Alexander Pashin // Scouting Report # 6
This is a picture of team Russia forward Alexander Pashin celebrating a goal during a game in the annual under-18 world championships in Plymouth, Michigan at the USA hockey arena.
Height: 5’7”
Weight: 154lbs.
D.O.B.: 7/28/02
Stats: 17 Goals, 22 Assists, 39 Points, 37 games played
Team: Tolpar Ufa, MHL
Position: Center/Wing
Blue line to Blue line time: 1.38
Most outstanding stat: 1.38 Seconds BL2BL, 41% PNHLe
Letter, (A-F)=consistency, A is most consistent
Number, (1-5)=tier of talent, 1 being highest
Rank:
75th by Future Considerations
47th by TSN/Craig Button
184th by McKeens Hockey
22nd by NHL Central Scouting (EU Skaters)
89th by TSN/Bob McKenzie
51st by Dr. Tee Scouting
Scouting report:
What’s up guys? And for my 6th scouting report of the 2020 season I have Alexander Pashin. A player that is very undersized, and very skilled. He went from blue line to blue line in 1.38 seconds which really caught my attention, and when I heard that he was just 5’7” that caught my attention even more. Playing with Tolpar Ufa Of The MHL this year Pashin played on the same team as Rodion Amirov for a good portion of the season. He’s by far one of the most underrated hockey players that made my final 3 round end of the year mock draft that may change but as of now has no intention of doing so, and Pashin has no intention of slipping, only moving upward from where he is. So what are we waiting for? Let’s dive right in!
Move - 1B
Let’s just start off by saying that since Pashin is such a small player you’d kind of think he stunk in the Russian junior league where some players were a full foot taller than him, but he is an absolute beast! Especially in his skating game.
Pashin has probably the most natural skating ability, maybe only behind Jean-Luc Foudy. He can simply skate! His straight line speed, and speed in general is outstanding for a player like him. There are often cases of small players looking like they're fast but not really being fast. For Pashin this is definitely not the case. When you can skate like Pashin can there’s literally no worries! He has great crossovers, and mobility which really helps him to slide past bigger opponents and really make them look silly. He is very explosive and pivots well in the transition game which factors into his ability to rush the puck up the ice with talented free will. His agility helps him to make quick turns in and around traffic while maintaining control of the puck. He can make crazy moves around defenders with his edgework alone at full speed which really helped him put up the points that he did. The number 1 thing that you look at in an undersized player is can they skate? And for Alexander Pashin that is definitely the case. There’s something about him that makes his stride look so effortless, but also makes himself look so strong on the puck. He can just flat out skate, which is a talent you often see in small players, but is still yet something you rarely see in players, and is such a vital part to your game to have. This skill is something that you could say belongs to Jean-Luc Foudy, you could say Kasper Simontaival, and Joni Jurmo if you really wanted too. “What is this they can simply skate?” You're probably asking because I didn’t involve Lucas Raymond, Tim Stützle and such. Well it’s the combination of speed, mobility, agility, acceleration, and explosiveness. Right now I can definitely say that Alexander Pashin belongs in this group. Despite the fact that he can be a little inconsistent at times, especially on the back check, with time, and good coaching this should come in time, along with added strength so that he can really maximize his stride, and stay at full speed 100% of the game.
Dangle - 1C
Let me just say that Pashin has top 5 stickhandling in this year's draft at least in my opinion.
The ability that he has to make so many amazing moves around defenders at full speed while maintaining control of the puck is amazing! This combined with his overall skating, and pivoting makes for a player that can completely undress defenders. He is so silky smooth with soft hands as well which transitions into his shooting, and passing abilities, to open up passing and shooting lanes as well as making room for himself and shaking off defenders. His puck control is pretty great as well, even though he might give up the puck to the opposing team due to his lack of size and strength he usually can just chase down that player and regain control of the puck again. There nothing else to say besides the fact that he can mash his skating, and hands together allows him to make absolutely crazy thread the needle passes, and dangle through 1, 2, 3, sometimes even 4 defenders while coming out the other side with possession of the puck more often than not, and then get a very good shot off is a skill set that only a rare club of players in this year’s draft have. Even though he can get caught up in his stickhandling sometimes as well, finding himself in scrambled up situations where he can easily lose the puck surrounded by all of those bigger players and can get pushed around relatively easy as well since he’s so small, but this should come in time as he hopefully adds more muscle to his frame, and gets a little bigger.
Snipe - 1B
Alexander Pashin has an absolutely lethal shot for a player his size. Even though it may be a bit of a surprise he really does have a heck of one!
The way that he can attack the high, and medium danger areas of the ice very consistently and with free will is awesome. Will Scouch tracked him at 12.52 high /medium danger shot attempts per 60 minutes of play which is very good and let’s just say it right now that I’m going to place “especially for a player at his size” right now. He can skate into a shot while trailing behind the play to get open, as well as slip past the D with his small size. He can score really from anywhere on the ice. The way that he can use his quick release in tight, and from an angle to lift the puck quickly over the goalies shoulder, but still maintain that good accurate shot from outside of the main scoring areas around the ice is a great skill to have as a young undersized, and not very strong player like he is. His shot is also surprisingly heavy for a player of his overall frame. He can get pucks to the net just to really open up scoring opportunities or to actually try and score. The main thing with Pashin is the conservativeness that he implies in his shooting. Even though a 10% shooting percentage isn’t that great, the 160 shots on goal is, and the way he did those 160 shots on goal was with very good choosing-ness of which shot to take at the right time. Pashin never just shoots the puck to shoot it. He always has a reason behind why he’s doing it. That’s really one of the biggest reasons why he’s so effective with his shot.
Defensive mindset - 3C
Pashin’s overall defensive game isn’t really the best at all, he does show very good effort, even though his size can be a real limitation in this area of his game.
Pashin is a hard working player in corners, and in board battles. He simply wants the puck on his stick, because when he has it he can be an absolute wizard. He makes great breakout passes most of the time, and can play with the puck under pressure pretty well as well. Even though he doesn’t play the best game without the puck including not the best ever back checking, and positional game he still brings a high level of intensity, and energy to his own end. He can skate the puck out of his own end with control, and spot open line mates down the ice with his excellent vision. Despite this Pashin is a player that does try all that he can to really apply pressure on the opposing team but due to his lack of size and strength Pashin can really be overlooked, and really trampled over so he doesn’t really have the best effect on the defensive game. Even though he’s pretty bad positionally, and can get caught puck watching which can ultimately lead into him getting stopped by the opposing team he does play very solid against more of that slow pace, cycle game where he can both anticipate play, and keep his eye on his man while staying in position. Overall I think that Pashin is a player that you draft for his play in the offensive zone, and with the puck. Even though he does play pretty well in the defensive zone from time to time if he ever really wants to see real reliability he’s ultimately going to have to get a lot stronger on his feet at least. But at the end of the day you do have to give him credit for being a small player and still doing what he does by applying pressure on the defense especially when they are receiving the puck deep in their own end.
Overall - 1D
Overall Pashin has tremendous upside as well as talent. His game is filled with some flip flop inconsistencies here and there that will need to improve as he gets older, stronger, and adapts to a higher paced game when the puck isn’t on his stick. But do not get me wrong here, Pashin is a very skilled forward that is by far one of my favorites in the draft.
Shifty, playmaking forward
Player Comparison: Sebastian Aho
Aho, and Pashin are both two very high end elite playmaking, and shifty forwards that can both shoot, and pass the puck exceptionally well, with great hands to back it all up. Aho’s defensive game is better than Pashin’s as of right now but the intensity that Pashin brings to the table is great as well. They are both slick on there edges, even though the speed is neck and neck once Aho gets going the edge goes to Pashin. They project to be similar players to come.
More reports: Scouching, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-jyoxHu1Zz4