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Anatoly Golyshev was drafted in the 4th round (95th overall) as an overage 21-year-old prospect in 2016, after putting up 25 goals and 44 points in 56 games with Yekaterinburg Avtomobilist in the KHL. He also won silver at the 2015 World Junior Championship, and had 3 assists in 6 games. Golyshev is only 5’9”, which puts him on the smaller side for NHL forwards.
Golyshev had a poor 2016-17 season, with only 17 points in 49 games in the KHL, and he spent some time in the VHL, the second-tier hockey league in Russia. However, his 2017-18 was much more promising, with 18 goals and 31 points in 40 games. Those numbers are impressive, and the Islanders have already invested in a KHL player who’s older and with a much lower points per game rate this past season in Jan Kovar, but they’re far from a guarantee of NHL stardom.
Another wrinkle in Golyshev’s status as an Islanders prospect is that he has a contract with Avtomobilist that runs until 2019, so the earliest he can join the Isles is presumably in the 2019-2020 season. If he doesn’t see a clear role in New York in the near future, he may just re-sign with Avtomobilist, or wait until the Islanders’ draft rights expire and find an NHL team that has a better fit.
| Jenny | Spizzwolf | Noel Fogelman | Travis Flynn | CIL | Mike B | LHH | HockeyGoalieEh | garik16 | Dominik | Steve |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | 21 | 17 | 23 | 24 | - | 24 | 10 | 22 | 25 | 16 |
Golyshev is likely in a similar situation to many “tweener” Russian prospects, where he’ll come to the NHL if an NHL spot is available for him. On the other hand, at 23 years old, he led his team in scoring, tied with a 33-year-old forward who took 10 more games to reach 31 points. That’s impressive, but it’ll take another strong season to determine if he has a long-term future as an NHL forward.
Rationales
CIL:
Golyshev bounced back a bit this year, but I'm not overly impressed with his KHL stats. I just don't see him as a prospect that will ever be a player of consequence for the Islanders.
HockeyGoalieEh:
Has shown great scoring ability in Russia and would pencil in on the second or third line right now if he were to come over if it weren't for his height.
Previously:
#22 New left wing Blade Jenkins
#23 Switzerland’s Yannick Rathgeb