Mikhail Vorobyov

History

2012-13: Mikhail Vorobyov appeared in two games with the Salavat Yulayev 1996-born team in his hometown of Ufa, Russia and was one of the top scorers for the Salavat 1997’s in Ural region play. He skated for Spartakovets in the Russian U16 championship. Vorobyov had no points nor penalties in his two games with the Yulayev 96’s. In 36 games for the Salavat 97’s he scored 21 goals with 28 assists and 40 penalty minutes. Vorobyov scored 2 goals with 5 assists and had an even plus/minus with 6 penalty minutes in five games for Spartakovets. 

2013-14: Vorobyov played in four games with Tolpar Ufa in the Russian U22 league (MHL) as a 16-year-old and was the second-leading scorer for the Salavat Yulayev 1997’s. He had 3 assists and was +2 with no penalties in his brief stint with Tolpar. Vorobyov was fourth on Salavat with 21 goals and was second on the team with 42 assists, trailing only leading scorer Dmitry Noskov (74 points) with 63 points in 31 regular season games. Salavat hosted the U17 Russian championship, finishing first in Group A in round robin play and reaching the championship final, falling 8-3 to Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. Vorobyov scored 2 goals with 3 assists and 10 penalty minutes in six games at the championship. 

2014-15: Vorobyov played in 39 regular season games and eight playoff contests for Tolpar Ufa in his first MHL season and played for the Russia U19 and U18 teams. He scored 8 goals with 12 assists and was +8 with 40 penalty minutes in the regular season. Tolpar finished third in the Povolzhye Division and advanced to the East Conference semifinals. Vorobyov scored 3 goals and had an even plus/minus with 2 penalty minutes. Skating for the Russia U19 team at the 2014 World Junior A Challenge in Canada he scored 1 goal with 1 assist and 2 penalty minutes. Russia finished third, defeating Canada East, 2-0, in the bronze medal game. Vorobyov scored 1 goal with 3 assists and was +6 with 2 penalty minutes in five games for the Russia U18 team at the 2015 World Juniors. Russia finished fifth, falling to host Switzerland, 5-0, in the quarterfinals. Vorobyov was ranked 24th amongst international skaters in the Central Scouting final rankings and was selected by Philadelphia in the fourth round (104th overall) in the 2015 NHL Draft. 

2015-16: Vorobyov played in 28 regular season games and one playoff contest for Salavat Yulaev Ufa in his first KHL season and was a point-per-game scorer for Tolpar Ufa in the MHL junior league. He scored 2 goals with 1 assist and had an even plus/minus with 14 penalty minutes, averaging six minutes of ice time during the regular season with Salavat. He had no points nor penalties in 1:29 minutes of ice time in his only KHL playoff game. Vorobyov scored 6 goals with 17 assists and was +10 with 28 penalty minutes in 21 games with Tolpar Ufa.

Talent Analysis

Vorobyov is a good skater with good vision. He helped Russia earn a bronze medal at the World Junior A Challenge last season.

Future

Vorobyov played in 29 KHL games with Salavat Yulaev Ufa in 2015-16, including one playoff contest, and was one of the leading scorers for the Tolpar Ufa junior team. Signed with Salavat through 2016-17 and expected to play a larger role with the club, he will likely remain in Russia until he is NHL-ready. His skill set suggests he can be an effective two-way second or third line center.