Ian Dunham, Even Strength

You heard it here first, Stefan Stepanov, defenseman for CSKA in Russia, will be a star in the NHL.  Stepanov participated in the USHL tourney in Chicago last spring, and the sixteen year old Russian showed why he is regarded by scouts and agents as one of the top six defenseman in the world for his age.  Stepanov is something of a hybrid between Oleg Tverdovsky and Niklas Kronwall.  He is primarily an offensive defenseman, using phenomenal skating ability and hockey sense to jump into the play for scoring chances.  Instead of using bone crushing hits on opposing forwards, Stepanov uses sound positional play to stop attacking forwards. Stepanov is supremely confident with the puck, often tapping his stick on the ice and shouting for a pass.  Although this can give away his position, it shows how much Stepanov wants to participate in the play.  He scored a beautiful goal with a heavy wrist shot while pinching in from the point on the power play. Stepanov also has an array of tricks up his sleeve, often playing the puck off the boards to himself or his line mates.  Stepanov also has the ability to rush the puck from one end of the ice to the other, somewhat like Sergei Fedorov did while playing defense in Detroit. Stepanov passes with great accuracy, and many of his passes were too strong for other players to handle. Stepanov still needs to grow and fill out, but once he does, he will be a integral part of any team he plays with. Stepanov is truly a special player.

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