Man of the Week: Yegor Surin
KHL.ru continues its ‘Man of the Week’ column with Lokomotiv’s Yegor Surin. The young forward netted two consecutive goals last week, further cementing the good impressions he gave in his limited ice time.
Breaking into the KHL is not easy. Even if in the last few years, the average age has gone down, it’s still a men’s league who appreciates veterans. This is further exacerbated when the talk is about contending teams — for young players in big squads, getting time on ice is a challenge. Some of them are loaned out to other teams, like it was for Matvei Michkov, Nikita Grebyonkin and several other talents, but not all of them get this opportunity. One of them is Yegor Surin. The 18-years-old forward enjoyed limited time on ice with Lokomotiv, but he’s making good use of it. Last week, with Lokomotiv up by three goals over Amur, the Railwaymen had a quick counterattack that sent Surin forward on the right flank. The young player controlled the puck in the neutral zone, beat out veteran defenseman Ivan Mishchenko with a swift move and didn’t fail as he was in front of Igor Bobkov to net his second goal of the season. Two days later, on Sunday, against Dinamo Minsk, Surin broke in from the middle after a pass by Artur Kayumov and fired a shot from the left circle past the goalie that caught everyone off-guard — the refs actually had to rewatch the play to confirm Lokomotiv’s goal. It was Surin’s third goal and fourth point of the season.
Early years
Yegor Surin was born on Aug. 1, 2006, in Voronezh, a city in Southwestern Russia home to other KHL players like Vladislav Provolnev and Dmitry Zlodeyev. He started playing in the local Buran team, but then switched to Yaroslavl.
“When I was ten, I was invited to CSKA along with Ivan Okunev, who now still plays for CSKA in the JHL. I refused to move then because I was still young. But a couple of years later, I realized I needed a stronger team as Buran was facing some hard times. When I was 12, my father called Yaroslavl. Lokomotiv said they had wanted to invite me themselves. They invited me to a trial camp, liked me, and took me into their school. It was a tough move. It was hard to leave the team, my parents, and also my first coaches. When I settled in Yaroslavl, it became easier. I lived at the base for a year, then my grandmother came. My parents still live in Voronezh.”
Yegor Surin
In Yaroslavl, Surin quickly climbed up the ranks until his debut in the JHL. He had a successful rookie season with Loko, with 22 (8+14) points in the regular season. He also gained a call to the Russian national team in the 2022-2023 season. The next year, Surin was one of the top scorers in the junior league, and finally had his debut in the KHL. There, he met his current coach, Igor Nikitin. He was very impressed with the coach.
“He is the best. I’m still impressed by interacting with him and how the team respects him as a coach. I was shocked by this person. In a good way, of course. For example, when he enters the locker room, he stands in a pose that exudes confidence. And it doesn’t matter how the game is going – he remains confident in the guys. As for me, any of his comments greatly influence my game and career. Even when he talks about some small detail, correcting or improving it gives a strong boost to the game. Psychologically, he also has a great impact on the players.
Every coach has different demands. A hockey player is like a soldier. What you’re told to do, you do. There’s no such thing as discussing the coach’s assignments. Nikitin’s demands are reasonable. You must work hard on defense – any player is obliged to do that. If you only run in offense, you are unlikely to be considered a high-level hockey player.”
Yegor Surin
Climbing up in the KHL
In his first season, Surin only played three games for Lokomotiv, taking some shifts to get used to the more demanding pro game. In the Jan. 3 game against Barys, however, Surin was caught with a couple of mistakes as his time on ice increased to more than twelve minutes for the first time, and he had a very good chance to score that he failed to bury.
“I heard the press conference. The coach said that I played well, but that I had some childish mistakes. Yes, I had a bad turnover, and he pointed it out during the game. I think the mistake was due to the difference between the KHL and JHL levels. In the juniors, that move would have worked. Even our coach Anton But said that my thinking was correct, but in execution, it’s still at the JHL level. Nikitin also noted that I just needed to score. I had two good chances. In the KHL, everything needs to be done quickly, but you need to be calm and composed to finish. The second point is that I thought the goalie would act like in the JHL. Eddie Pasquale probably read my shot.”
Yegor Surin
New season and new hopes
In the 2024-2025 preseason, things changed for Surin. He had good performances with the team, and was rewarded with constantly being in the lineup for the main team. Then, he netted his first KHL goal on Oct. 19 when Lokomotiv defeated Barys at home (3:1). And last week, he posted another two goals. His talent didn’t go unnoticed overseas, as he was drafted 22nd overall in 2024 by the Nashville Predators. Surin’s contract runs through the 2025-2026 season, and by then, he’ll have a good chance to become a key player for the Railwaymen, who are primed to another deep playoff run after reaching the Gagarin Cup finals last year.
