent on the roster.
The bigger concern is development. The Canucks saw this with Vasily Podkolzin, who received limited ice time with his KHL team, who saw little reason to focus on Podkolzin’s development when his intention was to leave.
With limited communication between the NHL and the KHL, Simashev’s development over the next two years — crucial time for a prospect — will be entirely out of the hands of the team that drafts him.
The question for the Canucks is whether Simashev is worth the risk. Simashev has the potential to be an excellent NHL defenceman, but the path to the NHL isn’t as clear as it could be. There’s even a chance, as there always is with Russian players, that Simashev chooses to stay in the KHL or return there if things go awry in North America.
That said, the Canucks already have several Russian players on the roster, making them very familiar with the speedbumps and obstacles that drafting a Russian player would entail. And they also have a good relationship with Simashev’s agent, Dan Milstein, who also represents Andrei Kuzmenko, Ilya Mikheyev, Danila Klimovich, Kirill Kudryavtsev, and Vitaly Kravtsov.
The Canucks will have their chance to talk to Simashev prior to the draft in Nashville, along with many other teams.
Perhaps that conversation will clarify whether the Canucks should take him with the 11th overall pick.
