THN's Archive: Russian Roulette

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Russian Roulette – May 6, 2016 - Ken Campbell

YOU WATCH THE puck come off Vladimir Tarasenko’s stick – that is, if you can even see it – and you wonder how he could have possibly fallen to 16th overall in the 2010 draft. You watch Evgeny Kuznetsov weave his magic in the offensive zone and wonder how he dropped 10 spots later in the same draft. You watch Artemi Panarin and how dangerous he is with Patrick Kane, and you scratch your head. How is it 421 players could be drafted – 210 in 2010 and 211 in 2011 – without a single team calling Panarin’s name?

It’s easy to play armchair amateur scout six years later and question how NHL teams could have blundered so badly. It’s also pretty easy to forget that six years ago, there was a cold war going on between the NHL and Russia that had many on this side of the ocean very nervous about taking players from that country. It was known as ‘The Russian Factor’ and, even though it still exists today, it was at its height in 2010.

You see, the Nashville Predators had been burned two years earlier by Alexander Radulov, who skipped out on the final year of his entry-level deal with the Nashville Predators to go back home. A few months later, Alexei Cherepanov, a first-rounder to the New York Rangers in 2007, died on the bench in a KHL game of a heart condition that should have been detected by team doctors, amid reports the defibrillator at the rink wasn’t working and that the ambulance staff had left early. The KHL was rattling the NHL’s cage and making a lot of noise about being a viable alternative for Russia’s best young players. Emboldened by the fact that it dropped out of the agreement between the NHL and International Ice Hockey Federation, the KHL was flexing its muscles. Tired of seeing its best players leave for the NHL, some of whom were still under contract, the KHL was drawing a line in the sand.

Did it have an effect on Russian players? You bet it did. In that draft, there were just four players taken from Russia. “There’s no question it affected all of us to a degree,” said Predators assistant GM Paul Fenton, whose team selected Austin Watson 18th overall, eight picks before Kuznetsov. “You knew you were taking a risk with those guys, and you weren’t sure if the climate was going to change over there. It’s a credit to the teams that stepped up and took those guys.”

YOU WEREN'T SURE IF THE CLIMATE WAS GOING TO CHANGE. IT'S A CREDIT TO THE TEAMS WHO STEPPED UP AND TOOK THOSE GUYS – PAUL FENTON, PREDATORS ASSISTANT GM

One executive whose team had a pick in the first half of the first round said that in no uncertain terms was his team taking a Russian player where it was picking. “We had Tarasenko rated high, but we were not taking a Russian player, period,” he said. “There was no way we could afford to take a guy if we didn’t know whether or not he was going to be around three years from then.”

Right before the draft, TSN did a feature that it aptly titled Flight Risk. Alexander Burmistrov was the centerpiece, but the story dealt with The Russian Factor. Consider what former Coyotes GM Don Maloney had to say about Burmistrov, a player who had already come to North America and was playing for the Barrie Colts: “What we’re looking for in a player, he has all the ingredients we like – the compete, the skill, the will, the drive. It’s the passport we’re wondering about.” Later in the piece, Maloney said, “In our mind, there’s only one rule, and that is that there are no rules in Russia.”

The alliance between the NHL and KHL, though still uneasy, is a lot better now. At least the two leagues have struck a deal to respect each other’s contracts. When the St. Louis Blues were picking 16th, Tarasenko dropped into their laps and they took him. But they had to wait four years before he came to the NHL. The Washington Capitals, with a Russian superstar already in their lineup, got Kuznetsov 10 picks later and waited three years for him. One scout says he’s gone back into his staff’s reports about Panarin at the time and the consensus was that he was a very talented player but often looked uninterested in competing. “Not all 30 teams were stupid,” he said.

No, but they probably were a little impatient, which is exactly what a team can’t afford to be at the draft. Teams picking at the top of the draft are now looking for a player who can step in and make an impact right away, and young players, who are more NHLready than ever before, have been rewarding their faith for the most part. Russia has fallen upon hard times and, all of a sudden, the ever-expanding KHL doesn’t look like such a great option anymore. Radulov, the prodigal son who left the NHL twice, is now looking to come back again.

It goes to show that a little patience, and a willingness to swallow hard and take a risk, can often be rewarded at the draft table. To be sure, the Blues and Capitals are reaping the rewards of doing just that six years ago.