{"id":138610,"date":"2023-06-25T09:00:56","date_gmt":"2023-06-25T13:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=138610"},"modified":"2023-06-24T22:19:49","modified_gmt":"2023-06-25T02:19:49","slug":"2023-draft-scouting-report-58-roman-kantserov","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2023\/06\/25\/2023-draft-scouting-report-58-roman-kantserov\/","title":{"rendered":"2023 Draft Scouting Report #58: Roman Kantserov"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to Top Shelf Prospects, the column that brings you the next crop of professional hockey players. Each day our LWOS Prospects Writers will bring you a new player profile or topical article in the lead-up to the 2023 NHL Draft. Be sure to bookmark the site, follow <\/i><\/b>Ben Kerr<\/i><\/b><\/a>, <\/i><\/b>Kyle Pereira<\/i><\/b><\/a> and <\/i><\/b>Frederik Frandson<\/i><\/b><\/a> on Twitter, and spread the word for the site that will bring you analytical and critical profiles and scouting reports! Last Word On Hockey Prospects is your new <\/i><\/b>headquarters for everything \u201cNHL Draft\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/a>! Today we bring you our Roman Kantserov Scouting Report.<\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Roman Kantserov Scouting Report<\/b><\/h2>\n

Roman Kantserov, born September 20th, 2004, in Magnitogorsk, Russia, is a forward playing in the Russian hockey circuit. The 5\u20199\u201d and 176 pound forward played almost his entire season in the MHL with Stalnye Lisy Magnitogorsk. There, he scored 27 goals and assists for 54 points in 45 contests. Meanwhile, he got one game at the KHL level, with no points to show for it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Without any international play to show, and being undersized, it\u2019s no surprise he wasn\u2019t favored more highly with scouts. In fact, his rankings were between 32nd and 96th. Those rankings included 32nd by FCHockey, 42nd by Craig Button, 51st by The Hockey News, 56th by Draft Prospects Hockey, 57th by McKeen\u2019s Hockey, 60th by Smaht Scouting, 62nd by Hockey Prospect Radio, 68th by Daily Faceoff, 69th by Bob McKenzie, 72nd by Elite Prospects, 95th by FloHockey, and 96th by Dobber Prospects.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Roman Kantserov Deep Dive<\/b><\/h3>\n

Despite the \u201cRussian Factor\u201d that has unfortunately played a role over the last couple years, no international resume due to Russia being taken out of major tournaments, and a smaller frame than most, he still got top-50 rankings. Not just that, but he was ranked top-50 by Craig Button, which is impacted by how NHL scouts feel. Is he what many people expect him to become? What concerns, on the ice, are there with Kantserov?<\/span><\/p>\n

Roman Kantserov\u2019s Skating<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Kantserov is an above average skater. The main positive points lie in his edge work and acceleration. That\u2019s arguably more important now, at an early age, than being fast. Once he moves over to North America, where the rinks are smaller, that acceleration and quick burst will come in more handy than top speed. That\u2019s a testament to his crossovers and ability to complete tight turns without losing speed, as well as being able to change directions to stick with the play.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The down side is his speed and stride. The biggest reason for his speed being only above average is due to his choppy stride. If he can work on those extensions, and maximize his stride and his burst, his top speed will improve. That comes with more experience. However, with his size and smaller stature, speed will be more important the higher he climbs the hockey totem pole.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Offensive Abilities<\/b><\/h3>\n

Kantserov is a very smart player on the offensive end. Away from the puck, he does a nice job looking and finding open space in the offensive zone. That vision also comes through with his playmaking abilities. He finds open teammates in good spots often, and generates a fair amount of chances. He is surprisingly impressive at hitting on passes to high-danger areas, and completing complicated pass attempts. While it isn\u2019t consistent yet, there\u2019s a surprising efficiency that he has with those passes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As for his shooting, he knows when to take his shots, and he\u2019ll never force a shot off because of pressure or because there\u2019s no other play to be had. While he is more of a passer than a shooter, he keeps his game fairly well-balanced. But when he does shoot, his accuracy is mostly solid, but the power behind his shot leaves a lot to be desired. That could play into why he doesn\u2019t force a lot of shots from the perimeter as well, but that inadvertently helps lift his game, funny enough.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Roman Kantserov\u2019s Transitional Abilities<\/b><\/h3>\n

When it comes to moving the puck up ice, it isn\u2019t a negative ability, but it hasn\u2019t been totally positive either. Kantserov is surprisingly efficient when exiting the defensive zone when called upon. However, while he is fairly active entering the offensive end, he isn\u2019t totally effective. He\u2019s largely inefficient.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Kantserov is a smart player and a very good passer. But in the neutral zone, he struggles with his lack of high end speed and being smaller. In tight situations, he can get knocked off the puck. With the neutral zone being cluttered most of the time, that explains the problems that arise. While he generally does a good job getting off passes quickly, to avoid turning the puck over due to a bump, he still struggles with the lack of space.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Kantserov\u2019s Defensive Zone Play<\/b><\/h3>\n

In the defensive zone, Kantserov can be a pain to deal with at times. His motor shows up with how he can pressure opposing puck carriers. He constantly looks for chances to come into a play and force turnovers with an active stick. Additionally, his acceleration allows him to win short races to pucks, which is an important trait.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, his defensive game is a bit unorganized. While he is engaged in his own end, and tends to get involved fairly frequently, sometimes he\u2019ll leave his man unmarked. Being more positionally aware will help him become a solid presence in his own end. As for forechecking, he lacks physicality, unsurprisingly, but is still effective on the forecheck. He is effective that way because of that same aforementioned active stick.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Roman Kantserov\u2019s Potential<\/b><\/h3>\n

With a mostly solid two-way game, a balanced and effective offensive game, and a good motor, Kantserov isn\u2019t exactly the boom-or-bust type, and more of a safer pick. That is, if he can play the same style effectively at a higher level than the MHL. Simply put, if he played in most any other league, he\u2019d be a higher rated prospect. But still, from what was shown in the MHL, he looks like a future complementary piece within a team\u2019s top nine. His abilities to flash as a playmaker, attack the slot and take advantage of an accurate shot, and a solid IQ in the offensive end, he looks the type to play with anyone. Especially because of the abilities he showed defensively.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

NHL Comparison\u00a0<\/b><\/h4>\n

Based on style only, and not a projection of skills, Kantserov is reminiscent of Alex Kerfoot. Kerfoot plays a sound three-zone game, with a balanced offensive skill set. Sticking with the offence, Kerfoot\u2019s game is more focused on his playmaking, while his shot is good enough and used well enough to keep defenders guessing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Kantserov doesn\u2019t quite have the shot or the transitional abilities of Kerfoot, but one thing is clear. Kantserov\u2019s style being similar in some senses to Kerfoot, such as being reliable in the offensive and defensive ends, has value to NHL GM\u2019s. Who will be willing to take the Russian?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Raw stats via Elite Prospects<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Main Photo: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to Top Shelf Prospects, the column that brings you the next crop of professional hockey players. Each day our LWOS Prospects Writers will bring you a new player profile or topical article in the lead-up to the 2023 NHL Draft. Be sure to bookmark the site, follow Ben Kerr, Kyle Pereira and Frederik […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3602,"featured_media":138618,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1279,4547,4548,3462,309],"tags":[7075,3192,5748],"class_list":["post-138610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nhl-draft","category-hockey","category-nhl","category-nhl-prospects","category-nhl-top-prospects","tag-2023-nhl-draft","tag-mhl","tag-team-russia"],"modified_by":"Tommy Bennett","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3602"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138610\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}