Gotta say I'm a little underwhelmed with the Russian crop this year. I've been holding out making this post because I wanted to give it some time to see who would start to rise or fall. Over there the season is about more than a third of the way in. So still plenty early for players to seperate themselves from the rest of the pack
Going into the season Ivan Ryabkin was talked about as a sure-fire top 5 pick. Close to the tier of Michkov and Demidov, maybe a small notch below. Really tough start. The reports were saying he was then heading to the USHL but that's been a month ago. So who knows whats going on now... huge question mark there.
A number of the 1st year eligible guys on the watchlist got off to shitty starts too. Many of the top producers in that group are undersized. I haven't been particularly wowed by them either.
I expected more from Mikhail Fyodorov to start the year. He's been coming into his own recently though, so he's an interesting one to watch. I noticed Kurban Limatov listed somewhat highly on a couple publications early lists. I've seen a couple uneventful games, I can't really say I have an opinion yet.
As it sits right now, unlike last year, there really aren't any 1st year players making an impact on the pro level between the KHL or the VHL.
In terms of overagers there's a few that stand out to me so far.
In the MHL you have Roman Luttsev and Vadim Dudorov. They've risen to 1 and 2 in the league in points. Luttsev has been the epitome of consistency this year. 20 games in and he's only been held off the scoresheet in 4 games so far. Dudorov I liked last year. Loko had a deep and older roster last year. Unfortunately that meant he played a backseat role on the 3rd line. That kept his numbers down. With Nashville's Surin gone, along with a few other players, Dudorov has been the go-to guy on the top line. He's taken it and ran. Both he and Luttsev are highly skilled, high motor guys.
Igor Klimovich for a few years now has been absolutely decimating the junior level. 3 straight years of domination. He spent a good chunk in the KHL last year, a few games this year. He'd be leading the league if he didn't get called up. High motor, undersized. Theres a good skill level there but his game does seem a little junior-like. You can kinda see why he hasn't been drafted despite the ungodly production. Some of the decision making... it does make you wonder though, does he have questionable hockey IQ or is it possible that some of mindless wishful plays that he tries is simply because his teams have generally been god awful. Seriously, he has pretty much had zero talented players to play with. Since his initial draft year I've thought he'd be well worth a gamble but he has absolutely nothing to gain by continuing to play in junior at this point. I dont think he's going to learn how to generate offense against pro's like this. I have no idea why he hasn't been playing in the VHL.
I still like Dontsov and some of those other guys over on Krasnaya Armiya.
..and lastly Magomed Sharakanov. His game has just constantly matured from the junior level. Just seamlessly jumped from the MHL, to the VHL, to the KHL. Everyone loves those defenders that have that mix of size, skating and puck ability. Considering he's a LHD we should be all over this guy. This season looks to be playing out similar to last year. They eased him into the VHL and as the year progressed they increased his usage and the kid really turned it on. They eased him into the KHL and the last handful of games he's been playing a bigger role. He's my dark horse pick right now