The Toronto Maple Leafs have dipped into the Russian talent pool during the Brendan Shanahan era, selecting defenseman Rinat Valiev in the third round of the 2014 NHL Draft, adding 21-year-old winger Nikita Soshnikov last summer and signing KHL defenseman Nikita Zaitsev to a one-year deal last month.
The Leafs may be interested in another Russian in 21-year-old winger Anatoly Golyshev, but if that is the case they will have to use one of their 12 draft picks in the upcoming NHL Draft in Buffalo to do so.
Golyshev was a teammate of Valiev on Russia’s 2015 WJC squad and led the KHL’s Ykaterinberg Automobilist with a career-high 44 points (25 goals, 19 assists) this season, but until recently it was thought that the 5’8…, 180 lb winger was available as an unrestricted free agent.
According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in his “30 Thoughts… column, Golyshev would have been a free agent if he was 22 or had spent a season in North America, but the winger does not turn 22 until February 2017.
The situation is comparable to Soshnikov, who was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Leafs in March, 2015 at 21 years old, but he turned 22 prior to the start of the 2015-16 season. Friedman indications that there is some buzz about Golyshev with the NHL more open to smaller players with speed and skill. It is not expected that he will be selected with a first rounder, but possibly early on Saturday of Draft weekend.
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The Anaheim Ducks have yet to pull the trigger on hiring a head coach, but former Leafs bench boss Randy Carlyle is reportedly in the mix to replace Bruce Boudreau, the man who replaced him in November, 2011.
Ducks assistant Trent Yawney, former Ottawa head coach Paul Maclean, Utica Comets coach Travis Green and former Minnesota head coach Mike Yeo are reportedly in the mix, as is Lightning assistant Rick Bowness, but Carlyle won a Stanley Cup with the Ducks in 2007 and the veteran group may need a more stern taskmaster after the last four seasons with Boudreau.
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