Position: C, Shoots Left
H/W: 6-foot-3, 205 Pounds
Date of Birth: 2008-08-03
If an NHL team is in need of a power forward with some skill, defensive versatility, and good pace and compete in his game, then Ilia Morozov of the University of Miami (Ohio) is a prospect that should garner such attention.
An imposing presence, Morozov stands 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds without skates. And although he was slated to spend another season in the USHL for the Tri-City Storm, he opted instead to step into the NCAA as one of the youngest players to participate in collegiate hockey. Morozov transitioned quickly and displayed his offensive skills by posting 20 points in 36 games, one of the highest among draft eligible players. His impressive overall versatility did not go unnoticed by his coaching staff and he quickly became a fixture on the Red Hawks, where he ended up second on the team in total ice time, averaging nearly 20 minutes per night. This type of adaptability and progression is what earned the freshman a top-six role on a much older team.
The Russian-born centre plays a mature game for his age that is easily translatable to the NHL. Morozov engages the play on every shift and adds an element of physicality that helps him retrieve pucks along the boards or during small area battles. He also possesses good puck protection owing to his large frame and has some decent stickhandling skills to complement it. Morozov has a nice finishing touch, especially in tight near the net and found himself scoring a handful of game-winners throughout the year. His two-way game is mature and reliable, and he can be deployed in any situation during a game, which is an attractive quality when being considered by NHL teams. Now, there are some nuances to his game that need to be addressed before he can make the jump to the pro-level, but they are far and few between, as he seemed to continue to improve as the season went on and became a staple for Miami’s top six down the stretch.
Although the numbers didn’t stand out this year for Morozov, we believe that the eye test tells a different story, and that there is room to improve in his game and that the production will eventually follow at some point in the near future.
Ilia Morozov projects as a future middle-six centre and could be a potential pick in the first round of this year’s NHL Draft.
Skating
The skating is not elite, but Morozov is able to cover space efficiently and has decent edgework in tight spaces. There’s some work to be done to improve some balance issues and explosiveness, but that may also improve as he matures and develops more overall strength. It should also be noted that Morozov hit a recent growth spurt, where he can into this season measuring 6-foot-1 and only 154 pounds, which can obviously affect his balance and power. Again, parts of his game that can be ameliorated with time and work outs.
The motor and pace in Morozov’s game is what dismisses his skating weaknesses at this point and because of his size he is able to cover a lot of space in short periods of time.
In this clip we notice that Morozov has a bit of an upright posture when skating at full speed, but he still is able to partially get around the defender. And because of his size, he is able to protect the puck from oncoming pressure and take it to the net for an eventual goal.
Similar situation here, where Morozov builds up speed in the neutral zone and is able to evade the defender with a quick button hook to create space and pass it off to an incoming defenseman on his team, that again leads to a goal.
Here we see Morozov build up speed again in the neutral zone, but this time he attacks the middle of the ice and literally shrugs off a check from an opposing defender as he ends up with a partial breakaway and scores on the play. This is a total power forward type of move.
Next, Morozov bulldozes his way into the O-zone by pushing through the defense with force. He is able to use his size and balance to stay on his feet, even while being checked.
Grade: 52.5
Shooting
Morozov’s shot is one of his calling cards and even from distance or close in tight to the net, he seems to find a way to beat goalies owing to his hard and accurate shot. He also possesses a lethal one-timer that comes in handy when playing the bumper position or coming off the wall on the powerplay.
This is a perfect example of Morozov coming off the wall on the power play and finding that open ice to set himself up for a prime shooting location. He ends up retrieving the errand pass and snipes one past the goalie with accuracy.
In this clip we see how fast of a release Morozov has. He receives the return pass and doesn’t hesitate to fire the puck immediately and beats the goalie with force and accuracy.
Here we see a nice one-timer from Morozov, who peels off the wall and sets himself up in the perfect position to get the shot off and bury a goal.
Morozov finds an open lane to get a nice scoring chance in this highlight. He needs to be more consistent with these types of plays if he wants to score more goals though.
Grade: 57.5
Skills
An area of Morozov’s game that seems to have improved as the season progressed and as he got more comfortable with the NCAA’s pace of play and the size of the other team’s players. He possesses very good passing and playmaking precision for a player his age. Morozov is able to find open lanes with precision and usually hits his target with a saucer pass through traffic or a quick touch to a teammate in stride. There’s a lot to like about the way he sees the ice and uses those abilities to his advantage.
Morozov has some nice handling skills and is able to evade forecheckers with both his size and stickhandling prowess in tight. For a big player, he has some very impressive puck control and also uses his size to his advantage when it comes to puck protection. Once Morozov develops more stability in his skating, he will be a formidable player to move off the puck.
This sequence demonstrates Morozov’s stickhandling skills in tight as it looks like he’s run out of real estate when he gets on top of the goaltender, but finds a way to make the perfect deke and score a goal.
Obviously individual skills are best demonstrated during a shoot out and Morozov does not disappoint with some sublime maneuvers to deke the goalie and bury and nice one here.
We see some nice stickhandling and puck protection from Morozov as he enters the O-Zone in this clip. He is able to fight off the pressure and maintain puck control, which leads to a scoring chance.
A quick stick lift and Morozov wins the puck, then proceeds to take his time and find open space to allow him to set up a pass to his defenseman that ultimately leads to a goal.
Grade: 55
Smarts
Morozov possesses some good hockey IQ and he rarely finds himself out of position during the game. He is responsible in all three-zones and can be relied upon defensively. The young Russian played close to 20 minutes per game throughout the season, which is a testament to his coaches trust in his game. Being a freshman at the NCAA level and playing that many minutes, shows how Morozov’s overall game is mature.
As mentioned in the Skills section, Morozov’s playmaking ability and vision stands out. He can anticipate developing plays in advance and consistently makes the right decision when the puck is on his stick. The freshman can process the game quickly and excels at cycle maintenance, something you like to see in a draft eligible prospect at the NCAA level.
In this sequence, we see Morozov killing a penalty and pressuring the opposing player that leads to a turn over. He then is able to move the puck up the ice and make a very nice pass to a streaking teammate that ultimately leads to a short handed goal.
Here we see a high hockey IQ move by Morozov, as he feels the pressure in the neutral zone, and decides to stop and regroup so that he can catch a teammate with a pass and allows them to enter the zone unimpeded.
Same situation in this clip, where Morozov does not rush the play along the wall, but instated makes a nice cross ice pass and follows up by rushing into open space to receive the return pass and allows him to enter the O-Zone easily.
Another nice passing sequence from Morozov here, where he enters the O-Zone and takes it wide and waits for a teammate, then makes a nice pass to set up a scoring chance.
Morozov finds a loose puck in this clip and takes it the length of the ice, then slows the play down and makes the perfect pass to set up his teammate for the short handed goal.
Grade: 55
Physicality/Compete
A part of Morozov’s game that is one of his best attributes is his compete and motor. He is always in relentless pursuit of the puck and has great pace to his game. A reason that the coaching staff relied on him in all situations with the Red Hawks.
Morozov isn’t overly physically punishing for his size, but he doesn’t back away from the corners or high traffic areas. He can leverage position due to his size and win puck battles most times.
Here we see Morozov get a nice stick lift on an opponent and win that puck battle. He proceeds to pass it to his defenseman who scores a goal from the point.
Good pressure from Morozov here, as he reads the play and attacks the opposition at the right time to win a puck battle and regain control from the other team.
In this clip we see Morozov use some of his physicality to win a puck battle as he pins the opposing player against the boards and pushes to puck to his teammate for the easy zone exit.
Morozov boxes out a player in front of the net and then wins the puck battle behind the net to again secure the puck retrieval.
Grade: 55
A note on the 20-80 scale used above. We look at five attributes (skating, shooting, puck skills, hockey IQ and physicality) for skaters and six for goalies (athleticism/quickness, compete/temperament, vision/play reading, technique/style, rebound control and puck handling). Each individual attribute is graded along the 20-80 scales, which includes half-grades. The idea is that a projection of 50 in a given attribute meant that our observer believed that the player could get to roughly NHL average at that attribute at maturity.