If you think teams are reluctant to draft Russians now, can you imagine if somebody like Ovechkin or Malkin were to do the same as Kovalchuk just did? Perhaps the next top rated Russian, who is easily the best talent of his draft class, drops from #1 all the way out of the top 10, maybe even into the 20-30 range. What a coupe that would be if the player was drafted at #22 and decided to give the NHL a try and turned out to be a true #1 pick for his team. Lucky team.
|