Little-known Philadelphia Flyers prospect Ilya Pautov, drafted 173rd overall in the sixth round of the 2024 NHL Draft back in June, has started his D+1 season in the Russian MHL on fire.
Through his first two MHL games of the season with Krasnaya Armiya Moskva, Pautov already has two goals, two assists, and four points to pair with a plus-five plus-minus rating and seven shots on goal.
Pautov notably scored 15 goals, 30 assists, and 45 points in 46 games with Krasnaya last season, so the 18-year-old is generally expected to dominate the Russian junior level in his D+1 season.
Just two games in, it looks as though Pautov is making a serious case to earn a promotion to the VHL. The skill the Flyers saw in Pautov when selecting him in the 2024 NHL Draft was evident on Thursday’s game-winning overtime goal against Krylia Sovetov Moskva.
Given that he was a sixth-round pick, we have to be careful with our expectations for Pautov and avoid putting the cart before the horse. But, draft steals can and will happen, and with the way things have gone for the Flyers the last few years, both fans and management would be happy to have one of those.
“He’ll likely get called up to Zvezda in the VHL very soon,” Medved Prospekt, a McKeen’s Hockey Russian regional scout, wrote on X.
As for Pautov and his development, one interesting note is that Tampa Bay Lighting superstar Nikita Kucherov also featured heavily in the MHL for Krasnaya in his draft year. In the 2010-11 season, Kucherov appeared in 41 games for the Russian junior outfit, scoring 27 goals, 31 assists, and 58 points.
Kucherov also made his KHL debut that same season, scoring two assists in nine games for CSKA Moscow.
In the 2011-12 season, Kucherov had 24 goals, 19 assists, and 43 points in only 23 games in the MHL while getting into 18 KHL games in his next opportunity. The 31-year-old forward spent the following year in the QMJHL in the CHL before jumping to the NHL with Tampa Bay in 2013-14.
This is not to say that the Flyers have the next Kucherov in Pautov or that Pautov is as talented as Kucherov, who was a second-round pick, but simply to show that the path to the NHL is well within the realm of possibility.
And, who knows? Maybe Pautov can become a star, too, and lead the Flyers’ rebuild efforts alongside Matvei Michkov someday.
