Monday morning, the Devils announced that they signed 2024 10th overall selection and the organization's top prospect, Anton Silayev, to his three-year, entry-level contract.
The 20-year-old, 6'7" defenseman spent the last three regular seasons fully in the KHL, logging 19 playoff games in that span for his team and an additional 27 playoff games across the MHL and VHL. In total, he accrued six goals and 30 total points in his 206 combined regular season and playoff career in the KHL, with a career-worst three points (one goal, two assists) in 61 regular season games in 2025-26.
The rangy, smooth-skating defenseman was subject to typical KHL prospect treatment this past season, with his new head coach, Alexei Isakov, scarcely playing Silayev as much as he had grown accustomed to under ex-Devil Igor Larionov. Over the course of the campaign, Silayev saw his ice time diminish from over 17 minutes a game to, at many points, under 10. In the playoffs, there was a bit of a resurgence in that regard, but he was still deployed at a far lower clip than he had been even one season prior.
That meant that there was some stagnation and regression in his play, rather than development. Silayev's biggest deficiency, puck-moving, saw little to no improvement over the course of the season. Under forechecking pressure, he lacked calmness and composure, often resulting in turnovers or icings. When the puck was on his stick, he scanned the ice limitedly, finding the quickest pass option rather than the best pass option. Stretch passes were nonexistent, as were creative plays to find high-danger looks.
Offensively, the best step forward Silayev took was in his activation ability off the rush, something that he is able to do by virtue of his one-of-one skating ability; the young defenseman is inarguably one of the best skaters in the world, moving like a player a foot shorter than him and sporting some of the best acceleration and four-way mobility of any defenseman on the planet. In three or four strides, Silayev can cover the same distance that others do in twice as many steps.
This, ultimately, will make him an excellent defensive defenseman at the bare minimum, someone who can munch minutes comfortably and stymy the opposition with consistency and ease. The sole area he needs to work on is on the offensive side of things, and that should be an area the Utica Comets are able to develop far better than in the KHL, where Silayev was not afforded any opportunity to make mistakes or encouraged to make risky plays.
The expectation should be that he spends most, if not all of 2026-27 in the AHL, barring unexpected trades or injuries. All of Luke Hughes, Jonas Siegenthaler, and Brenden Dillon sit above him in the depth chart, with no inkling that any of them will be departing the organization anytime soon.
This will be the best thing for Silayev anyway, given his need for development in terms of puck-moving chops.
Regardless, his entry-level deal -- the first signing of Sunny Mehta's tenure as General Manager -- is one less thing to worry about for what should be one of the busiest off-season's in Devils history.
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