Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee
Oh I agree completely. But you're going to take the risk in this political climate of drafting a Russian kid? Things can continue to spiral negatively in this fragile situation where Russians will not be allowed to play in the NHL, public pressure increases for employing Russian players etc. etc. etc. There is currently a ton of things that could go sideways drafting a Russian. Not to mention this is on top of the already known flakiness of drafting Russians without all the new political climate.
So you're going to go draft a Russian, when the next kid down the line is how much "worse" than the Russian you're targeting?
Risk not worth the potential reward. You can draft a kid that has no risk, or you can draft a kid with risk, and what upside are you getting? The difference between these kids is not that huge past the first few picks, let's be honest. A lot of success comes from development IMO.
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Last time this dynamic was in place to this extent was 2010
St. Louis got Tarasenko at #16 (traded up to get him too). The next few picks were Joey Hishon, Austin Watson, Nick Bjugstad, Beau Bennett, Riley Sheahan, and Jared Tinordi
Washington got Kuznetsov at #26. The next few picks were Mark Visentin, Charlie Coyle, Emerson Etem, Brock Nelson (good one) and Tyler Pitlick.
Both were considered top 10 picks on talent but fell due to the Russian factor.
It's a great way to get value if there is a faller this year.