Those who have followed my time as a HockeyBuzz writer know that I am linked at the hip with Russian hockey. Lame or great, layers come from this region and dazzle or disappoint the world and I try my best to tell you which will do what. Oddly enough since I went public with my opinions I have rarely been wrong...on Russian draft picks, everything else, well...I plead the fifth. "Breaking" things like Slepyshev warning he would stay until he was 20, Kuznetsov will never come until after the Olympic break if ever (did that in 2009 btw) and a few other little nothings are honestly my claim to non-fame, but this year more than any is a time where I need your support because to be extremely honest...Russia is producing nothing domestically until 2015...and they might be in Canada by then.
I truly love to talk about Russian prospects because I love the mindset of both cultures, being a connoisseur of both in some respects. Russians disdain the North American game almost as much as we of North America abhor the Russian game...and yet neither are "real" in the sense that no one culture owns a game style and we see many examples of both going beyond the mould or changing it. So without further belabouring...
Coming From Abroad :
QMJHL
Ivan Barbashev : Centre/Left Wing, 6'1 (More like 5'11), 183lbs, 18 Years old, Moncton Wildcats, 48-25G-43A-68P
The top Russian born player in the draft, the "6'1" newly made centre is a North American born in the wrong place as it were. He left Russia with scathing remarks on its development system and yearning to play in the more physical and high octane CHL rinks...also to get drafted...never forget that minor detail. Barbashev began as a winger, a skilled winger with a determined game that focused primarily on puck retrieval and puck possession. A hounding forecheck mixed with his natural skill is a solid mix. The thing that excites me is that he has shown he can play both a skilled game, and a hard working game. A move to centre sounds like an easy thing to us laymen, yet it is one of the hardest shifts from a full blown winger to make. Barbashev struggled to begin in the middle and an injury that he fought through helped exacerbate the issue. Injured and again at wing he played well for Russia in the U20's, playing on the fourth line in a defensive role. To end his season, as he is too old for the U18's, Barbashev meshed with another player on this list to form a dynamic duo that couldn't push Moncton to the next round with its crap defense and goaltending. All in all, Barbashev represents a North American player born in the wrong place, but mastering his craft where he belongs. The move to centre has allowed his playmaking and vision to shine as well as his opportunistic style of scoring whilst allowing him to develop further his defensive game and abilities to control the play. Can't win a face-off to save his life though...
Draft Projiction (Projection+Prediction) : 10-15
Vladimir Tkachyov : Right Wing, 5'8, 165lbs, 18 Years old, Moncton Wildcats, 20-10G-20A-30P
Tkachyov was one of the most interesting players this year as he began with the full intention of leaving to the Q to play with Moncton who had drafted him...then he got stuck in the politics of it all basically scaring all suitors away. He played amazingly in the MHL and was easily the best player in that league before finally being given the ok to leave and join the QMJHL. Upon arriving he was a mixed bag, showing potential yet not having the success one would hope for given his pedigree. Like many European or American players entering the CHL for the first time, he struggled with the new format for awhile...yet now he has "it." In the playoffs he was dominant, a dominant so hard that if Moncton had managed to win he and Barbashev would get statues of themselves out there. He managed 7 goals in 6 games and if this is any indication of his future, a longer sojourn in the Q would have awarded him massive hype just as expected after demolishing the U18 tournament last year when he scored 5 goals and added 11 points in 7 games. Could be a late round steal due to size and ethnicity.
Projiction : 65-105
Nikita Lyamkin : Defenseman, 6'3, 170lbs, 18 Years old, Chicoutimi Saguenéens, 65-3G-9A-12P
Not much to say about Lyamkin other than he is a nothing compared to Tryamkin. The Lanky defender had a "meh" to "bleh" first year in Canada and really hasn't done much to help his draft stock hovering between 5th round and not even. He will play in the U18 tournament and has a chance to cement his place as either a riser or an ultimate faller depending on his performance. He has a few useful tools, but in the end is definitely more of a longshot than anything.
Draft Projiction : 5th Round-Never
OHL
Nikolai Goldobin : Winger, 5'11, 185lbs, 18 Years old, Sarnia Sting, 67-38G-56A-94P
Easily the most interesting Russian born player, he followed Yakupov and Galchenyuk in the new Russian province of Sarnia furthering their Russian attraction skills (Korostelev expected to go first round in 2015 too and Kodola in the third). He started the year slumping...why? Because Sarnia is and has been a garbage team all year. Goldobin and his draft eligible teammate De Angelo had to practically play by themselves most of the year. Goldobin is a typical snipers build, he is smallish (5'11), fast as all hell, has hands of gold and a snap shot that scares the pants off goalies to go with the rest of his burgeoning offensive repertoire. Yet he is still suspect defensively and in his efforts, basically meaning, he isn't great defensively on the worst team in the OHL and he doesn't score 7 goals a game despite being able to...allegedly. His faults are more than made up for by his strengths and he alone of the big "2" OHL stars Bennett and Dal Colle has done it "himself." Now that doesn't mean he is better, nor should be selected higher, it is merely a statement about our view on when a player does it by himself and is scorned as Goldobin is and how a player does it by himself and is awarded the prize of "Heart" like say...Bennett? Regardless Goldobin is one of the most intriguing players in the draft and a guy I think is poised to make everybody regret letting him drop to where most think he will go.
Draft Projiction : 12-24
Nikita Serebryakov : Goaltender, "6'1," 166lbs, 18 Years old, Saginaw Spirit, 28-3.53GAA-.897SV%
Coined as the third best goalie in the draft Serebryakov is nothing of the sort. He is living off of myths and fairy tale projections that aren't real. Sorry to sound so blunt but his being such a "high-end" prospect is not only a joke...but well, a big joke. Darn I'm lame. He has been overrated at every turn including his one good performance which seems to have blinded the majority of scouts at the Ivan Hlinka Tournament, a tourney in which the Russians held 3 men deep to save their arses and led to a disappointing non-medal. He's 5'10 on a good day and not even close to 6'1, he's so overrated his presence cloys the air about me like a miasma when I read about him. I'm not great at goalie predictions, NOBODY IS, but I can't stand to see him in the same sentence as Thatcher Demko in terms of draft eligible goalies.
Draft Projiction : 35-Never (Projecting here sorry)
WHL
Nikita Scherbak : Right Wing, 6'1, 184lbs, 18 Years old, Saskatoon Blades, 65-28G-50A-78P
For awhile there Scherbak was holding steady with the two powerhouses of the 2014 draft out on the West Coast in Reinhart and Draisaitl, however the rookie began to slow down nearing the end of the year as the Blades continued to show what a dismal squad they truly were. Scherbak is my vote for the CHL Rookie of the Year and will almost certainly get the WHL title of the same name (Finalist atm). He's another guy who disparages the mould of Russian hockey and has found his niche as a scorer with grit in the WHL. He's a player with a strong shot and a guy that will make defences cringe when he is given space and time, or if he forces himself upon them. He still has room to grow his game (DEFENCE) and his position in this draft is an interesting one, my Zykov bonaire is quite legendary, yet the CHL/QMJHL Rookie of the Year fell to the second round so I wonder if comfortably projecting him early in the draft is a smart decision.
Draft Projiction : 25-40
At Home?
There is only one Russian of note this year coming out of the KHL/MHL and even he isn't such a big deal that one should be furiously googling highlight packages of him. Unlike 2013 which was another weak year for Russia internally, there is no Nichushkin, a player that intrigues teams so much that they will gamble their first on him. This year the highest rated guy is somebody who at best will go in the second round...sorry to bum you out, but there is no "Hidden Star" this time around. 2015 has more interesting guys like Svechnikov, Pilipenko etc.
Vladislav Kamenev : Right Wing, 6'2, 207lbs, 17 Years old, Stalnye Lisy Magnitogorsk, MHL, 15-4G-6A-10P
The big young "European Style" power forward is a guy that might garner interest in the 2nd or 3rd round of this draft. Three days away from the 2015 draft, the young man has already played 16 games in the KHL and a few in the VHL (The KHL's "AHL"). A puck protection specialist, you notice Kamenev primarily on special teams where he has a knack for controlling the game both on the PP and PK. He is solid like a rock when on the puck and it is slightly hard to describe, but then again the MHL is primarily filled with 5'9 speedster 20 year olds trying to carve out a career in the European Leagues. He can play physical, but it is that unnoticed kind, the regular finishing his checks normally and not really "laying people out" kind of physical player. However we've seen him have a temper and a dumbass streak. He's known for the two-hand slash and the knee on knee when things get desperate and that kind of idiocy is the big red flag with him. He's managed to hide it on the PIM sheet, but he has in my viewings (Magnitogorsk is the closest KHL/MHL city for me) at least 8 knee on knees in 22 games viewed. He's very good at the timing and faking injury to himself after then coming back. All in all he is worth that late round pick, but I have serious worries about him and wonder if without that size he gets any notice at all.
Draft Projiction : 65-105
Andrei Kuzmenko : 5'11, 165lbs, 18 Years old, Krasnaya Armiya Moskva, MHL, 36-13G-18A-31P
The only other guy worth mentioning that didn't go undrafted last year and requires a pick in their own right...Kuzmenko is a stereotype of the Russian brand scorer. Smallish and afraid to get his hands dirty, Kuzmenko is ridiculously skilled on the PP and can dazzle when needed. His efforts are inconsistent and for those who know the MHL he disappears when the big teams from the Urals come to play and start to threaten him. I'm not sure he has much of an NHL future at this point, but he may be worth a 7th round pick just for the skill alone. I'm not really enamoured with him like I have gotten with a few other unknown Russian players (Slepyshev and Arzamastsev etc.).
Draft Projiction : Probably Not
Thanks for reading. As always I will continue to provide Draft stuff for all my fellow Canadians who are depressed...or for anybody really. I have a series of blogs in the making about why teams won't win the Cup which I hope will piss everybody off quite sufficiently.