Photo: The Hockey Writers
Player Overview
Team: MHK Dynamo Moskva (MHL)
Position: LW/RW
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 185 lbs
Introduction
Most casual fans of the draft have probably never heard of Ivan Didkovsky, and if they have, they don’t know much about him. He didn’t make the Russian U20 team for the World Junior Championship, he wasn’t the star of the Hlinka Gretzky tournament at the beginning of the year, and his statistics in the MHL don’t jump off the page as a high-level draft prospect. He’s only shown up on three rankings by major scouting services: 77th amongst European skaters by NHL Central Scouting, 125th by McKeen’s and 210th by Future Considerations.
Didkovsky has clearly flown completely under the radar all season long, but he has one of the more intriguing profiles of any player that should be available in the mid-to-late rounds of the draft. There’s a lot to like about what he brings to the table and I think he could be a really nice player in the NHL down the road.
Scoring Ability
Didkovsky can be a lethal shooter when he’s in medium or high danger areas of the offensive zone. His release is quick, he’s able to place it where he wants and gets a good amount of power behind it, even when he takes a quick snapshot.
His one-timer is also a great weapon in his arsenal that he can just blow by a goaltender at times.
But we all know that there’s more to being a goal scorer than just the shot. Having the scoring instincts to know where to be and create your own chances is just as important as the shot itself.
Didkovsky certainly has the ability to create for himself. Notice here how as soon as he recognizes where the open ice will be, he turns on the jets and does the work himself.
He’s not a power forward by any means, but he shows a willingness to get in tight and fight for rebounds.
Now look at this absolute beauty. Everything is on display here. The skating, the hands and the quick shot. Wow.
There’s clearly a lot of pure talent with Didkovsky, but like a lot of goal scorers, he tends to score in bunches. For example, in his last seven games before the shutdown, he had three goals. All three came in the fifth game of that stretch. He also had a stretch this season of one goal in 15 games, including 10 games without one. He did, however, have a five game stretch where he lit the lamp eight times.
While a lot of goal scorers are streaky, it’s rare to see somebody as hot and cold as Didkovsky was this past season. When I went back and watched games from his goal scoring droughts, it became evident to me why he wasn’t putting the puck in the net; he was taking far too many of his shots from low danger areas.
Instead of pushing towards the middle of the ice or even turning back and setting up a different option, Didkovsky was taking a lot of shots like these.
From my viewings, Didkovsky is at his best when he’s pushing towards the center of the ice in the offensive zone, both with and without the puck. When he’s doing that, we see a high-octane offensive force. When he’s not, it leads to long scoring droughts that can’t happen at higher levels.
Playmaking
Didkovsky doesn’t often make the fancy passes (although he certainly has the skillset for it), but he’s a very effective playmaker. He doesn’t make the difficult passes through traffic very often, but he makes the right reads to safely move the puck when he needs to.
He seems to have a very good feel for where his teammates are on the ice, especially in the offensive zone. He does a good job of finding teammates in soft spots of the ice to generate scoring chances.
But Didkovsky’s best trait as a passer would have to be his ability to set up zone entries. Besides making the simple plays, he can send the stretch pass through a layer or two of defense:
He can hold onto the puck to draw a defender towards him to open up space:
And he can make the quick pass to try to catch the opposition off guard, even when he has to adjust to the pass he received:
Plays like these often aren’t remembered by casual observers, but they really stick out to his coaches. It displays a high hockey IQ and the instincts to jump start the attack, even as more of a support player. That’s not to say he can’t carry the puck through the neutral zone (which he absolutely can), but it shows that he has some versatility in this area.
Skating
Didkovsky’s skating is a perfect complement to his profile as a dynamic offensive talent. His speed in a straight line isn’t anything note worthy, but where he really stands out is his acceleration. His first few steps are excellent, as he gets to top speed very quickly, even when fighting through traffic.
While his straight-line speed isn’t elite, he’s by no means a slow player. He’s faster than the average MHL player but will obviously need to get a bit faster as he moves to higher levels of hockey.
He also has excellent agility. He has a certain “shiftiness” to his game where he changes his pace and makes quick cuts to maneuver through the neutral zone and maintain the gap he wants.
As a whole, there’s a lot to like about how Didkovsky gets around the ice. The acceleration and agility are there, and the top end speed is going to improve as he gets stronger and develops more. If he’s able to find that extra gear to his stride, he’ll become a much more dangerous player in transition.
200-Foot Game
There really isn’t a ton to talk about with Didkovsky’s two-way game. He’s not a defensive standout, but he also isn’t really a liability in how own end either. Simply put, Didkovsky is a competent defensive winger that you won’t notice a lot when the opposition has possession.
He has the smarts to know when to the right time to challenge the puck carrier in transition is and when he should stay in the passing lane, as evident in the clip above. It’s nothing spectacular, but as an offensive winger, being nothing more than a competent player on the other side of the puck isn’t going to hurt him ultimately.
Rankings
#210- Future Considerations
#82- TSN/Craig Button
#125- McKeen’s Hockey
#119- RecruitScouting
Conclusion
All in all, Ivan Didkovsky is a very raw talent. He has a lot of pure offensive abilities that do need some refinement and further development, but the profile is certainly there. He possesses all the traits of a dangerous NHL player, but consistency is going to be the key for him moving forward. Going 15 games with only one goal isn’t going to get him to the NHL any time soon. But when he’s on his game, he becomes a nightmare to defend against.
We can look back on any draft five or more years ago and wonder how certain guys were available so late in the draft. Kirill Kaprizov didn’t go until the fifth round. Johnny Gaudreau was sitting there for the Flames in the fourth round. Mark Stone wasn’t picked until the seventh round. In all honesty, chances are that Ivan Didkovsky won’t be one of those guys. But of all the players expected to be available later on in the draft, I see more pure upside with Didkovsky than any other player.
He’ll take some time. Give him at least three more years in Russia before bringing him over to North America. By that time, his skillset will hopefully have developed even more and he finds that extra gear to his skating to blow by defenders. While there is the toolkit for a top six forward, he could also be a complementary scorer on a third line, which is still excellent value for where he should be selected.