MATVEI GRIDIN

2024-11-27

Scout: Grant Campbell

Skating:

He can be a great skater, when he chooses to hit that extra gear. He has an excellent first few strides and is very agile. When he is on, he can take it end to end.

Passing/Handling:

Gridin has excellent hands and sees the ice very well. He has elite level skill with his feet, whether controlling a pass or kicking the puck up to his stick. He should be ideal on any power play.

Shooting:

Gridin's shot might be NHL ready. He has a fantastic snap/wrist shot that he likes to take between the faceoff circles at speed.

IQ (Vision, Anticipation, Panic/Poise):

As mentioned he has very good vision on the ice and is very good at finding open seams on the ice in any zone. Great anticipation in my opinion is when effort and anticipation meet. Gridin lacks effort at times, so this is an area he needs to improve in. He is patient with the puck and is so good at handling the puck, that his panic/poise threshold is very good.

Forechecking:

This is perhaps the worst area of Gridin's game. He has a bad habit of stick checking people with the puck with one hand, so is not strong on his stick at all. He kind of just does a fly by and rarely wins the puck. He is certainly capable of getting in on the forecheck at times as he can use his skating when he is in the mood.

Defense:

He can be a train wreck defensively as he lacks awareness at times and stops moving his feet. Add that to his bad habit of one hand on the stick and he can be pretty ineffective in his own end. He doesn't show fear in blocking shots and is used on the PK by his junior team. Like most offensive players, defense will be his Achilles Heel.

Best Asset:

He has elite hands, a very good shot and excellent skating.

Biggest Concern:

Defense, lack of effort and doing it all himself. A player like Gridin, should have almost double the points he has had so far in 2024-25 in the QMJHL. His skill translates to the NHL, but his effort and defense do not at this point.

Top Tier/Role Potential:

Gridin could easily be a Tier Two forward. He is an ideal power play forward and has the ability to produce a point per game in the NHL. He has very little physicality to his game, but he has some size.

Justification for Top Tier Assessment:

He has a lot of skill. I watched a pre-season game against Vancouver where the Canucks had most of their NHL lineup playing. Gridin's skill easily stood out as he created some chances that others weren''t capable of.

50th Percentile Tier/Role:

A fringe AHL/NHL player who never gains the complete trust of his coaches and plays 8-10 minutes per game and maxes out at 15 goals and 30 points.

Justification for 50th Percentile Tier Assessment:

I'm sure there were some question marks on his effort and defensive player that had him picked 28th overall rather than in the top 10. His talent is top 10, but his effort and play away from the puck are currently undraftable.

Stylistic Comparable:

Pinnacle Jaromir Jagr, Middle Petr Nedved, bottom Patrik Stefan. I think he will settle between Nedved and Stefan if he works on his weak areas.

Scouts Final Thoughts and Additional Stats/Info:

I was surprised how much talent Gridin had for a 28th overall pick. He can score highlight end to end goals and then disappear for the rest of the game. He is and could remain an enigma or he could put it all together and be a star in the NHL. The ceiling is high for me.

Games Scouted:

11/23/24 vs Cape Breton QMJHL; 10/6/24 vs Victoriaville QMJHL; 09/25/24 vs Vancouver NHL pre-season