Dmitry Savin is an interesting prospect to watch for the Saginaw Spirit this year, after dominating two different leagues last season, the U17’s and U18’s in Russia, putting up a combined total of 53 Goals, 49 assists, and 102 Points in 51 Games.
He has started off this season in great fashion, currently sitting at 2 Goals, 6 Points in 8 Games. It’s even more impressive considering the majority of the top names in this draft have struggled to produce so far. His style of play is pretty unique; he is sort of a wrecking ball of a player at times. He isn’t overly physical but will fly into board battles and get all over the puck. He is a good skater at his 6’2 frame. I do think he needs some improvement on his first step, but besides that, I believe he moves very well for his size. The skating style can be very awkward at times, but for the most part it works for him; he is fast and agile, and can reach a very good top speed. For a player that’s relatively large, he is so sneaky in the offensive zone and finds ways to create space for himself, which often leaves him wide open in the right spots, in front of the net for loose pucks and rebounds.
I believe he does have NHL upside, there are a few key areas I think needs improvement, but his style of play, paired with his size is fairly promising, and if he rounds out his overall game and works on his first step, I could see him being a smart, fast and high pace top 9 forward.