Summer 2014 Prospect Ranking Poll Rd25

[gargamel]

Originally Posted by Goodlad

It's unfortunate he didn't get drafted into the CHL. It would have gone a long ways in convincing me he wants to play here.

I agree that it's unfortunate, but you can't hold that against him. Also, as noted in the last poll, he was planning to come to the Flames developmental camp this year but couldn't get a visa. I understand why he's under the radar, but I think he'd be ahead of Mattson and Hickey if he were from anywhere but Russia.

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by gargamel

I agree that it's unfortunate, but you can't hold that against him. Also, as noted in the last poll, he was planning to come to the Flames developmental camp this year but couldn't get a visa. I understand why he's under the radar, but I think he'd be ahead of Mattson and Hickey if he were from anywhere but Russia.

After getting to watch Rafikov the last two days (pleasant surprise) I cannot find a reason why he is not on Wotherspoon's level of ranking outside of the Rusky factor. Seriously. Very identical in their style of play.


Maybe the tinted glasses were on and maybe they weren't but he was Russia's best D man consistently for both games. Galiev was close but Rafikov was steadfast both games.

I'm even more intrigued how his NHL future pans out now because at this point, it looks like a massive steal in the 7th round for the Flames. For a team that's shyed away for Russians for a very long time, they may have found a good egg.

[Calgary4LIfe]

I can see the Wotherspoon resemblance, but I think they actually play a very different styled game.

- They are both very good defensively! So underrated these days.
- They are both good distributors of the puck (Wotherspoon is better, IMO there).
- There are both good at skating out with the puck (again, Wotherspoon is better).
- They both have offensive capabilities (I think Wotherspoon has the edge there, but not sure)
- One likes to play very gritty and in your face (Rafikov), and the other is more of a finesse defencemen using his active stick and IQ to break-up plays (Wotherspoon).

Rafikov sounds a lot like he has bits of Kasparitis in him - very good defensively, likes to agitate and play very physical, etc., but doesn't appear to be dirty, and is a good puck-mover. Not to say that I think Rafikov will become as good as Kasparitis was (for all the dirty plays aside, Kasparitis was a very effective D-man for a while).

If I was to compare Wotherspoon to an existing Calgary D-man, I would pick Brodie. For Rafikov, he is more along the lines of Sieloff (but seems to be a bit more offensive) - and of course, purely by play-style, not expectations or anything.

Here is a scouting report on him at the draft from the Flames' web site:

http://flames.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=676047

Scouting Report: International Scouting Services (ISS) has classified Rafikov as a talented defenceman with plenty of tools in his toolbox. He has some offensive upside, is a strong skater and good vision which allows him to create offensive opportunities. The ISS lauded the rearguard on his work ethic, calling him a fierce competitor who leaves it all on the ice. He is extremely hard to play against as he loves to get in his opponent's face and plays with an edge. He has a good frame to grow into (6-foot-2, 185 lbs) which will aid in his development as he loves to play an aggressive game.
The ISS had Rafikov ranked 88th overall in this year's draft class, NHL Central Scouting had him 21st amongst international skaters (7th amongst international defencemen) and Red Line Report had him listed at 196th amongst all draft-eligible players.

Button post draft talking about him:

http://blogs.calgaryherald.com/2013/...-flames-picks/

187. D Rushan Rafikov (six-one, 185, Yaroslavl 2, Russian junior): “All our European scouts saw him . . . and they all called him a warrior. He’s hard to play against. And making it hard on everybody, not just little guys or skilled guys. The side story to that is I asked Craig Conroy to phone Igor Kravchuk because Igor coached his team . . . just to do some background on (Valeri) Nichushkin. I didn’t tell him about any other names. I just told Connie to ask him about Nichushkin. But through the conversation, Rafikov’s name kept coming up. We already knew about him, but it was confirmation.”

[Party Elephant]

I was voting for Rafikov before it was cool.