Height: 6’0”
Weight: 220 pounds
Date of birth: April 14, 1998, Omsk Russia
Position: Center/Left Wing
Shoots: Left
OHL Draft: Round 1, 3rd overall, 2014 CHL Import Draft
Last season, Sokolov played junior with Omskie Yastreby of the MHL in his native Russia. In 29 games he scored 13 goals and added 3 assists. But it was at the World Hockey Challenge Under-17 where Sokolov put up a dominating performance scoring 6 goals and 3 assists in 6 games and led Russia to Gold. He also performed well at the WJC Under-18 with 2 goals and 3 assists in 5 games.
When you look up the definition of enigma, you can easily replace it with this:
Sokolov has the skill level to be a first round pick, top 15, perhaps top 10. First and foremost, he’s built like a tank. He possesses a lethal shot with high end playmaking skills and a force on the powerplay. Simply put, he has the skill level to take over and dominate games. He’s put up decent points playing for a weak Sudbury Wolves team.
However, when I think of Sokolov, one thing comes to mind: The Russian Phil Kessel.
Concerns surfaced that he came to Sudbury’s camp out of shape and overweight. More alarming is that he showed disinterest in wanting to work on those concerns. While those same problems have always been attributed to Kessel, Sokolov lacks the skating skills, abilities and speed of a Phil Kessel.
Sokolov also lacks in the intensity and consistency department. He almost appears lazy at times, especially when the puck is not on his stick. He certainly has the skill set to be listed as a top 10 player from the OHL for the NHL draft, but unless he shows improvement in the second half on his consistency and work ethic, the skill alone will not be enough.
Sokolov made NHL Central Scouting’s preliminary list of players to watch as a B prospect – which means a second or third round prospect. On their November list, he was moved down to a C prospect – which means a fourth, fifth or sixth round prospect.
At this point, it remains to be seen whether Sokolov has the willingness and determination to disperse the cloud over the second half. If he does, and combined with his skill set, he’ll climb. If the status quo is what we see, then he’ll continue to drop.
OHL Writers 
Embarrassing article.
From the beginning of the season, Sokolov has shown nothing but improvement. He struggled a bit initially, but as he has adjusted he has become Sudbury’s most dangerous player. Not bad for a 17 year old adjusting to life in a new country. He plays with a tonne of fire and passion and is a very emotional player, so to say he doesn’t have intensity is baffling. Could he be in better shape? Probably, but this has also noticeably improved as the season has gone on.
Sokolov is one of the bright spots on a really bad Sudbury team. To lead the team in scoring as a 17 year old, and be the biggest threat on the ice is not something to be taken likely.
As for the comparison to Kessel? Their styles are nothing alike. Sokolov will actually engage people physically and is showing improvement with his defensive play.
It is clear to me that you have barely watched Sokolov play at all. Nice try though.
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I appreciate your comment. But I never compared his skill to Kessel’s. In fact, I said he doesn’t have the skill level of a Phil Kessel.
There are people, the people that actually make the calls unlike you and me, that want nothing to do with him.
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You write an article ripping the guys character, and it is based on absolutely nothing. The WORST kind of reporting. Sokolov has done nothing but improve since he has come to Sudbury. And who are these ‘people’ you speak of. Are you going to now pretend you have inside info from NHL scouts? Enlighten me if so. The bottom line is, you wrote this article and you haven’t been watching him play.
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I don’t have to pretend anything. That info is there for you to find if you so choose.
I never knocked his character. I’m not the only one that has said his work ethic/conditioning is a problem. That is not a knock on his character. Search it if you choose, it’s all available – and not just from me.
FWIW – I had him in my top 10 and changed it last minute, He’s just outside. For a guy of his talent level he should dominate more than he does. And when he doesn’t, that can be attributed to one thing – effort.
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What info is there if I so choose? How can I find the imaginary ‘people’ who feed you your false information? GIVE ME A BREAK. You have no sources on this at all.. you aren’t fooling anyone. You thought you could write a lazy article about a guy up in Sudbury that no one is paying attention to, but you didn’t count on someone who actually WATCHES him play reading it. And you did rip his character, saying he has ‘disinterest’ in improving, and calling out his work ethic, saying hes lazy, which is completely off base.
“Oh, hes overweight, so lets compare him to Kessel.” LOL, unbelievably amateur. I would expect that kind of comparison from a 12 year old.
“For a guy of his talent level he should dominate more than he does.” – Oh really, so leading his team in scoring as a rookie and being the most dangerous player night in night out isn’t enough for a 17 year old kid in a new country? If he was playing on a better team, his point totals would be downright scary. Again, if you watched him play, you would see how good he is. Sudbury is constantly on their heels, as they have a very young team. He is going to dominate this league in years to come.
In summary, it is clear to me that you do NOT watch Wolves games, so you can give up the act. This article is a joke.
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You keep referring to leading his team in scoring as a rookie. He has one more point, in one more game played than the younger Lyszczarcxyk. He has a lower PPG than the much, much younger Levin. And Levin is still top 20 in rookie scoring despite missing 16 of 35 games.
There’s a reason NHL CS dropped him from a 1st, 2nd rounder to 3rd, 4th or 5th
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Again, if you WATCH the games, you would see it. All you can do is try and draw conclusions from stats, but you have no perspective whatsoever. You are a joke.
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First of all, Lyszczarczyk is NOT younger than Sokolov. Sokolov is 2 months younger. If you, the so called expert is going to go out of your way to correct me on something that petty, at least get your facts straight.
Secondly, why are you comparing him to Levin? They are both great young players, and the fact that Levin has a better ppg (from earlier in the season) doesn’t change that you made up a tonne of stuff about Sokolov. Levin is a ridiculous talent, and I can’t wait to watch him develop. I fully expect him to be a top player in the league.. but at the same time, he has been out awhile, and Sokolov has been the teams best player. All you are doing is reaching for anything, when you should just be admitting you don’t have a clue.
You can cite all the stats you want, it doesn’t change the fact that you actually need to watch the players to do a proper analysis on them.
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I’m a GM in my simulated League, and, my draft is conducted by the 5th of June, 2016. I’ll be drafting 3 weeks prior to the NHL’s draft in Buffalo, and I want to round out my thinking on some guys. I was just wonderin’ about how i could thrust that Sokolov prospect with such a young team. I’m solely basing my arguments on the -stat story- unfortunately, and 2 positive highlights that I’ve seen personally from the guy. He looks really poised(knows what to do) with the puck, but, that is the lone thing that I can base myself-on for now. GO BLUE seems to have seen the guy play in regard of the discussion that both of you had, and he seem to think that Sokolov is the strong character on that team.
Sometime, there’s no one around to help you creating scoring occasions, and I’ve lived it personally. Is this guy worthy of an early(60-65) 3rd pick selection, assuming he loses 10 bad pounds, after working seriously out in the summer.
One thing that I do know, is that hearing that you are lazy can make wonders for the next summer. It can lead you to a better workout regimen, assuming you have the guts to prove people wrong.
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