Philadelphia Flyers 2019 NHL Draft Spotlight: Arthur Kaliyev

The Tashkent, Uzbekistan native is one of the purest snipers this draft class has to offer, but a lack of defensive effort could scare the Philadelphia Flyers away at 11th overall.

Arthur Kaliyev is a left wing prospect who hails from Uzbekistan but spent his youth growing up in Staten Island, New York after moving there he was two years of age. He possesses a deadly wrist and one-time shot, using to deceive opposing goaltenders and rack up the points.

Kaliyev played in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and was a teammate of Philadelphia Flyers forward prospect Matthew Strome for two years on the Hamilton Bulldogs. He actually outscored Strome by 23 points this year at just 17-years-old, netting a whopping 102 points (51 Goals, 51 Assists) in 67 games which also led the entire team. This was a 56 point improvement on his rookie campaign in 2017-18 and did so while playing in one less game, showing the strides he can make when he sets his mind to it. Kaliyev had a solid performance at the 2019 Hlinka-Gretzky Cup as well, posting six points in five games with the Under-18 USA squad.

As I previously mentioned, Kaliyev has one of the most lethal shots in this draft. The 6’2 winger can get his wrister off very quickly, owns a heavy one-timer, and a deceptive backhander to boot. He can pick corners with the best of them as his shooting accuracy is tremendous, as well. Kaliyev isn’t afraid to get physical and get in front of the net for deflections or rebounds, using his strength to keep himself in those spots. I think he’s a slightly underrated passer given how excellent his shot is, too, utilizing his vision and patience to find open teammates.

The one knock on his game is his effort on defense. He struggles to get involved on the back-check, allowing the opposition to thrive in transition when he’s on the ice. Kaliyev can also get beat due to his poor defensive positioning and has to sure-up this side of his game in order to become a better overall player. Though he’s more than young enough to turn it around and, as I mentioned above, if he puts his mind to it, it’ll likely happen.

It’s more than possible that there’ll be better players on the board when Philadelphia selects at 11 and Kaliyev’s weaknesses defensively make him a pretty decent risk to take that high. Still, his offensive game is superb, which should catch the attention of General Manager Chuck Fletcher and the Flyers scouting department when doing their due diligence on the upcoming draft prospects.