Here’s a relatively interesting one…

I reported about a year ago that Kirill Kaprisov, a UFA one year from now, has a strong desire to play in Chicago. Looking back years before, this feels very similar to what I reported and wrote about Artemi Panarin a year before he signed with the Rangers.

It is important to note that the Wild have already come out and said no other team will offer Kaprisov more money than they will.

Culture ALWAYS a Factor with Russian Stars.

Russian players love playing for big market teams in big cities….and a major reason is their desire to be a part of the strong Russian communities which exist in bigger cities.

The New York City area has far and away the most Russian-speaking citizens in the States…Roughly 150,000…That means there are a lot of events for Russians to attend, restaurants, areas in the city where Russians can live among their countrymen…In NY, the population is mainly urban-based…

The Chicago area has around 75,000 Russian-speaking citizens, very tight, but is more commonly found in the middle-upper-class suburbs….

Minneapolis/St. Paul has around 20,000…. Largely urban.

So why am I telling you this?

Among all the nationalities that exist in the NHL, the Eastern European hockey players from Russia, Czechia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Belarus…even Germany tend to miss their cultures more than the Scandinavians or the Swiss.. i I’ve talked about this with players when discussing their summer plans and the western Europeans always talk about the big cultural differences in North America, and that’s why these players more often return to their countries in the off-season and commonly end up living back in their homeland after they’re done in the NHL….

Did Artemi and Kirill grow up close to each other?
Russia is HUGE, and these two grew up in totally different worlds… Kaprisov’s hometown, Novokuznetsk, lies deep within Siberia’s Kemerovo Oblast. Panarin’s hometown, Korkino, sits near the Urals in Chelyabinsk Oblast, roughly 40 kilometers from Chelyabinsk city.

Their hometown’s are about 1,800 miles apart…Kaprisov grew up in a village in Siberia…and had to learn hockey in outdoor ranch-type rinks… traveling many miles to play. Panarin had much more of a standard hockey kid life, living near a city with better training facilities….and more rinks.

So why would both go to Chicago?
For Kaprizov, having lived in a very cold and rugged environment in the middle of nowhere, Chicago holds a lot of intrigue, and obviously he has played there quite a few times as a member of the Wild and has fallen in love with the Windy City per my source,,,

For Panarin, who is 6 years older than Kaprizov, this move could come as a result of the Rangers retooling and not extending him….depending on how the upcoming season progresses…

My source added that the two also bonded and enjoyed playing together as teammates for Team Russia during the 2017 World Championship…along with other international friendlies or exhibition tournaments. Panarin, lead the 2017 Championship in scoring and took the young 20 year old Kaprisov, under his wing…

A lot of players from Russia really look up to Artemi Panarin.

Scenarios can change…
Many feel the Chicago Blackhawks may once again have one of the worst teams in the NHL this coming season…. Were they somehow to end up with Gavin McKenna that could change the entire structure moving forward… however short-term it might make the Hawks all the more enticing to star players… just because you’re down recently doesn’t mean Chicago isn’t still a destination city for NHLers. No matter how good or bad they are in the standings, this is a great place to play…. Tons of hockey history,and a great place to live.

What say you?