Well, well, well, look who decided to join the party. KHL reporter Igor Eronko has announced that 2008 3rd rounder Kirill Petrov has signed a 1 year Entry Level Contract with the New York Islanders. As I stated in my last article, players are fleeing the KHL with the turmoil and crumble of the Russian economy. The Isles have not made this public yet but it has been widely reported that Petrov will be an Islander this fall.
It is too early to tell if Petrov will be guaranteed a roster spot. As soon as that information is announced I will pass it along to all of you. The 6’3… Russian had an average year in the KHL scoring only 5 goals and adding 10 assists in 47 games. There is no doubt that Petrov has talent and I feel there is little risk in seeing what he brings to the NHL. If it doesn’t work out he can always return to Russia.
B.D Gallof announced today that goalie Mikko Koskinen has signed a one year deal with SKA St. Petersburg and will stay in the KHL for the 2015/2016 season. The Islanders had been in contact with Koskinen but we can put to rest any talk about him returning to the team this season. The Islanders will have to look elsewhere for a backup goalie.
Finally the Islanders will not be offering a contract to 2011 4th round pick, Robbie Russo. While Russo, did excel in his final season at Notre Dame, the Islander defensive prospect pool is very deep and there are only 50 contracts to go around. You can’t sign everyone. Hopefully he catches on with someone else but the Isles don’t need another Arron Ness/Thomas Hickey type dman in their prospect pool.
We will be hearing more about Isles prospects in the upcoming days and weeks and I’m sure there will be more blog entries like this throughout the summer. As always for more on all things hockey please follow me on twitter at @DanDanNoodles78.