Drafting Russian

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Should we ever draft another Ruskie?

No
10
59%
Yes
7
41%
 
Total votes: 17

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trevor corey
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Drafting Russian

Post by trevor corey »

Is it a waste of a draft choice?
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Jyrki21
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Post by Jyrki21 »

"Ever"? Seems pretty harsh.
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Post by Jovorock »

No more Russians until they have a transfer agreement.
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Post by SRsez »

We should never draft any player that didn't play in the W, the best league in the world for hockey.
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Post by jchockey »

Even when the Canucks drafted Grabner last year they were contemplating skipping him and drafting a North American-born player.

Good thing Grabs plays in the Dub though.
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Post by Meerschaum »

Without a transfer agreement in place, drafting any Russian is a very unwise game.

With a transfer agreement in place, drafting any Russian will be . . . a very unwise game. That's because agreements mean nothing to Russians. All they respect is brute force. Russian teams have carte blanche to commit crimes vis a vis their players. Under the table payments (not just cash, but drugs and whores too), bribery of government and league officials, hostage taking, blackmail, assault and . . . even murder are everyday business practices in Russia. Canadian teams can't and don't engage in those sort of shenanigans - and so are at a disadvantage.

And yes, the 'nucks should have a slight bias from kids from the Dub. It is the best junior league on the planet. But we've had a lot of success with kids from US College Hockey, Sweden and Finland too.
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Post by levelheaded »

Meerschaum wrote:And yes, the 'nucks should have a slight bias from kids from the Dub. It is the best junior league on the planet. .
That is why 2 of the last 20 first overall picks have come out of the WHL. Although I agree that the WHL is fairly good at developing a wide variety of players (Not just Forwards like the OHL, or Goatlenders like the Q), it isn't the best junior league on earth. That still has to go to the OHL... It has the largest pool of players to work with, and thus the largest talent group.

The WHL is a good junior league, but certainly not the best.

EDIT: Forgot the point of the original post.

Yes I see some value in drafting Russians. Although it may be difficult to get them to come across without the transfer agreement, it can and will happen. Look at Malkin, he was without a doubt the best player outside the NHL last year, and yet he managed to make it here and the Pens didn't have to pay ANY compensation. If Cherepanov fell to 15th or so I would be completely in favour of trading Schneider to move up and grab him.
A transfer agreement will be in place eventually, it's just a matter of time. At the very least it will stop Nonis from rushing our prospects :roll:
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Post by jchockey »

Cherepanov is ranked anywhere from 4th to 50th from scouting reports I've heard. If he has that much talent to be in the top 5, I am going to bet that some team is going to take a chance on him.

I've heard Russian players are prone to defecting as well. See the whole drama with Evgeni Malkin.
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Post by SRsez »

levelheaded wrote:The WHL is a good junior league, but certainly not the best.
OK EBL. Live in your dream world.

The WHL isn't the best junior league, its the best league. Period.
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Post by Meerschaum »

levelheaded wrote:That is why 2 of the last 20 first overall picks have come out of the WHL. Although I agree that the WHL is fairly good at developing a wide variety of players (Not just Forwards like the OHL, or Goatlenders like the Q), it isn't the best junior league on earth. That still has to go to the OHL... It has the largest pool of players to work with, and thus the largest talent group.:
And the final votes are in. The Western Hockey League led all leagues in players drafted this year with 37, followed by the OHL at 35.

Congratulations WHL. You are officially the Best Junior League on the planet.
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Post by SRsez »

Meerschaum wrote:And the final votes are in. The Western Hockey League led all leagues in players drafted this year with 37, followed by the OHL at 35.

Congratulations WHL. You are officially the Best Junior League on the planet.
That's not what makes it the best league. What makes it the best league is the character & toughness demanded to play in the league. When the OHL stops producing headcases like Bertuzzi, then they might be close.
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Post by Grizzly »

When the OHL stops producing headcases like Bertuzzi, then they might be close.
Yeah .... and also guys like Wayne Gretzky, Steve Yzerman, Ron Francis, Chris Pronger, Joe Thornton, Rick Nash and Jason Spezza ... ???!!!

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Post by jchockey »

Pronger is a headcase.

The W is superior to the O because it is more physically demanding and tougher. The O, like someone said before, benefits from having a large selection of players to choose from. I can't see Pat Kane having the same success he did in the O had he played in the W.
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Post by levelheaded »

I still think the OHL is better. People can knock on it because it doesn't have the same physicality as the W, but it's still produced some pretty mean customers. As Grizzly said before, Yzerman, Pronger, Thornton, Bertuzzi and Nash are far from soft players.
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Post by SRsez »

Grizzly wrote:
When the OHL stops producing headcases like Bertuzzi, then they might be close.
Yeah .... and also guys like Wayne Gretzky, Steve Yzerman, Ron Francis, Chris Pronger, Joe Thornton, Rick Nash and Jason Spezza ... ???!!!

Grizz
Never said the O didn't produce some quality. Just that they produce a lot of crap (can anyone spell L-I-N-D-R-O-S?)

But of the last 20 years the Mem Cup breaks down like this:

QMJHL - 3 champions
OHL - 5 champions
W - 12 champions

Now I don't know about how you score that, but I see it as the W winning 50% more times than the Q & O combined.

But okay, the O is the best league on the planet. :roll:

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