Quote:
Originally Posted by Sandman
IMO, while Zary, Francis, and Kerins were drafted as quality 200-ft players, and Ciona seems to have some defensive IQ, I would easily give it to Nikolaev. He reminds me a bit of Backlund-same size, good skater, and known for his defensive game. Both play with a chip on their shoulder, both play C, and both sacrifice some of their offence to be sound defensively. Nik was 10th in USHL scoring, but 4th in plus/minus, and was 1st in plus/minus in the playoffs (+6 in 5 games) before his team was eliminated. Last year, he was an impressive plus 16 in 21 MHL games back in Russia.
What are your thoughts?
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I had forgotten about Nikolaev's defensive prowess. Perhaps he's a little closer than many think.
It does seem like many of the forward prospects throughout the organization are at least responsible defensively. Even guys like Coronato and Pelletier put forth strong efforts with forechecking and backchecking.