I had a few surprises watching games played by top prospects this season, but none bigger than Ruslan Iskhakov. The Russian National Under-18 team was full of talent with players like Kirill Marchenko and Grigori Denisenko, but perhaps the most skilled player out of the group was, on most lists, ranked in the second half of the top-100.
You don’t have to look much further than the stats column to spot why: It’s the size of the Russian forward. Being 5’8” is a big strike against in the scouting world even to this day. In a changing NHL, where players under 6’0” thrive, it still remains quite hard to earn a spot in a lineup when you would be among the smallest in the league.