Slava Voynov

History

2007-08: Built on his successful 2006-07 Super League debut with a strong 2007-08 Super League season. He also continued to play for Russia’s U20 squad at the World Championships and helped Russia win the silver medals at the U18 World Junior Championships. The games against the Canadians during the Super Series and in the U18 WJC finals were the main dark spots on Voynov’s resume. However while there is little excuse for what happened at the U18 WJC, the young defenseman was one or Russia’s brighter spots during the Super Series, as he was able to match the Canadians physically and control the game better than some of his teammates.

2008-09: Signing with the Kings shortly after being drafted, Voynov was assigned to Manchester of the AHL where he would spend the entire season as one of the best defensemen for the Monarchs.  A rare 18-year-old in AHL, Voinov more than held his own and was occasionally the best defenseman on the ice for Manchester in leading all defensemen with eight goals and 23 points.

2009-10: in his second season with the Manchester Monarchs, Voynov posted 10 goals and 19 assists in 79 regular season appearances. He also played in 9 playoff games for the Monarchs, posting 1 goal and 3 assists.

2010-11: Voynov was the leading scorer amongst defensemen for the Manchester Monarchs in his third AHL season; scoring 15 goals with a team-high 36 assists in 76 games. Voynov's +21 plus/minus was the top mark on a Monarchs' team that finished second in the Atlantic Division and took eventual Calder Cup champion Binghamton to seven games in a first-round playoff series. Voynov scored 2 goals with 3 assists and was +1 with 6 PMs in the playoffs.
 

Talent Analysis

A talented universal defenseman whose offensive abilities have been compared to that of Kiril Koltsov, but also possesses defensive responsibility, something that Koltsov lacks…an above average skater with good technique, but has only average acceleration and needs to improve his first step…a capable puck handler, capable of bringing the puck up the ice…doesn’t shoot the puck as often as he should in the offensive zone, but does have a decent slap shot from the blue line….capable of quarterbacking a powerplay with some nice feeds and calm puck management…capable of playing physical hockey and taking the game to his opponents, even if he is smaller than them in stature…capable of making nice open ice hits, but doesn’t hit in the open ice as often as he should…strong positionally, but at times can be caught out of position, especially in the neutral zone if he decides to take a chance on the play and create an offensive chance for his linemates…not very big, thus putting to question his ability to fully adopt his skill-set to North American hockey, though he has proven his ability to play well in traffic and under pressure…very mature for his age, getting significant minutes against professionals in the Super League from the age of just 16…sees the ice very well and understands the game, making very good decisions with and without the puck.

Future

Voynov will likely split the 2010-11 season between the NHL and AHL.