The New Jersey Devils have become known for their young defensemen and defense prospects in recent seasons, but an unheralded one just took home an honor in the KHL for the first time.
On Monday, it was announced that Devils defense prospect Daniil Orlov was one of the KHL's four players of the week, taking home honors as the best defenseman.
Orlov, 21, recorded two goals and three assists for five points in three games for Spartak Moscow while averaging an impressive 22:17 of ice time, which is more or less a number only No. 1 and No. 2 defensemen get.
KHL presents best players of Week 2. pic.twitter.com/wsCyK5j6Qu
— KHL (@khl_eng) September 22, 2025
Other players recognized by the KHL this week include goalie Adam Huska, forward Danil Yurtaikin, and rookie Mikhail Fyodorov.
Nobody will mistake Orlov as the top defenseman in the Devils' system currently in the KHL - that designation still belongs to Anton Silayev - but the Devils do quietly have a promising crop of defensemen playing in Russia specifically.
In addition to Orlov and Silayev, they also have 6-foot-2 righty Artem Barabosha, who played his first 34 career KHL games across the last two seasons. Barabosha is, however, starting this season in the VHL with Zvezda Moskva, so the KHL party is incomplete for the time being.
Ironically, Barabosha (seventh round) and Orlov (fourth round) were selected in the same draft, as were Simon Nemec (2nd overall) and Seamus Casey (46th overall). Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald and his crew deservedly get a lot of flack for their lack of success in the draft, but they might've been onto something in the 2022 draft a few years back.
We've yet to see Orlov sign a contract to join the Devils or play the North American style, so the jury is still out, but the early returns seem to be increasingly promising for a franchise that could use some wins on and off the ice.