He is a 5-10 range guy, purely because the other high end talents don't have the russian factor. If a team really doesn't like one of the big 4 (Drouin, Jones, MacKinnon, Barkov) he could go in the 4 spot at the highest.
He is a guy where pre-draft interviews will be key to establishing his intent to play in the NHL versus the KHL (quality of competition versus immediate earning potential).
I would prefer to see the Flames take Monahan or Lindholm before him, but I would place him before Nurse, Shinkaruk, etc. as the prospect pool needs a high end talent, and we cannot afford a gamble as much as a team like Tampa, for example
|