2025 NHL Draft Prospect Profile: Ivan Ryabkin C

Upside Hockey's NHL Draft profile series:

Upside Hockey’s prolific prospect profiler Trevor Curtis’s 2025 NHL draft eligible prospect profiles are all featured on our dedicated page for this with all featured prospects indexed in our table of contents alphabetically by last name. For the 2024 NHL Draft, for example, we had well over 200 prospect profiles completed. We’re now over 200 completed for this draft class!

LHC Ivan Ryabkin (6'0", 198lbs)

Muskegon (USHL): 16gp/ 9g/ 7a/ 16pts, -2, 50 PIM

MHK Dynamo Moskva (MHL): 15gp/ 1g/ 11a/ 12pts, -3, 26 PIM

C Ivan Ryabkin (ranked #3 for EU Skaters, #19 by McKenzie, and #20 by Button) broke records for U-17 players in the MHL in 2023-24, beating out both Matvei Michkov and Ivan Demidov in their respective D-minus-one seasons, with 58 points in 44 games.

In the current season, he made stops in both the VHL (2 points in 8 games) and the KHL (2 games, no points), but was in the midst of a miserable MHL season, one that saw him healthy-scratched on numerous occasions, when the decision was made that he should try his luck across the pond in the USHL, with the Muskegon Lumberjacks.

In just his third game in that league, he incurred a three-game suspension for an ugly slew-footing incident. Concerns about his attitude, work-ethic, and coachability continue to plague him, with rumours persisting that he's not well-liked by his teammates, and there's even been whispers about poor fitness and conditioning.

The young Russian is a dynamic offensive center, with all the skills one would want in a top-line player, but his pace and motor come and go. First of all, Ryabkin is a smooth and fluid skater, but his straight-ahead speed is average- he needs plenty of work on his explosiveness, acceleration, and top speed. Though he can lose races, and can't easily separate in open ice, he is freakishly strong on the puck, and has uncommon balance, making it very hard to knock him over; he stays on his feet through contact, and is slippery and elusive on his edges. His lack of high-end speed doesn't hurt him as much as his inconsistent pace though.

Ryabkin's best traits are his elite IQ and his advanced anticipation in the offensive zone, giving him a creative playmaking game that is augmented by his high-end passing skills. He understands how to create space for teammates by drawing pressure with delays, cut-backs, and button-hooks, and reads the ice as well as anyone in this year's draft class, with the ability to pull off feeds that few others could; he can connect with teammates through traffic, or across the ice, with crisp, accurate passing.

Since he came to North America though, it looks as though he's been flexing his goal-scoring skills, with his laser of a shot on a quick, deceptive release, and superb precision to pick corners with. He also displays soft hands in-tight, and times his attacks to the slot so that he arrives at the right time to strike.

Ryabkin employs an edgy physical game with plenty of grit and can throw some big hits- although he often crosses the line into "dirty" territory. He's freakishly strong, and tenacious in board-battles, with a lopsided win-lose ratio; when he's on, he's quite fiery and competitive.

Adding to his strength on the puck is his elite stickhandling that enables him to weave through traffic, easily beating layers of defenders one-on-one, and he can do the same to a goalie. Though he doesn't push pace nearly enough, he's a high-end possession player, and can carry the puck through the middle for clean entries, and connect plays with short passes when he feels the need. Of course, he owns a deep arsenal of deception tactics to manipulate defenders in the form of feints, fakes, look-offs, and weight shifts to aid him in getting around.

Ryabkin's off-puck game is an underrated part of his success in creating offense; he trades off with teammates in give-and-go plays, then relocates to advantageous places to support the play, open space, and stay playable. He covers for his D when they have to leave their post at the point, and helps his teammates win possession.

In defensive situations, Ryabkin has shown solid details, positioning, and awareness, but too often- the effort isn't there. There are many times when he's the last forward back in the zone, and he often cheats up-ice, leaving the zone early. When he's fully engaged, he can be disruptive, aware, and physical- but I've seen games where I was surprised by how little he affected his team's transition and defense.

His consistency and engagement go up-and-down like a roller-coaster, not only game-to-game, but shift-to-shift; come draft day, scouts will know whether the off-ice issues are just conjecture, or reality, and will judge his worthiness of a pick accordingly. It's hard to imagine Ryabkin getting past the top-20, but anything is possible.

Upside Hockey’s prolific prospect profiler Trevor Curtis’s 2025 NHL draft eligible prospect profiles are all featured on our dedicated page for this with all featured prospects indexed in our table of contents alphabetically by last name. For the 2024 NHL Draft, for example, we had well over 200 prospect profiles completed. We’re approaching 200 for this draft class!