Anton Silayev (; born 11 April 2006) is a Russian professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

for

Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod () is a professional ice hockey club in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. It is a member of the Bobrov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). The team's home arena is Trade Union Sport Palace. The team used to play it ...

of the

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; ) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs based in Russia (20), Belarus (1), Kazakhstan (1), and China (1) for a total of 23 clubs. It was considered in ...

(KHL). He was drafted tenth overall by the

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The club w ...

in the

2024 NHL entry draft The 2024 NHL entry draft was the 62nd NHL entry draft, entry draft for the National Hockey League. It was held on June 28–29, 2024, at Sphere (venue), Sphere in the Las Vegas Valley. As per their April 2024 agreement, all draft rights held by ...

Playing career

Silayev began playing ice hockey at four years old, and became a

at eight when a coach told him he was "too big" to play

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

. In 2017, he moved to

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət, t=Lower Newtown; colloquially shortened to Nizhny) is a city and the administrative centre of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast an ...

to play in the

farm system In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful pl ...

(KHL) club

Torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...

. Playing in the Russian

Junior Hockey League Junior ice hockey is amateur-level ice hockey for 16 to 20 year-old players. National Junior teams compete annually for the IIHF World Junior Championship. The United States men's national junior ice hockey team are the defending champions from t ...

(MHL) during the 2022–23 season, Silayev recorded eight points in 41 games, playing in first and second pair roles for championship-winning . Initially attending 2023 training camp in the MHL, Silayev was called up to Torpedo's KHL team for the preseason and earned a roster spot to start the 2023–24 season. In his KHL debut at 17 years old, the season opener against

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl Hockey Club Lokomotiv (, ), also known as Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, is a professional ice hockey club based in Yaroslavl, Russia. It is a member of the Tarasov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). The name of the team is derived from its ...

, he recorded nearly 20 minutes of time on ice, a significant display of trust from coach

Igor Larionov Igor Nikolayevich Larionov (; born 3 December 1960) is a Russian Coach (ice hockey), ice hockey coach, sports agent and former professional ice hockey player, known as "the Professor". Considered one of the best hockey players of all time, he, a ...

in a league where young players typically begin their careers with extremely limited minutes. With his first KHL goal, scored against

Ak Bars Kazan Hockey Club Ak Bars (, , ), also known as Ak Bars Kazan, is a professional ice hockey club based in Kazan, Russia. It is a member of the Kharlamov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). History Founded as Mashstroy Kazan in 1956, the n ...

, he became the youngest goal scorer in Torpedo history. By the end of September, he had tallied one goal and six points in 12 games, averaging over 17 minutes per game and winning rookie of the month honours. Although his rate of scoring cooled significantly as the season progressed, his 11 points and 63 games played were enough to break the league's records for points by an under-18 player, points by an under-19 defenceman, and games played by an under-18 defenceman. He would also lead Torpedo with 98 hits and earn a nomination for KHL rookie of the year. In five playoff games, he added two assists in Torpedo's first round exit at the hands of

SKA Saint Petersburg Hockey Club SKA (), often referred to as SKA Saint Petersburg and literally as the Sports Club of the Army, is a professional ice hockey club based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is a member of the Bobrov Division in the Kontinental Hockey Le ...

. Upon Torpedo's elimination, he was reassigned to Chaika, where he tallied three more assists in ten games en route to a semifinal exit. Following the season, he was drafted tenth overall by the

in the

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Silayev, Anton 2006 births Living people New Jersey Devils draft picks NHL first-round draft picks People from Sarov Russian ice hockey defencemen Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod players 21st-century Russian sportsmen