Prospect Info: 2018 NHL Draft / Pick #9 - Vitali Kravtsov (RW) - Part V

[Amazing Kreiderman]

As long as he’s signed I have zero issue loaning him back to the KHL if he’s not ready. I have a hard time imagining that happening though.

They might feel it's better for his development to play on the top line in the KHL. A lot will depend on what the Traktor team looks like in August. That's when the KHL pre-season starts

Not saying it's likely, but a possible scenario is:
1. Kravtsov signs his ELC in the next 10 days
2. Kravtsov plays no more than 10 games, keeping his ED exemption
3. They evaluate over the summer in prospect camp
4. They send him to Traktor using the KHL out clause (See Vesalainen)

Financially, it would not be a bad option for Kravtsov.
1. He gets his signing bonus for this season in March and for next season in July
2. He gets to sign a new KHL deal for a year at a higher salary because of his value (NHL player etc)

It all depends on how he is treated in NY. If he is sent down, like Vesalainen, I could see a KHL out clause being triggered. I am 99% sure the clause will be a priority for him and his agent.


PS: This is all speculation on my part, but with the knowledge of cases in the past with other players

 

[ThirdEye]

I wouldn't mind him spending another year there.... It's doubtful he's going to make any kind of impact next year. Most Russians spend a minimum of 2-3 years before coming over. Of course it would be nice for Traktor to put a team together where Christian Thomas isn't their offensive savior

 

[GAGLine]

They might feel it's better for his development to play on the top line in the KHL. A lot will depend on what the Traktor team looks like in August. That's when the KHL pre-season starts

Not saying it's likely, but a possible scenario is:
1. Kravtsov signs his ELC in the next 10 days
2. Kravtsov plays no more than 10 games, keeping his ED exemption
3. They evaluate over the summer in prospect camp
4. They send him to Traktor using the KHL out clause (See Vesalainen)

Financially, it would not be a bad option for Kravtsov.
1. He gets his signing bonus for this season in March and for next season in July
2. He gets to sign a new KHL deal for a year at a higher salary because of his value (NHL player etc)

It all depends on how he is treated in NY. If he is sent down, like Vesalainen, I could see a KHL out clause being triggered. I am 99% sure the clause will be a priority for him and his agent.


PS: This is all speculation on my part, but with the knowledge of cases in the past with other players

I think there's a zero percent chance he plays in the KHL next year. Everything we have heard since the day he was drafted was how badly he wants to come over here. He would have come over this year if he could have gotten out of his contract, even though he would have been more likely to spend time in Hartford than he will next year. If he gets sent down next year, it's not going to be for the whole year. He'll get his opportunities with the big club. If he goes to the KHL, then that is no longer an option.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

I think there's a zero percent chance he plays in the KHL next year. Everything we have heard since the day he was drafted was how badly he wants to come over here. He would have come over this year if he could have gotten out of his contract, even though he would have been more likely to spend time in Hartford than he will next year. If he gets sent down next year, it's not going to be for the whole year. He'll get his opportunities with the big club. If he goes to the KHL, then that is no longer an option.

I will never say there's a 0% chance. It all depends on how he does in the final games this season, and how he handles himself over the summer.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

I will never say there's a 0% chance. It all depends on how he does in the final games this season, and how he handles himself over the summer.

1% chance.

 

[Crease]

My guess is they're negotiating which state to buy him a residence for tax purposes

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

They are negotiating which state to buy him a residence.

As long as it's not too expensive for Dolan to put in an offer in 2029 when we have to convince him to waive his NMC

 

[nyr2k2]

I want him here ASAP. This isn't an anti-KHL thing (I have stated my reservations about the way some young players are developed there, but many do just fine), but I would rather we have as much direct control over our top prospects as possible.

 

[kovazub94]

As long as he’s signed I have zero issue loaning him back to the KHL if he’s not ready. I have a hard time imagining that happening though.

I will never say there's a 0% chance. It all depends on how he does in the final games this season, and how he handles himself over the summer.

I want him here ASAP. This isn't an anti-KHL thing (I have stated my reservations about the way some young players are developed there, but many do just fine), but I would rather we have as much direct control over our top prospects as possible.

I would be VERY surprised if he were to go back to play for Traktor next season for a couple of reasons:

1. From what I saw (we are talking 15-25 KHL games) I think Kravtsov will be at about the same readiness level as Chytil this year. If the Rangers were to evaluate him and use 10 games Chytil played at the end of last season as a measuring stick - they should come to the same conclusion.
2. Based on recent examples, right or wrong I think the Rangers general approach is to bring the player to NA to have a better control over his use and ability to closer monitor his progression.
3. Traktor has been a dumpster this past season in terms of coaching staff and roster, and there is no evidence, let alone guarantee, that the next season will be any better. As @nyr2k2 noted it's not an anti-KHL thing. This is anti-Traktor thing.
4. The last one is that Kravtsov himself (unlike Kaprisov, Gusev, Tkachev etc) wants to be here as ASAP.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

I would be VERY surprised if he were to go back to play for Traktor next season for a couple of reasons:

1. From what I saw (we are talking 15-25 KHL games) I think Kravtsov will be at about the same readiness level as Chytil this year. If the Rangers were to evaluate him and use 10 games Chytil played at the end of last season as a measuring stick - they should come to the same conclusion.
2. Based on recent examples, right or wrong I think the Rangers general approach is to bring the player to NA to have a better control over his use and ability to closer monitor his progression.
3. Traktor has been a dumpster this past season in terms of coaching staff and roster, and there is no evidence, let alone guarantee, that the next season will be any better. As @nyr2k2 noted it's not an anti-KHL thing. This is anti-Traktor thing.
4. The last one is that Kravtsov himself (unlike Kaprisov, Gusev, Tkachev etc) wants to be here as ASAP.

Kravtsov has said specifically that he wants to play for the Rangers. Not necessarily that he wants to play in North America. It all depends on how things go in the off-season. I will use the Vesalainen situation as a possible scenario. Not likely, but it is still a possibility.

 

[Kovalev27]

What I do know is this kid isn’t playing for the Wolfpack

 

[One Winged Angel]

What I do know is this kid isn’t playing for the Wolfpack

Yeah I don’t want him there. In the past I was under the impression that he couldn’t play a game for the Rangers before next season as it would disqualify him from expansion draft exemption. Now that the rules have been clarified (@Amazing Kreiderman and I had a discussion on twitter about it and he’s 99.9% sure of it) we now know he can play 10 games at the NHL level.

I’d rather have him with the main team and learn and deal with his warts there than in Hartford. Especially after seeing Hajek.

 

[JimmyG89]

If he were to play 10 games straight, the first of which would be at home against Detroit after the west coast trip. That would give him ample time to come here, clear up any visa issues and start playing. No need to have him make the west coast trip.

 

[romba]

Sam and Hoe gonna hype the sheet outta VK when he starts playing for us, shiniest new toy we’ve have in forever

 

[GAGLine]

I’d rather have him with the main team and learn and deal with his warts there than in Hartford. Especially after seeing Hajek.

Given how well Hajek has done since being called up, maybe Hartford isn't such a bad place to develop the kids? Just because the team isn't great and some of the kids, particularly defensemen, don't look great while playing there, doesn't mean they aren't learning and improving.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

Sam and Hoe gonna hype the sheet outta VK when he starts playing for us, shiniest new toy we’ve have in forever

 

[kovazub94]

One additional thing to keep in mind that I didn't mention above is that this evaluation statement did not came directly from the Rangers FO.

The context here is that the statement was made in the Traktor's organization's end-of-season press conference. Their front office and coaching staff are well aware of how unsatisfactory the result is as the team slipped well down from the conference final participation a year ago. Each speaker acknowledged how difficult the season was in terms of offense due to injuries, early season coaching issues etc. In this context IMHO they didn't want to make it a forgone conclusion that Traktor would be losing Kravtsov - one of their homegrown prospects - for the next season with no-one within the system to be his replacement.

 

[romba]

I swear I've never used such a word in my life so it's impossible for it to have autocorrected on my phone lol

 

[Lays]

If he were to play 10 games straight, the first of which would be at home against Detroit after the west coast trip. That would give him ample time to come here, clear up any visa issues and start playing. No need to have him make the west coast trip.

That’s what I’ve been saying, if he’s coming over, the Detroit game (not today) would be the most likely

 

[JESSEWENEEDTOCOOK]

Sooooo Carp is completely f***ing useless, then?

Prettttty bad on the Athletic to let him post what he did about the situation when it’s looking blatantly false.

 

[GeorgeKaplan]

Sooooo Carp is completely ****ing useless, then?

Prettttty bad on the Athletic to let him post what he did about the situation when it’s looking blatantly false.

The Athletic looks to Pronman for all prospect info, sooooo, you know

 

[JESSEWENEEDTOCOOK]

The Athletic looks to Pronman for all prospect info, sooooo, you know

Oh, Pronboy? That explains a lot.

 

[GeorgeKaplan]

Oh, Pronboy? That explains a lot.

I have no idea if that’s where Carp got his Kravtsov info, but I’m just saying their info isn’t the gold standard

 

[JESSEWENEEDTOCOOK]

I have no idea if that’s where Carp got his Kravtsov info, but I’m just saying their info isn’t the gold standard

Yeah Proman being the “prospect guy” is fairly disappointing for something that’s generally as great as the Athletic

 

[GeorgeKaplan]

Yeah Proman being the “prospect guy” is fairly disappointing for something that’s generally as great as the Athletic

Yeah, I was disappointed that Carp ended up being the Rangers guy for them too. I feel like they’re way ahead of everyone else in like, the life stories/reporting about sports but are more uneven with insidey info (guys like Russo and Portzline are really good)