Maksim Sokolovskii of the London Knights. Photo by Luke Durda/OHL Images.
Position: D, Shoots: LH/W: 6’7”, 238lbsDate of Birth: 2008-7-12Stats to Date: 44GP, 2G, 6A
Without a doubt, Sokolovskii is one of the most interesting defensive prospects available this year. He’s an absolute behemoth on the ice, but he’s also quick and agile, giving him immense defensive upside. Drafted by London in the Import Draft out of the U.S. AAA loop, this was Sokolovskii’s first year playing higher level hockey. As a result, there were ups and downs. He started the year playing key minutes until London’s bigger guns returned from NHL training camps. Then he struggled to earn ice time as it became apparent that his decision making and ability to handle the increased pace needed to improve. However, he finished the year on a real high as one of London’s go-to players down the stretch and into the OHL playoffs. He was tasked with shutting down Brady Martin in round one against Sault Ste. Marie and did an admirable job versus the top Nashville pick.
Sokolovskii has to be considered one of the draft’s premier physical players; simply put…he is suffocating. He can shut down the transition game with his four way mobility; he’s nearly impossible to get around with gap control that improved greatly over the year. However, he’s also so effective along the wall with his size and physical approach. Once he has you pinned, you’re not escaping his clutch. The very threat of his physicality influences the game as opposing players rush decisions rather than face the prospect of Sokolovskii run through them.
There are current limitations to his game and impact. His shot is not a weapon at all. He can still struggle with making clean passes or skilled plays in both the neutral and offensive zones. His understanding of zone coverage and when to be aggressive versus patient is still evolving. These things could point to limited two-way upside. However, there are also flashes of greater offensive impact. He can lead the charge in transition or escape pressure in the offensive zone. His skating and size combination can make him really difficult to stop. Additionally, you have to trust London’s ability to develop NHL blueliners. NHL teams are going to have the belief that the Hunters and Rick Steadman can really work with Sokolovskii to improve all facets of his game.
At the very least, Sokolovskii has the upside to be an extremely effective NHL shutdown defender. He could be the kind of guy on the ice protecting a lead with a minute to go or a penalty killing anchor. However, there’s that glimmer of hope that his two-way game could keep evolving as he becomes more confident and comfortable. I remember talking to Stan Butler about Zdeno Chara, who coached him in Prince George. Here was the direct quote: “You know what, I’ll be honest with you. I never knew that he’d be the player that he would be. He broke his wrist about half way through the year and had a good rest. When he returned for our magical playoff run, he was unbelievable. The one thing I knew right then was nobody in the world had a work ethic like this guy. He was a machine in the weight room and a sponge on the ice. And I think that’s the reason he’s had the career he’s had.” Who’s to say that Sokolovskii can’t mirror that?
Characteristics
Skating
One of the things that makes Sokolovskii so intriguing is that he’s extremely agile for a larger defender. His transitional agility is very good, switching in and out of forward/backward stride rather effortlessly. This helps him to recover quickly to help squash the transition game. He’s surprisingly quick for such a big player too, the engine starts up fast and this helps him close on pucks with authority. Moving backwards, he rarely loses a step and his gap control improved greatly over the course of the year.
One of the turning points in Sokolovskii’s season was when he realized that he could skate himself out of trouble in the defensive end; that he is difficult to separate from the puck and that his quickness allows him to create space from forecheckers. Trusting his feet helped him become more efficient at clearing the defensive zone and starting the breakout. Early in the year, he would force plays and simply try to rim or chip pucks, rather than actually make an attempt to escape pressure.
The only real issue for Sokolovskii is that he’s a bit rigid moving forward. It’s tough for him to change directions quickly or accelerate off his edges because he’s so big. He still finds success at the junior level working off the point and escaping the initial layer of pressure with toe drags or quick hands, but at the NHL level, he’s going to need to improve his lateral quickness and ability to build speed out of c cuts to be an effective offensive weapon. This is especially true given that his point shot is weak.
That’s from the beginning of this year. Flint attacker beats Sokolovskii to the outside and gets the drop on him to the inside. His gap is too tight at the blueline and he gets beat. Nothing comes of the play and Sokolovskii finishes him hard along the wall, but it could have easily set up a goal.
Gap control so much better here, as he closes quickly as the shot threat increases. He blocks the shot and then puts his man to the ground.
Again, so much better with his gaps towards the end of the year. This is a similar play to the one from the beginning, only this time, he was way more assertive, understanding that he couldn’t let the Sarnia player build up speed to the outside.
Outstanding footwork here from Sokolovskii. First, the quick transition to recover and force the dump in. Then he’s quickly on the retrieval and takes out the Owen Sound player. Play over.
Another outstanding recovery. The Barrie forward thought they’d chip and chase. Bad idea. Sokolovskii’s long, powerful strides help him close the gap quickly.
Sokolovskii builds speed out of the pivot and then uses linear crossovers to build speed quickly again following his move to fake the forechecker.
Typically this is how you’d beat a larger defender with poor footwork. Pivot and delay. However, Sokolovskii closes quickly then stops on a dime, something defenders his size wouldn’t be able to do.
Look at the closing speed at the end of this clip. The Windsor forward has a few steps on him, but Sokolovskii still gets their first and gains inside leverage.
GRADE: 55
Shot
By far the area of Sokolovskii’s game that requires the most growth. You’d really hope that he could develop his shot as a weapon given his massive frame; look at Zdeno Chara, but he doesn’t seem like a natural shooter or extremely confident in his shooting ability.
He has both a wrister and a slap shot, but the wrist shot is by far more effective and accurate. When he tries to one time pucks, he often fumbles the shot and is unable to generate anything of value. Overall, he struggles with getting shots through traffic and he struggles with his decision making regarding shots. Too many poor percentage plays into the shin pads of defenders that create odd man opportunities the other way. His release also needs to improve. He can hesitate to shoot and this allows shot blockers to crowd him or clog lanes.
He’s at his best when he’s able to use his feet and puck protection ability to create lanes. However, as mentioned, his skating mechanics need a bit of work to help him do that more consistently.
This is usually the result when Sokolovskii tries a one timer.
Just blindly turns and tries to throw this on net. Doesn’t work out very well.
This puck has to be off his stick way quicker.
This one too. Or work it around rather than fire it into the shinpads after the fakes don’t work.
Was he trying to fire it that wide?
A well placed shot as Sokolovskii jumps up as the fourth man in and scores.
GRADE: 45
Skills
Sokolovskii gained a lot of confidence over the season in his ability to be a transitional leader; someone who can gain entry to the offensive zone and make plays coming through the neutral zone. His passing game also improved greatly through the year. He initially struggled with making clean exits but improved by shortening the length of his passes, either by skating out of trouble or by looking for shorter connections. All about efficiency; not every pass needs to be a home run connection down the ice.
Sokolovskii can be very effective working off the blueline in the offensive zone. He uses his size to shield the puck or a quick move to get inside and past defenders. He routinely shows that ability to beat the initial layer of pressure. However, he can then struggle to beat the second and third layers; he needs to make quicker decisions and not skate himself into trouble. Given his sheer size and reach, it can be tough for him to adjust or react quickly as a result of players closing in on him.
There are also still some limitations in his skill oriented game that prevent him from taking off offensively. He can fumble passes or pucks trying to carry at full speed. As mentioned, he struggles with catching and releasing pucks quickly on his shot. But, given the improvement he showed over the year, there’s no reason to believe that these components of his game can’t improve. Remember, larger players often improve their coordination as they mature physically.
Strong stretch pass by Sokolovskii as he quickly kickstarts the breakout after a short regroup by the Knights. He was missing the mark on these passes earlier in the year.
An example of a missed breakout from earlier this year. As mentioned, he was trying for the home run way too often, rather than looking for shorter connections or using his carrying ability to draw in pressure to open up more advantageous passing lanes.
Back to a good one. Helps set up a goal.
Another successful breakout after Sokolovskii escapes pressure and makes a slick pass on his backhand.
Sokolovskii beats a defender off the line, but then his pass back to the point gets deflected.
Another dipsy do.
And another.
This is what Sokolovskii needs to do more often. Beat the first layer off the point, then use his size to shield the puck, rather than playing with the puck extended in front of him. He nearly sets up a goal here.
An example of Sokolovskii having difficulty stringing evasive moves together. Beats the first, then loses control trying to beat the second.
Sokolovskii jumps up in the play and gets himself a great look from the slot, however, his shot sails wide.
Love the evasiveness here and Sokolovskii exhibits great patience after entering the zone, allowing the London forward an opportunity to get behind the defender, however Sokolovskii just doesn’t have the passing precision yet to execute.
GRADE: 52.5
Smarts
This area of Sokolovskii’s game also improved over the course of the season as he adjusted to the increased pace of play and skill of the OHL; the jump from the U.S. AAA loop is a huge one. He learned to chase the play less, but also developed a confidence and understanding that he could be a very impactful defensive player by aiding his teammates by being more assertive. Early in the year, he’d stay glued to his man, pinning him to the boards, meanwhile the puck pops out to an open man who he just watches, assuming that a teammate would pick him up. Later in the year, he developed more confidence in his ability to dominate the defensive end with a take no prisoners attitude; it was common to see him wipe out three opposing players consecutively in the cycle and then quickly rotate to cover the slot or grab a loose puck to start the breakout.
As mentioned, he also developed more patience with the puck in the defensive zone, trusting his feet to give him clearance from forecheckers. His understanding of how to play physically also improved, especially his timing on hits. He better understood when to step up and when to play a little more passively because he was the last man back and a big hit could put his team at a disadvantage.
However, there’s still room to grow further. He can still puck watch in the defensive end at times and drift from the net front. Offensively, a lack of vision and awareness hurts his effectiveness. As mentioned in the shot and skills category, the application of some of his offensive tools is wildly inconsistent. He can rush decisions with the puck in the offensive zone, be it passes or poorly timed shots and those lead to odd man opportunities the other way.
If we were to split this grade up between offensive and defensive contributions, the defensive side of things would be a 55, while the offensive side of things would be a 45. It will be interesting to see if his offensive awareness improves under the Hunters next year.
An example of one of his defensive zone turnovers from earlier this year. Doesn’t really scan and just blindly tries to rim out a weak backhander. It’s easily picked off and a quality scoring chance is the result.
Better patience by Sokolovskii here as he evades the forecheck and is able to pass out of trouble. Notice the improved confidence in using his feet to help him clear space.
Poor defensive play from earlier this year. Sokolovskii gets caught standing still and Illia Shybinskyi gets behind him. Then he gets caught puck watching and is slow to react to the Guelph shooter.
Another play from earlier this year where Sokolovski is so intent on playing the man that he forgets about the puck and the second man in, resulting in a goal against.
GRADE: 50
Physicality/Compete
This is where Sokolovskii’s true value comes into play. He is one of the draft’s toughest competitors and with his massive frame, it’s easy to project his dominance physically to continue at higher levels.
Early in the year, he was so effective physically in open ice, but wasn’t as dominant along the wall as he could be. However, that improved greatly by the end of the year. Sokolovskii is simply suffocating with his mobility, reach, and physicality. Once you’re in his clutches, you’re not escaping. He loves to lower the boom with a big hit at the blueline or in the slot, but he’s also violent at destroying the cycle game and rarely seems to lose a 50/50 battle with his ability to pin and rub out opposing players. The thing is, even when he’s not laying a big hit, the threat of it is so influential. He is so intimidating that players consistently rush decisions or plays when he is on the ice.
Lastly, Sokolovskii is also a hard worker. His physical play became so consistent by the end of the year. And he also became a quality shot blocker who would use his length and size to clog shooting lanes, putting his body in harm’s way.
Here’s 30 seconds of Sokolovskii lowering the boom on players in open ice.
A good clip showing how effective Sokolovskii is at taking away space. He closes so quickly and then eliminates his man along the board, killing Brantford’s chance of setting up.
We showed this clip earlier in the skating section, but it belongs here too. Similar kind of play. Good luck getting by him in transition.
Rinse and repeat. Great footwork here and then the finish along the wall.
An idea of how strong Sokolovskii is. That’s 6’3 Maple Leafs prospect Harry Nansi trying to hit him and instead becoming the victim of the reverse hit.
Look at how the Owen Sound player here just gives up on the play and rushes a pass to the slot once he sees Sokolovskii barrelling at him.
Here let me take on two Guelph forecheckers and still win the battle for the puck.
That’s just mean.
GRADE: 65
OFP: 54.25
A note on the 20-80 scale used above. We look at five attributes (skating, shooting, puck skills, hockey IQ and physicality) for skaters and six for goalies (athleticism/quickness, compete/temperament, vision/play reading, technique/style, rebound control and puck handling). Each individual attribute is graded along the 20-80 scales, which includes half-grades. The idea is that a projection of 50 in a given attribute meant that our observer believed that the player could get to roughly NHL average at that attribute at maturity.
