Lavr Gashilov represents a rare commodity in the evaluation of prospects coming from Russia. The young player could break a clear trend from the many drafts that preceded the one in 2026. Drum roll: Lavr Gashilov is a Russian who plays center and who has the potential to reach a top 6 role on an NHL team.

2026 NHL Draft Scouting Report: Lavr Gashilov

Strangely, for some time now, Russia hasn’t produced many centers worthy of a top 6 role in the NHL. We see prospects playing there during their draft year, but few of them develop into pivots. For example, during the 2024-2025 NHL season, only 5 Russians took part in more than 200 faceoffs. Many quality hockey players like Lavr Gashilov emerge from this country, but they are typically wingers, defensemen, and goalies.

Already last year, it was clear the prospect had talent. With Dmitri Isayev, a prospect drafted by the Ottawa Senators last summer, the center dominated, collecting 40 points in 43 games with Avto Yekaterinburg in the MHL. Since the start of the regular season, the duo has continued their demolition work, as he has recorded 11 points in 6 games.

The left-handed 6’2”, 170-pound player is 4 points ahead of his closest teammate. The Russian also shows a 53% success rate in the faceoff circle on a total of 112 draws. Even though he is not necessarily elite defensively, the forward gets involved on both sides of the ice. He demonstrates an excellent puck recovery differential (32) vs losses (24), the best among the team’s forwards and 3rd overall regardless of position.

A dominant offensive weapon

Lavr Gashilov is first and foremost a talented center with the puck. He is not the fastest in a straight line, but I would say his agility helps him a lot to stand out. The offense runs through him when he’s on the ice, as he often carries the puck from his own blue line. He’s not necessarily the one who will play deep in his zone to neutralize opposing pressure, but his positioning is good to support his teammates. In terms of possession, the prospect is at the top of his team for puck touches (585), drawn penalties (6), and passes (150), in addition to having been on the ice for 16 goals for and 6 goals against.

« Offensively, he’s an excellent playmaker. He’s a guy who hides his intentions, reacts very quickly to identify his options after recovering the puck, and exploits angles that are really tough for opponents to read… » Extract from the last episode of the TSLH Podcast about Lavr Gashilov.

The center does not necessarily have an elite scoring touch. He can change his shooting angles, use screens to disguise his intentions, or exploit the edges of the net, but his shots don’t consistently hit the target. Out of 21 shot attempts, only 8 hit the goalie. He also recorded 12 scoring chances, 7 from the slot and 5 from the outside.

Even though the prospect has an imposing frame, he is not a power forward. In 6 games, the young player recorded 3 hits. That’s not a lot, but it’s not nothing either. He’s far from being a passive element. We even saw him drop the gloves at the end of a game after a dangerous hit from an opponent on one of his teammates. I would say the lefty shows toughness fairly regularly, without necessarily knocking an opponent over. It sometimes happens that he catches an unsuspecting target. Nevertheless, he is not a dangerous element on the ice. In 82 puck battles since the start of the regular season, Lavr Gashilov has won 60% of his confrontations by using all his tools, in addition to adding 19 deke attempts, of which 13 were successful.

2026 NHL Draft Projection for Lavr Gashilov

In short, you see the picture. He is an elite MHL prospect this year and Lavr Gashilov should generate a lot of buzz in the coming months among scouts. I definitely see him within the top 32 prospects for next June’s draft. If his progression continues like this, I expect to see him in the top 20 of several scouting lists, maybe even top 15 or 10 depending on his production.

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