Mikhail Gulyayev

2025-07-10

Scout: Patrick Ploch

Skating:

Gulyayev's skating is world class. Great speed, acceleration, lateral movement and ability to change direction.

Passing/Handling:

The handling is a strength as he is able to transport the puck up the ice in transition. He makes simple passes but shied away from any that push the edge in my viewings.

Shooting:

Mikhail has, for want of a better description, an ok shot. He can change position to get his wrist shot through but it is often lacking in strength. It's not dangerous but will occasionally find an opening.

IQ (Vision, Anticipation, Panic/Poise):

Gulyayev's hockey IQ is average. He doesn't panic and is ok in his anticipation but the vision lacks imagination. It's not dynamic.

Forechecking:

He doesn't venture further into the zone very often.

Defense:

Gulyayev is lacking in any physicality whatsoever. He is good with closing gaps and taking away space from forwards and maintains good position in front of the net but can be pretty passive in the zone.

Best Asset:

Mikhail's skating!

Biggest Concern:

Lack of physicality on defense along with the in zone defensive play.

Top Tier/Role Potential:

3rd pair D with time on PP2

Justification for Top Tier Assessment:

There are enough parts of the defense that are lacking and his offensive potential doesn't seem to have translated well enough to the KHL.

50th Percentile Tier/Role:

NHL/AHL tweener who is mostly in the AHL or a 7th dman

Justification for 50th Percentile Tier Assessment:

Gulyayev's defense doesn't seem to have improved much and perhaps the offense translates even less that it appears it will.

Stylistic Comparable:

Kevin Shattenkirk

Scouts Final Thoughts and Additional Stats/Info:

Games Scouted:

Avangard Omsk v Sibir Novosibirsk 9/4/2024, v CSKA Moskva 1/17/2025, Omskie Yastreby v SKA-1946 St. Petersburg 05/03/2025

2024-07-23

Scout: Joshua Rosa

Defender

Colorado Avalanche

31st Overall Overall by the Colorado Avalanche (2023 NHL Entry Draft)

Skating:

"Gulyayev’s bread and butter is his skating. He has good straight line speed, but he really shines in his mobility and fluidity in his movements. Whether its covering space in his own zone or on the fast break, or playing with the puck on his stick, Gulyayev’s skating is his biggest asset.

"

Passing/Handling:

Gulyayev is an offense-first defender, and that can be an issue. While he has a lot of skill in passing, he can try to force big plays too often, when there was a safer option. While this is okay in lower skill levels, his decision making could use for just a touch more conservatism.

Shooting:

While Gulyayev doesn’t have that stereotypical super heavy slapper from the point, he generally relies on a heavy and accurate wrister, choosing to go for more accuracy and reliability over pure power.

IQ (Vision, Anticipation, Panic/Poise):

Gulyayev’s IQ depends on where he is on the ice. With the puck on his stick in his own zone, he is fantastic at pushing the play forward, and putting opponents on the back foot as he attacks super quickly. He also is great in the offensive zone, whether its stepping forward as a 4th attacker, or keeping plays alive with a pinch or walking the blueline. He is also good at anticipating the opponents fast-break, and can step up to stop it with a burst of speed. However, when the opponents get established in his own zone, Gulyayev can seem lost and not as engaged as he could be.

Forechecking:

Gulyayev is a force in the offensive zone and on the fast break. He pinches fairly effectively with his speed and active stick, and still be able to cover his own zone in time. He likes to jump forward and provide another angle of attack on his own team’s fast break, and when the opponents play with speed is his biggest strength, able to outskate most opponents and read the play to break up passes.

Defense:

As previously mentioned, Gulyayev is more than competent when defending the fast break, but can get into trouble under prolonged and established pressure. As you can imagine from a quick, offensive defender, Gulyayev is short and small at 5’10 and 170 lbs. He can really easily get muscled off of pucks, and isn’t much help in physical puck battles.

Best Asset:

His skating is immaculate. Whether its his straight line speed or his edgework and agility, Gulyayev will forever be one of, if not the best skater on whatever team he plays on.

Biggest Concern:

His play in his own zone easily. If he can grow his strength and be able to handle bigger forwards easier and engages more in his own zone, he can be a great defender.

Top Tier/Role Potential:

Tier 1 - 50+ point scorer

Justification for Top Tier Assessment:

"Gulyayev is an offensive superstar, and should rack up points if put in the right positions. He will never have great BASH and will probably never be amazing in his own zone, but if all works, his points should provide enough value and mask his other shortcomings.

"

50th Percentile Tier/Role:

Tier 3 - 30+ point scorer with below average BASH

Justification for 50th Percentile Tier Assessment:

" Injuries could be a problem with his size, and if the liabilities in his own zone continue and prove to be too big of a shortcoming, and his high-octane, gung-ho offense doesn’t translate against the best defenders in the NHL, he could be relegated to powerplay specialist and offensive specialist. This is unlikely.

There is also the fact that he resigned in the KHL until 2026. Its still expected for him to come over to North America, but that is a factor.

"

Stylistic Comparable:

Gulyayev is another in the list of offensive defenders that have been coming up, cut from the same offensive cloth as Cale Makar and Quinn Hughes.

Scouts Final Thoughts and Additional Stats/Info:

Gulyayev is an offensively gifted, but small defender. He comes with all the upsides and questionmarks that come with that. With the way the NHL is moving, towards speed and skill, those questions become less and less important, and Gulyayev should be a special talent in whatever league he plays in

Games Scouted:

3 games vs Yaroslavl Lokomotiv (2-0 loss, 3-2 win, 3-1 loss)

2023-08-25

Scout: Brandon

Skating:

Gulyayev is light on his feet and he takes advantage of his smallish frame by having a quick, crisp acceleration.

He rarely has to show off his edgework in tight as he is so spatially aware that he tends to avoid being in close quarters when carrying the puck.

When at top speeds, he can easily shift into lanes that open up as he encroaches the opposition coverage.

Passing/Handling:

Gulyayev is a confident and heads up puck mover that makes receiving his passes look easy.

When breaking the puck out, he tends to skate the puck from behind the net to near the top of the circles before moving the puck. This allows him to set the tempo and dynamically change the look of passing lanes.

Long stretch passes across two zones are a rather rare occurrence, though they are executed with accuracy and gusto when they are made.

He can make quick, rangy passes in the O-zone to set up one timers that force the goaltender to dramatically move laterally.

He is able to use his vision to identify targets through traffic and seems competent at getting the puck to them despite coverage.

Shooting:

His shots of all varieties are not necessarily hard nor fast. They seem to be made as a strategic puck movement choice that puts the puck in a more dangerous and dynamic position near the net via rebounds.

His shots also seem to be set up to be easily tipped by a net front presence.

IQ (Vision, off/def anticipation, panic meter):

Gulyayev is attentively poised in a semi-laid back manner at a distance.

He often reads plays well spatially and is often in the right position relative to the puck and the puck carrier.

He rose to the occasion and elevated his game intensity dramatically across the board in the viewing during the Playoff series vs SKA.

Forechecking:

Gulyayev primarily contributes by moving the puck up the ice to the forward group after taking a couple moments to alter the pace of the game.

He shows the ability to keep control of the puck and skate with it to gain zone entry before passing it off.

His skating, vision, and puck control make this look easy at times and I would like to see him attempt it more often and to carry the puck deeper into the zone to allow teammates to get into more dangerous pass option positions.

Defense (Rush and in-zone):

Gulyayev stays very square to the puck carrier entering the zone and uses excellent gap control and a quietly active stick to disrupt the play time and time again.

After freeing up the puck, he is quick to make a short pass to an open and supportive teammate to initiate the transition game.

If his first attempt to thwart the puck carrier fails, he ends up causing a wake of spatial disruption that can result in the puck carrier stopping up short and mishandling the puck. Otherwise, he will doggedly stick with the carrier and usher him towards the boards and away from the goal all while trying to poke the puck free.

Best Asset:

Positioning and play disruption facilitated by subtle edgework and patience.

Biggest Concern:

Possessing a non-threatening shot.

Top Tier/Role Potential (and why):

Middle pairing, few goals and many secondary assists to flirt with 40 points, low peripherals besides takeaways.

50th percentile Tier/Role (and why):

Depth defenseman that could catch lightning in a bottle for a stretch of games/season and be seens as a hidden gem or underrated.

Stylistic Comparable:

Shades of an offensively passive Liljegren mixed with the skating and posture of Spurgeon. Games Scouted:

2022-10-20: Omskie Yastreby (5) vs. Reaktor Nizhnekamsk (1)

2023-01-03: Omskie Yastreby (4) vs. Stalnye Lisy Magnitogorsk (0)

2023-04-08: Omskie Yastreby (4) vs. SKA-1946 St. Petersburg (3)