Quote:
Originally Posted by CliffFletcher
Why?
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Why? Because this team needs to start creating an identity. Right now, it doesn't have one. There's only Baerschi to be excited for next season.
Nichushkin, a Russian, is not a face you can sell as well as MacKinnon, Jones, Drouin, or Barkov. Additionally, despite many scouts ranking Nichushkin 2nd overall, I've seen many more with these 4 locked in the top 4 in some way or another.
Why risk it? You can either take MacKinnon, who is constantly ranked top 3 (many first overall), who is Canadian, captain material, and will no question play in the NHL next season...
...or you can take Nichushkin, who will most likely wait until the 2015-2016 season to make his debut, is less marketable, and really, doesn't have good numbers in the KHL. And that's without mentioning that he's a winger.
I'm not going to act like I've seen Nichushkin play, but there are way too many red flags for a team in our position.