Prospect Info: All-Purpose Prospect Thread v17.0

[WarriorofTime]

Again the question is

How and when can we get him in a Blackhawks’ sweater?

We have Mikheyev here for another year, as the only other Russian, it’d be nice to him acclimatize him

Shalunov came over briefly but that boat had sailed, Kayumov and Safanov are still options(right?)…how is it ‘other’ NHL teams get their Russians over but the Hawks can not?

He has one more year remaining on his contract after this one. It is not impossible to leave early, but I don't know if they'll go down that route. My guess is he will play next season in the KHL and then come over in 2026-27 for what would be his "D+4" season where he will turn 22 during Training Camp (he's a September '04 birth, who was among the oldest first time draft eligible players for the 2023 Draft and only barely missed the cutoff for the 2022 Draft).

I think by waiting until he is 22, he can sign an ELC with one less year on it. A lot of KHL prospects are in situations where they'd prefer to wait until they are ready for the NHL, and avoid playing a full year in the AHL if they don't have to. So I don't expect an early termination. Hawks can work Nazar, Slaggert and Dach into fulltime spots next season, and possibly the 2025 Draft Pick depending on who he is. So I think they can be patient.

 

[Hattrick Kane]

Kantserov's contract with his Russian club ends after next season so he probably comes over in 26. Now somehow Michkov was able to get out of his contract early and come over so maybe Kantserov can come over next year instead.

I just think Kantserov is the first bona fide NHL level prospect the Hawks have drafted in quite some time and convincing a kid to move halfway around the world to live in Rockford and ride busses isn't so easy. But I think if the Hawks really want Kantserov to come over, he will. They'll have to give him an NHL spot but I don't think anyone would complain about that. And Levshunov will be here. I know he's not Russian but maybe it counts? They also can always sign another Russian guy to play with him too.

I’m fine with being in the KHL for another year. But he did make the trip from Russia for the Hawks prospect orientation, even though he was injured. So I think he clearly does want to come over and sees himself as a Hawk in the future.

 

[EbonyRaptor]

Again the question is

How and when can we get him in a Blackhawks’ sweater?

We have Mikheyev here for another year, as the only other Russian, it’d be nice to him acclimatize him

Shalunov came over briefly but that boat had sailed, Kayumov and Safanov are still options(right?)…how is it ‘other’ NHL teams get their Russians over but the Hawks can not?

Probably each individual case is different but in general I don't think it's as traumatic for young Russian players to come over as it was 20-30 years ago because there are so many Russian players having success in the NHL now.

I'm pretty sure he was here in the summer of 2023 after he was drafted to attend the Hawks off-ice development camp - I doubt he would have done that if he didn't intend to play for the Hawks at some point.

 

[EbonyRaptor]

I’m fine with being in the KHL for another year. But he did make the trip from Russia for the Hawks prospect orientation, even though he was injured. So I think he clearly does want to come over and sees himself as a Hawk in the future.

My feelings too. No one can know if his development trajectory will continue, but it has been impressive since he started getting top-6 time in the latter half of last season and into the playoffs. With the last half of this season and all next season to get stronger and hone his game even more he enhances his chances to step right into the Hawks lineup having just turned 22 with 3 full seasons of playing at a championship level program in the KHL.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Shalunov came over briefly but that boat had sailed, Kayumov and Safanov are still options(right?)…how is it ‘other’ NHL teams get their Russians over but the Hawks can not?

For reference, Kayumov had 3 KHL points in his D+2 season (the one Kantserov is in right now). This season, with Kayumov at age 26, is probably the first time Kayumov could have really threatened to make the Hawk roster when he was available to sign and likely still only in an 11th/12th/13th forward capacity. Every other year they would have been signing him to be an AHL player, and it's not for sure how he would have done there until the last couple years when he had somewhat of a breakout as a mid-20s player. Had he been a player who came over as a youngster whenever the Hawks first made an attempt to sign him, I could see (generously) him having a North American pro career similar to someone like Joey Anderson, sometimes in the NHL, sometimes in the AHL, multiple stints through riding the waiver wire.

Of course you'd like someone you use a draft pick on to come over and play in your system, and see wherever that takes you, but you can generally count on a high performing KHL player to want to at least give it a go in the NHL because the potential for a big contract is so much higher in the NHL than the KHL. Some 400 players in the NHL are making $2.5 million or more this season. I don't think anyone in the KHL is making that equivalent this season (especially as the Ruble has tanked from inflation).

It's really just the fringe types that would rather just stay in the KHL than give it a go.

 

[LavalPhantom]

Love how he outskated the defender to cut him off to then be in position for the winner. Awesome play.

He also starts the play in the D zone by tipping the pass in the defender’s skates.

 

[TheFridge]

Again the question is

How and when can we get him in a Blackhawks’ sweater?

We have Mikheyev here for another year, as the only other Russian, it’d be nice to him acclimatize him

Shalunov came over briefly but that boat had sailed, Kayumov and Safanov are still options(right?)…how is it ‘other’ NHL teams get their Russians over but the Hawks can not?

The Hawks really haven't draft many Russians over the last 15 years and certainly none that were particularly noteworthy. Yeah Kayumov was a 2nd round pick but he clearly didn't progress to the point where he should have been offered a contract and the Hawks just couldn't make it work. Maybe Shalunov could have played for them at the end of the 2010s but even then, he would have likely just been a middle-6 player for them.

 

[Northernhawk]

The Hawks really haven't draft many Russians over the last 15 years and certainly none that were particularly noteworthy. Yeah Kayumov was a 2nd round pick but he clearly didn't progress to the point where he should have been offered a contract and the Hawks just couldn't make it work. Maybe Shalunov could have played for them at the end of the 2010s but even then, he would have likely just been a middle-6 player for them.

Shalunov did come over

2013-14 he played 20 games in Rockford(0-4-4) and 43 games in Toledo(18-16-34)…then back to Russia

 

[bwana63]

another timely and VG Powers' article ($), this time on Kantserov: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6021070/2024/12/27/blackhawks-roman-kantserov-film-breakdown/