Jun 28, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Egor Surin is selected by the Nashville Predators with the 22nd overall pick in the first round of the 2024 NHL Draft at The Sphere. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
Yegor Surin is flying under the radar, but charging up the Nashville Predators prospect pool
Surin just isn’t getting a lot of attention right now because he is overseas playing in the very difficult and rugged KHL, but that’s not holding him back. He has 15 goals and 17 assists for Lokomotiv in just his second full-time season in the KHL. Impressive to say the least.
It’s still very unclear how long it will take for Surin to make it over to North America eventually, and how long it will take before he actually suits up in the NHL. The promise is clearly there, but it can definitely be more complicated when dealing with players from the KHL for many reasons.
Surin is under his current contract in the KHL for one more year after this, so in a perfect scenario he might be ready to move over to North American hockey by the 2027-28 season. He is just 19-years-old and won’t hit age 20 until August. So there is obviously plenty of time for him to build his game in the KHL and eventually in the AHL before ever being called up to the Predators.
I can also see Surin being a quick riser once he gets to North America. He might not even require that much time in the AHL before being ready for NHL action considering he’s already playing in such a difficult league in the KHL. This is way different than a prospect who plays in North American junior hockey and piles up ridiculous stats, but then has to translate that to playing in the pro ranks in the AHL.
Surin plays a heavy and rugged game, but also has that tenacity to score goals and impact the offense as is illustrated with his 15 goals in the KHL this current season in 44 games. The Predators desperately need to hit on a future center that is currently in their prospect pool, and Surin could eventually be a top-six center down the road.
It’s obviously going to require a lot of patience before we actually see Surin in a Preds Gold sweater, but wow is it fun to speculate just how good this young man is eventually going to be in the NHL.