{"id":210281,"date":"2025-09-08T13:23:18","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T13:23:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/210281\/"},"modified":"2025-09-08T13:23:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T13:23:18","slug":"danila-yurovs-moment-has-finally-come-how-the-wilds-top-prospect-prepared-for-his-nhl-arrival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/210281\/","title":{"rendered":"Danila Yurov\u2019s moment has finally come: How the Wild\u2019s top prospect prepared for his NHL arrival"},"content":{"rendered":"

STAMFORD, Conn. \u2014 \u201cPR! PR! PR! Great work, Danila!\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s bright and early on a day in mid-August, and wearing a black long-sleeve Dri-Fit Minnesota Wild shirt and Wild-logoed shorts, prized prospect Danila Yurov has just set a personal record in the \u201ccountermovement jump,\u201d cheered on by renowned trainer Ben Prentiss.<\/p>\n

Yurov drove 70 miles to the Stamford Twin Rinks on this morning to work with Prentiss and skate with pros, including Chris Kreider, Adam Fox, Brett Pesce, Trevor Zegras, Pavel Dorofeyev and Jonathan Quick. The baby-faced Russian has been living in upstate New York with one of his agents and has made the long\u00a0commute five days a week since arriving in North America on July 13.<\/p>\n

Prentiss, who has trained hundreds of NHL stars over his 30 years in the business and 25 years owning his own gym, says the jump Yurov just completed gives him 72 different metrics to measure lower-body power.<\/p>\n

He walks to a whiteboard and writes the \u201cPR\u201d next to Yurov\u2019s name \u2014 one of four names on the board under a word written in Russian, \u201c\u0441\u0438\u043b\u044c\u043d\u044b\u0435 \u043c\u0443\u0436\u0447\u0438\u043d\u044b\u201d: Kirill, Dan, Suniev, Pavel, signifying Los Angeles Kings prospect Kirill Kirsanov, Yurov, Calgary Flames prospect Aydar Suniev and Pavel Dorofeyev, the Vegas Golden Knights budding star who scored 35 goals in 2024-25, his first full NHL season.<\/p>\n

A quick Google translation indicates the word above the players\u2019 names means \u201cStrong Men.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, it doesn\u2019t,\u201d Prentiss says when asked to confirm. \u201cIt means \u2018Dorks.\u2019 Seriously. Kreids knows a little Russian and wrote in Russian, \u2018Dorks.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Without anybody knowing, though, one of the Russian players changed \u201c\u043f\u0440\u0438\u0434\u0443\u0440\u043a\u0438\u201d to \u201c\u0441\u0438\u043b\u044c\u043d\u044b\u0435 \u043c\u0443\u0436\u0447\u0438\u043d\u044b\u201d days earlier.<\/p>\n

After a long, grueling workout, Yurov sits down on a couch next to Kreider, and the 34-year-old veteran begins talking to the 21-year-old prospect in Russian \u2014 a language Kreider picked up after years of playing with Russians such as Artemi Panarin and Igor Shesterkin on the New York Rangers before his trade to the Anaheim Ducks in June.<\/p>\n

Yurov laughs hysterically and chirps back at Kreider.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe says I speak Russian like a 2-year-old,\u201d Kreider says, laughing. \u201cThat\u2019s good enough. I\u2019ll take that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Every time Kreider cracks a joke, Yurov laughs hard. Asked if he understands them all, Yurov says, \u201cNot all, but (Suniev) speaks perfect English, and he translates everything if I don\u2019t understand. Kreider is fun. He is so strong in the gym.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Chris Kreider and Danila Yurov became fast training friends. (Michael Russo \/ For The Athletic)<\/p>\n

Earlier that day, Kreider \u2014 famously a king of the gym \u2014 had led the prospects in a stretching routine. Later, on the ice in a practice session run by Montreal Canadians coach and Hall of Fame player Martin St. Louis, Yurov plays on a line with Kreider and is pulled aside often for tips and tutorials from the player who ranks third in Rangers history in goals. Kreider is doing it out of the goodness of his heart. They don\u2019t share an agent or anything. Sure, Kreider hopes to make the U.S. Olympic team after playing in the 4 Nations Face-Off, but it\u2019s not like Wild and U.S. general manager Bill Guerin put him up to this.<\/p>\n

Kreider didn\u2019t know Yurov before he arrived, but he recognizes talent and wants to lend a helping hand to the young new arrival.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know why he wants to hear from me. All I have is perimeter skill,\u201d Kreider says, self-deprecatingly, which of course isn\u2019t true of the two-time All-Star. \u201cIt\u2019s impossible to tell in summer hockey how good somebody\u2019s going to be, but if you\u2019re asking me if I think he\u2019s going to someday be a great NHL player \u2026 yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kreider laughs at his own deadpan.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can see the way someone processes out there and how they think the game,\u201d Kreider continues. \u201cI think it comes down to the work you put in, but he\u2019s got an NHL-caliber skill set and frame. I think it\u2019s not too dissimilar to the first time we skated with Dorofeyev. You see the ability, and he worked and worked and kept coming back, and look at him now. He\u2019s a 30-goal scorer. But it\u2019s up to Danila to put it together and take advantage of his opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yurov\u2019s already looking forward to hopefully sharing the ice with Kreider again on Nov. 15, when the Ducks come to Minnesota.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to talk to him in Russian,\u201d Yurov says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just hope I can keep up,\u201d Kreider says, again, self-deprecatingly.<\/p>\n

As Wild fans will soon discover, Yurov actually exists.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s no longer a rumor. He\u2019s no longer just hype.<\/p>\n

He exists, and he officially arrived in Minnesota over the weekend to begin the next chapter of his promising hockey career.<\/p>\n

In the three years since the Wild selected him at No. 24 in 2022, the only way the team\u2019s fans have been able to watch him is in highlights on social media, plus one summer development camp two years ago. That\u2019s been enough to see the slick passes, bursts of speed, awareness on the ice and elite shot.<\/p>\n

But after agents Rick Komarow and Max Moliver negotiated the fifth-most-lucrative package for a 2022 draft pick ($2.95 million average annual value, including $2 million in performance bonuses per season), Yurov committed to spending the majority of the summer in the United States. He spent last Wednesday through Friday at rookie orientation in Arlington, Virginia, arrived in Minnesota on Sunday and is expected to take part in his first captain\u2019s practice Monday.<\/p>\n

He and Zeev Buium highlight the list of Wild youngsters scheduled to take part in the Tom Kurvers Prospect Showcase at TRIA Rink against the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks this coming Friday through Sunday.<\/p>\n

In August, Yurov pretty much had Moliver\u2019s house to himself. His only duty? To keep Moliver\u2019s giant Sheepadoodle, Cody, well-fed, walked and \u2026 alive.<\/p>\n

Asked what he did other than taking care of the dog, Yurov says, \u201cI\u2019m cooking every day and washing my clothes and just \u2026 chill. Maybe read some books and little bit of PlayStation, like EFC, NHL, Call of Duty, Need for Speed.\u201d He also listens to Russian and American rap.<\/p>\n

Prentiss records Yurov\u2019s weight daily and body fat monthly, so he\u2019s been on a diet of meat, greens, fruit and potatoes, and he tries to eat gluten-free. He\u2019ll get recipes off the Internet and try to replicate them.<\/p>\n

The focus is on doing whatever he can to help his transition<\/p>\n

Expectations are lofty for Yurov, partly because we all saw Kirill Kaprizov become an instant star for the Wild after arriving. But Kaprizov was significantly older and an established KHL star at that point.<\/p>\n

Yes, Yurov won a KHL championship in 2024 and led Metallurg Magnitogorsk with 21 goals and 49 points in 62 games that season \u2014 a point total that broke now-Wild teammate Vladimir Tarasenko\u2019s KHL under-21 scoring record. But nobody really knows what he will turn into \u2014 No. 1 center? Top-six center? Middle-six forward? \u2014 or how long it\u2019ll take him to work his way up the Wild lineup.<\/p>\n

He also came to the U.S. a little behind after not being able to train fully in the summer of 2024 because of shoulder surgery and then a late-season injury in 2024-25 that caused a slip in production (13 goals and 25 points in 46 games).<\/p>\n

The Wild enter training camp with Joel Eriksson Ek, Marco Rossi, Ryan Hartman and Nico Sturm penciled in as their top-four centers, so Yurov could start as a wing. Or he could prove he\u2019s so ready in the exhibition games that Hartman slides to the wing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a two-way forward, but I will do what the coach says me to do and I will do it,\u201d Yurov says.<\/p>\n

Yurov says the lead-up to coming to the NHL has been long. He was anxious to get his contract signed after his KHL season ended.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to go to Minnesota because I want to play in season so bad,\u201d he says. \u201cI can\u2019t wait to meet Kirill and my new teammates. Camp should be fun, but practice is hard thing for a hockey player. We love to play.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not only the Wild and their fans curious about how good he can become.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Yurov, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cNHL is a whole other league and other hockey than KHL,\u201d Yurov says. \u201cBut I think I\u2019m preparing for this step. I hope that my acclimation will be not long.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Danila Yurov believes he has done what he can to prepare for the NHL. (Michael Russo \/ For The Athletic)<\/p>\n

Yurov grew up in Chelyabinsk, Russia \u2014 also Wild teammate Yakov Trenin\u2019s hometown \u2014 a large industrial city 1,000 miles east of Moscow. It\u2019s the gateway between the European part of Russia and Siberia. Winters are long and cold, \u201clike Minneapolis,\u201d Yurov says.<\/p>\n

\u201cSame weather. Same forests. Lakes,\u201d Yurov says. \u201cI feel like winter in Chelyabinsk is the same weather in Minneapolis. Similar number of people, too. New York is beautiful, but so many people. Minnesota is quiet.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says he\u2019ll miss the Russian soups, meats and (with a laugh) borscht but can\u2019t wait to try new things here and dive into his new community. In August, the Wild even brought him to Yankee Stadium to meet some of the Twins, including legend Paul Molitor, although he didn\u2019t stay for the game because of a long rain delay.<\/p>\n

\n

\ud83c\udf4e Becoming Wild takes a detour to the Bronx#mnwild<\/a> | @Twins<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/fKcwJs77QB<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) August 15, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

When he was 4, Yurov was asked by his dad, Lurii, if he wanted to play hockey. A couple of days later, the two went to a hockey game in Chelyabinsk. They met a director of a hockey school there, and he asked Yurov if he wanted to play. A week later, he was on the ice.<\/p>\n

Yurov\u2019s dad is an electrician in the arena in Magnitogorsk, where Yurov played his KHL hockey. He works Monday through Friday, then travels nearly 200 miles home to Chelyabinsk on the weekends to be with Yurov\u2019s mom, Irina, who is an economist for Russian Railways, and his 14-year-old sister, Marina, who is a gymnast.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy family watched any sport \u2014 hockey, football, basketball \u2014 but I understood I loved hockey from very young,\u201d Yurov says. \u201cI was 2 \u00bd years old when my father started taking me to the hockey stadium. I just loved it and knew right away I want to do rest of my life. I played football in my street and basketball, but hockey is my life and all my business in my life.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why the last month in Russia, I wanted to come to the U.S. so soon. I was very excited. I wanted the new workouts and meet the new people and begin this new step.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Wild\u2019s amateur scouts have been impressed with what they\u2019ve seen, not only in Russia but also when he came to North America as a teenager for tournaments in Dallas and Swift Current. The Wild liked him so much, they requested a second interview with him in Montreal before the 2022 draft. In fact, Judd Brackett considered taking him at No. 19 but instead made a calculated risk, taking Liam Ohgren at 19 and hoping Yurov would still be there at 24.<\/p>\n

In 2023-24, Yurov really made his mark, passing Tarasenko\u2019s under-21 record of 47 points, set in 2011-12.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I got 47 points, I think that my record will be the next game,\u201d Yurov recalls. \u201cBut in the next game, I not score in an empty net. I started to get worried. One game, two games, three games, I was without points. I think, \u2018I can\u2019t take this record all because I missed empty net.\u2019 But when we came back home, I got an assist and I feel relieved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, Yurov hopes to learn from Tarasenko, 33, the way he\u2019s learned from Kreider in Stamford.<\/p>\n

Yurov and Komarow say Wild senior director of player development Brad Bombardir has already helped make the organization feel like home.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe talk in three seasons every week,\u201d Yurov says. \u201cHe asked me about my health and my body. He sent me drills on my ice for my skating and my shooting. What I want to get from him, he did it all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Judging by Yurov\u2019s interactions with the team on Instagram, it\u2019s clear he has also been following the team from afar. He began to learn English in school when he was 8 but has increased his studies over the past 2 \u00bd years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the playoffs, our arena was full around 7,500 people,\u201d Yurov says. \u201cThe biggest arena in the KHL is (Avangard) Omsk. We played them in the playoffs, and they have 12,000. I can\u2019t wait to play in front of 18,000 Wild fans the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Danila Yurov says he\u2019s ready to show Wild fans what he can do. (Michael Russo \/ For The Athletic)<\/p>\n

As Kreider alluded to, Dorofeyev \u2014 another of Komarow and Moliver\u2019s clients \u2014 was raw when he first came to the Prentiss Hockey Performance Center. But he committed to returning year after year. Now he\u2019s perhaps on the verge of a big payday with Vegas.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s Prentiss\u2019 hope with Yurov: that he gets exposed to a new type of training, sees the benefits with his play and gravitates back summer after summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cPavel\u2019s gotten better and better in the gym, but that doesn\u2019t mean everything,\u201d Prentiss says. \u201cWhat means everything is on the ice, and in my first conversations with (Komarow) about Pavel three years ago, I was explaining to him that weight room numbers are important, but the on-ice numbers are the most important thing. If I can make him faster, help him gain a step, that would lead to appreciable gains on the ice.<\/p>\n

\u201cPavel\u2019s gotten faster and faster. He got even faster this summer, and we can\u2019t wait to see if he can grow even further this season for Vegas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, every player is different.<\/p>\n

Fox is not at Prentiss Hockey Performance to become Matt Rempe. Kreider isn\u2019t here to be Trevor Zegras.<\/p>\n

Every player is unique, so just because Dorofeyev has soared, it doesn\u2019t necessarily mean Yurov will unless he sees the dividends and keeps coming back.<\/p>\n

After his first summer skating session with St. Louis, Yurov admits, he \u201cwas sitting in the locker room 10 or 15 minutes in full gear just sitting because (he) was so tired.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYurov is still raw,\u201d Prentiss says. \u201cThe language barrier is not impossible, but it\u2019s challenging. There was a period of getting adjusted and making his progress and getting him on the ice, and now he\u2019s starting to really get more comfortable in what he\u2019s doing.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s come a far way, and he\u2019s made sacrifice. I mean, it took him 18 hours to get here, and the day he got here, he was skating. So he certainly has the dedication. We test his body fat. We test his jump. We test his sprints. We\u2019re keeping, as you can see, all sorts of numbers on everything we\u2019re doing. So we train while we test. And I can tell you Danny has gotten better and better every week since he\u2019s been here.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be an NHL player isn\u2019t just being really good at hockey. There\u2019s many different parts. There\u2019s knowing how to recover the right way. There\u2019s what we call sleep hygiene and understanding how to sleep the right way. There\u2019s training. And there\u2019s the nutrition element to it. The old adage is abs are made in the kitchen, not in the gym.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve introduced Danny to some new tools, and now it\u2019ll be up to him to utilize them once he gets to Minnesota. And hopefully we see him again next summer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yurov arrives in Minnesota confident in large part because of the training.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel better and feel I got a little bit stronger and more muscles in my body,\u201d Yurov says.<\/p>\n

And now, having survived a summer of being one of Prentiss\u2019 \u0441\u0438\u043b\u044c\u043d\u044b\u0435 \u043c\u0443\u0436\u0447\u0438\u043d\u044b, comes the fun part.<\/p>\n

There surely will be growing pains, but the Wild vow to put him in a position to succeed.<\/p>\n

Kaprizov shattered expectations. Yurov\u2019s more of a mystery. But he\u2019s about to become a reality.<\/p>\n

(Top photo: Michael Russo \/ For The Athletic)<\/p>\n