If there’s one thing that continues to serve as a true wild card in the NHL Entry Draft, it has to be the uncertainty that comes with selecting Russian prospects. For many, there are few opportunities to communicate with them or even watch them play live. However, an agent for dozens of Russian players has implemented change to bridge that gap.
With renewed confidence in the possibility of getting Russian players to come to North America and play in North America, we took a look at an intriguing forward in a previous article. Now, it’s time to venture out to the blueline.
Nikita Shcherbakov
Vitals
Date of Birth: October 23, 2007
Height: 6-foot-5
Weight: 187 lbs
Shoots: Left
Position: Defense
2025-26 Season
Shcherbakov spent most of the 2025-26 season playing for the Toros Neftekamsk in Russia’s minor league equivalent, the VHL. Over the course of 35 games, he had 10 points (4 G, 6 A).
Not So Young Sheldon
While the two-way defender spent most of his time playing minor professional hockey, he did moonlight in the KHL for a few games with Salavat Yulaev Ufa. The team’s leading scorer was former Kings and Reign player, Sheldon Rempal. While Rempal was 22 years old when he made his professional debut in LA, he’s now a grizzled vet at the age of 30, and he can share his experience in So Cal with the young defenseman.
Everything’s Coming Up Milstein
As alluded to in our introduction, Dan Milstein is an influential agent for Russian hockey players. His Florida pseudo-combine will provide Shcherbakov and others an opportunity to showcase their talents for NHL scouts. The event has changed the fortune of several prospects in similar positions over the past few years.
Hats Off
Playing professional hockey is a challenge for any young player. However, despite being a defenseman, Shcherbakov managed the uncommon feat of recording a hat trick at the VHL level.
Rankings by Independent Scouting Services
No. 27 by Elite Prospects. “First and foremost, Shcherbakov is a tools-based projection, having the ideal defensive range thanks to his skating ability and frame.
Through his above-average four-way mobility and projectable quickness out of his pivots, Shcherbakov can comfortably match attackers against the rush, deny them access to the middle, and suffocate them along the boards. He covers ground in an instant and has the kind of nimbleness to recover from an initial disadvantage.
For the past two years, we’ve also been drawn in by Shcherbakov’s ability to manage the puck. Unlike some of the other hulking defencemen who have plus-level mobility, he shows projectable handling touch under pressure and can execute breakout plays with a moderately high success rate. While he prefers to defer when possible, he can leverage his feet to carry pucks in transition, too, and make the occasional clever stretch feed for an odd-man rush.
While Shcherbakov doesn’t project as a clear power play type to the NHL level, he had occasional dynamic flashes across our viewings this season, usually through moving downhill before finding a lane to the inside. Projection-wise, he can be trusted to get pucks through traffic and has a solid eye for finding deflection opportunities.”
No. 80 by McKeen’s, “Let’s start with the given for a lot of these massive defensemen, Shcherbakov isn’t some shrinking violet. He’s big, is a bit of an asshole in the best kind of way, is physically strong and will just hold guys along the boards and just halt the flow of play while his teammates dig in to get the puck out.
On breakouts, Shcherbakov is mostly very vanilla. There are some nice quick passes up ice, but a lot of it is just him trying to shove it up the near side boards to his winger who’s facing tons of backside pressure. He ends up handcuffing them far too frequently and the play gets stuck in the zone. There are some times (very rarely) where Shcherbakov tries to get a bit cute with it and use some turns to buy space behind the goal line to look for a better pass but it’s definitely a work in progress and not a tool he feels comfortable with too many forecheckers in the vicinity.
The mobility is good though, he’s handled VHL minutes very well, and he’s got some decent turns in tight. While he only really showcased it in the one game I watched and the other two were very uninspiring, that 3/14/2026 game was really FUN. There was some real confidence that game from Shcherbakov to handle the puck in the offensive zone. twisting and turning to create space. He’s still learning to convert those delays and on-puck moments into real goal
scoring chances for his team, one play he forced a d-to-d pass when he ran out of ice and it got deflected, but he also had a nice one where he drew two guys to him, got it down low and his team almost scored.”
No. 14 by Hockey Prospect, “Shcherbakov is a multi-faceted defenseman who can impact the game at both ends of the ice. Right now, he defends with intelligence and his stick. His active stick is a real weapon — he knocks pucks down, breaks up passing plays, and seals off lanes consistently. He could play with more physicality, and there are glimpses of it: reverse hits, some jam, moments where he plays with an edge. But those are still just flashes. He’s not soft, just physically immature — tall and lanky, not yet grown into his frame. We expect that to come. He won’t ever be a punishing physical presence in the mold of Lian Bichsel, but the trajectory feels similar to Dmitri Simashev in his draft year.
Speaking of Simashev, the comparison is easy to make: two toolsy defensemen playing in the MHL in their draft years. Simashev is the superior athlete and skater, but Shcherbakov is still well above average in both areas. Where Shcherbakov pulls ahead is in playmaking ability — his passing is significantly better, and he’s more capable of creating in the offensive zone. He can make quick, decisive transition plays with the puck, something Simashev couldn’t really do; Simashev’s transition game was built almost entirely around his elite skating. Shcherbakov also has a stronger shot from the point, which should generate more consistent scoring chances at the next level.”
See For Yourself
Video of Shcherbakov in the MHL vs. Avto:
Final Comments
The Russian blueliner has plenty of favorable traits that could make him an appealing pick. He has size, mobility, offensive ability and defensive acumen. In short, one could say he’s the complete package. This doesn’t mean he’s guaranteed to be a star, though.
Moreso, his toolkit is wide enough that if at least part of it pans out, a team should be able to play him in some capacity.
Where we think the Kings might have interest is due to his availability in the Draft. Most pundits project there to be a group of defensemen expected to go in the top-15. Shcherbakov has typically been in the subsequent tier of blueliners, players who could go anywhere from the late first to early third round.
Prospect growth isn’t linear, yet many scouting services are confident he’s going to contribute enough offensively to supplement his defensive responsibility. Depending how the future plays out, Shcherbakov’s current offensive tools could possibly taper off; morphing the defender into more of a stay-at-home role. That wouldn’t be a bad thing either, especially if he ends up being selected outside the first round.
To see more profiles from this year’s Draft Preview series, be sure to check out the links down below.
Chat with David: You can find him on Twitter @Davidenkness to talk more hockey.
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2026 NHL Draft Preview: Defenseman Xavier Villeneuve, Canada
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