Thread: 2015 NHL Draft
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Old 06-12-2015, 04:07 AM   #1711
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Originally Posted by The Original FFIV View Post
Just curious, is there any information that would make you think that? Treliving drafted Tikinov when he was with Phoenix so he's not Russian adverse. Hope that we don't draft based on passport as I would hate to see us pass on someone that could have Tarasenko type upside.
And where did Tikhonov play last year?

Tarasenko is an exception. For every Tarasenko there is several guys like Svitov, Chistov, Zherdev, Radulov. Russians have been historically much riskier. why?
1) They have a league back home that is/was paying quite well. this meant that if they had any problems with 2) or 3) they could simply return home
2) language and culture issues. homesickness. wantin to raise kids in motherland.
3) style of play. how will they adapt? how will they react to a coach demanding physicality or hard defense? can they take a skilled perimeter game and make it work on North American rinks?

several of these can be mitigated if the kid comes over early ala provorov. they adapt earlier to the culture and language and style of play. Russians drafted out of the CHL are less risky. Russian players who already play the NHL style are less risky (powerforwards, physical defensemen). Russian players who only want to play in the NHL are less risky. but that could be hard to tell and could change.
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