Belarus: Belarusian prospects. Updates, reports.

[Mr Sniper]

Why have not these guys played any youth national hockey for Belarus?

Nikolai Syty at eliteprospects.com
Artyom Tereshchenko at eliteprospects.com
Artyom Zhuk at eliteprospects.com

Have they not been good enough or doesn`t they wanna play for Belarus?

 

[kabidjan18]

Why have not these guys played any youth national hockey for Belarus?

Nikolai Syty at eliteprospects.com
Artyom Tereshchenko at eliteprospects.com
Artyom Zhuk at eliteprospects.com

Have they not been good enough or doesn`t they wanna play for Belarus?

Basically, when a Belorussian moves to Russia to play hockey, they're looking to be naturalized so they don't count as legios in the KHL...

 

[su24]

Why have not these guys played any youth national hockey for Belarus?

Nikolai Syty at eliteprospects.com
Artyom Tereshchenko at eliteprospects.com
Artyom Zhuk at eliteprospects.com

Have they not been good enough or doesn`t they wanna play for Belarus?

When a Belarussian moves to play hockey to Russia he has to become a Russian. Some of such players already represented Russia at the WJC:
Daniil Misyul at eliteprospects.com
Kirill Ustimenko at eliteprospects.com

 

[Mr Sniper]

When a Belarussian moves to play hockey to Russia he has to become a Russian. Some of such players already represented Russia at the WJC:
Daniil Misyul at eliteprospects.com
Kirill Ustimenko at eliteprospects.com

Okey, thanks

 

[herbst20]

I havent seen any mention of it in this thread but Cedar Rapids (USHL) has 2 Belorussian players this season.

Ignat Belov - Big Power forward who while with Cedar Rapids has really improved his skating. Would guess he would be a 2 year guy before heading to UCONN
Yegor Klavdiev raw but you can see the skill. It is a hard transition playing in the USHL at 16 years old. Nice player and look forward to his development.

 

[Pan]

I havent seen any mention of it in this thread but Cedar Rapids (USHL) has 2 Belorussian players this season.

Ignat Belov - Big Power forward who while with Cedar Rapids has really improved his skating. Would guess he would be a 2 year guy before heading to UCONN
Yegor Klavdiev raw but you can see the skill. It is a hard transition playing in the USHL at 16 years old. Nice player and look forward to his development.

Hey, I'd really appreciate it if you could share more of your thoughts and observations on Klavdiev please, if possible. There's no much info on him since he moved to North America, except his stats on the USHL website. Does he get some playing time out there?

 

[Pan]

Okey, thanks

By the way, what a bunch of bulshit was that su24's posting.
They get Russian passports only because they look for easy ways trying to make their career in Russia.
Lot of kids have played and been playing in Russia without "being forced to become Russians". Alistrov, Kazyanin, Litvinov, Stepanov, Demchenko, Suvorov, Chezganov, Sapelnikov, Shurinov, Gavrilov - here is just some 2000-2003 born kids worth mentioning who had played in Russian junior leagues and then got back to Belarus/reported to Belarusian national teams easily. I'm not even talking about those who turned out not to be interesting for U-teams coaches here in Belarus, like Lapin, etc.
I spoke with parents and kids and I can assure you that in 99% cases reason is only their hopes and wishes because they don't see themselves in future competing even for a legio-level spot in a KHL club, not saying about NHL career in which case Russian passport would be irrelevant.
There's an example of a dad I spoke with whi has two kids playing in Russia and who told me that he was ok about his elder son playing for a Belarusian U-team but for his younger one he was going to get Russian passport because "somebody had told him that his son was looking somewhat decent so maybe we could try...blah-blah-blah". There is an example of two Russian clubs everyone told me about that they never, never, do-you-hear-me-NEVER let their kids play for other national teams except Russia and whose players easily came to play for Belarus U17 and U20 and then easily went back to the clubs to start scoring even more, inspired by playing for national teams.
So the only thing that matters is what players want. That "Russia makes us get their passports" thing is just a myth. They always have a choise and options.

 

[Pan]

And the most ridiculous example of a kid "forced to become a Russian" is Daniil Misiul (and sometimes on Belarusian boards he is claimed to be some kind of a traitor). The kid was 6 y.o. when his family moved to Russia and he started learning and playing hockey in Yaroslavl. Just imagine a 6 yo child crying "mom, dad, I want to remain Belarusian", and angry Lokomotiv clerks saying "no little boy, you HAVE to be Russian if you want to come back to our school tomorrow".
And by the way, his elder brother played for Belarus U20 after years of playing in Russia Oleg Misyul at eliteprospects.com Oops. Something doesn't add up.

 

[herbst20]

Klavdiev is dressing for about 75% of the games, but is usually in the bottom 6 (Usually 4th line) . Yes it is Juniors, but the USHL is a "Man's" league. By this I would say it is more focused on defense than offense. There is no denying Klavdiev's skill, it is there, but he is still trying moves he could get away with vs younger competition. VERY few 16 year old kids make a USHL roster, so for Klavdiev to do so means ALOT especially for a Mark Carlson coached team. He is going to take some lumps this year but I expect him to breakout more next season........that is if he doesnt go to the CHL in the import draft. I like him alot.

 

[Pan]

Klavdiev is dressing for about 75% of the games, but is usually in the bottom 6 (Usually 4th line) . Yes it is Juniors, but the USHL is a "Man's" league. By this I would say it is more focused on defense than offense. There is no denying Klavdiev's skill, it is there, but he is still trying moves he could get away with vs younger competition. VERY few 16 year old kids make a USHL roster, so for Klavdiev to do so means ALOT especially for a Mark Carlson coached team. He is going to take some lumps this year but I expect him to breakout more next season........that is if he doesnt go to the CHL in the import draft. I like him alot.

Many thanks!

 

[Theokritos]

Eight Belarusian players picked in 2020 CHL Import Draft:

Alexei Kolosov (G) picked #22 by Erie Otters (OHL)
Danila Klimovich (F) picked #29 by Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (QMJHL)
Uladzislau Shyla (F) picked #45 by Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)
Dmitri Kuzmin (D) picked #46 by Flint Firebirds (OHL)
Vladislav Demidovich (F) picked #63 by Swift Current Broncos (WHL)
Alexander Palchik (RW) picked #85 by Barrie Colts (OHL)
Alexei Garapuchik (D) picked #96 by Calgary Ice (WHL)
Sergei Kuznetsov (F) picked by #107 by Chicoutimi Saguenéens (QMJHL)

 

[canucklax]

What is behind the sudden surge of Belarusians going to the CHL? Is the U20 team management telling these guys to develop in Canada after a year or two with their national team?

 

[ozo]

What is behind the sudden surge of Belarusians going to the CHL? Is the U20 team management telling these guys to develop in Canada after a year or two with their national team?

Their obvious quality is the main reason why there are more Belorussians in CHL than ever before, not much more to it than that.

 

[kabidjan18]

What is behind the sudden surge of Belarusians going to the CHL? Is the U20 team management telling these guys to develop in Canada after a year or two with their national team?

No...when it comes to CHL Import Draft it always comes down to the agents.

The quality of the players ebbs and flows, maybe increasing slightly, but pipelines are established through personal relationships.

 

[Pan]

No...when it comes to CHL Import Draft it always comes down to the agents.

The quality of the players ebbs and flows, maybe increasing slightly, but pipelines are established through personal relationships.

It's not that I deny the agents factor at the CHL Import Draft but it looks like if Estonia had more agents with "personal relationship" they'd have 8 players drafted this year cause if you ask me their players quality seems to ebb and flow and maybe increasing slightly. What a shame for Estonia

 

[kabidjan18]

It's not that I deny the agents factor at the CHL Import Draft but it looks like if Estonia had more agents with "personal relationship" they'd have 8 players drafted this year cause if you ask me their players quality seems to ebb and flow and maybe increasing slightly. What a shame for Estonia

I get your point, but it's a shallow correlation at best. If you ask most fans these days from Russia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Finland, Sweden, most don't want their kids to be taken in the draft and most of the best kids don't get taken in the draft. Some get taken in the draft as a rights-claim process and never show up, and teams know they won't report, but CHL picks aren't that valuable haha. And most of the kids who are taken in the draft are either average or not very good. Prior to drafting, a coach may have spoken with the kid over the phone, and maybe saw some video clips, but there's not a scouting process. And, as a result, the range of skill-sets of kids drafted range from elite talents to kids who have no business being in the NAHL. Agents will self-regulate on some level because if an agent gives a GM too many duds, the relationship becomes strained. But honestly, the bar for not being considered a dud by a GM is extremely low. Teams routinely bring back imports with like 10-20 points. Because not that much is expected of imports. Role-players are ok. If you can get a star, that's great, that's awesome. But teams are perfectly fine with role-players.

Many kids can be role-players in the CHL. Get like 10, 15, 20 points. That's not a high bar. For a country like Estonia that's a high bar. But for all the kids from all the countries who can be drafted in the CHL draft, that's an incredibly low bar. That's why it's far more important who will show up than who will do well. Because many kids would do well. Tim Stutzle would do well. Alex Holtz would do well, Lucas Raymond, Anton Lundell, none of these kids would do poorly. If you go down the list, even a kid like Calle Spaberg Olsen would probably do well enough, probably no less than 15 points. So teams need to know who will report, and the way you know that is agents.

The CHL is extremely important for many countries that don't have strong domestic professional hockey infrastructures, and a good example of this is probably Latvia. Latvia has recently been trying to diversify its export destinations, you see some Latvians now in Switzerland or Sweden, but the most prominent route for Latvians has traditionally been the CHL because it is very difficult for Latvia to develop players in its domestic leagues. And, again this isn't an absolute statement because Latvia is diversifying its export destinations to some extent, but traditionally it is the case that if no Latvians get taken in the CHL draft it's a big problem. But if a country like Germany has no CHL draftees is that problematic? Not really.

 

[Pan]

With two months left to the NHL draft I'm posting my bold prediction on players from Belarus.
2021 draft might be a record one for us, if not in total number of players drafted then at least in quality.
I expect three players to be drafted in first 3 rounds and one or two in late rounds.
Klimovich - 1st to 2nd
Kolosov - 2nd to 3rd
Kuzmin - 2nd to 3rd
Suvorov - late rounds
Pinchuk - late rounds

I realize putting Klimovich as a potential first rounder might look pretty biased, however I've been following him for last 3 years or so and I believe the kid is much underrated by most writers so won't be surprised if he gets picked so early.
Not too much hope on Pinchuk being drafted, just put him as a wild card if I may.

 

[ozo]

With two months left to the NHL draft I'm posting my bold prediction on players from Belarus.
2021 draft might be a record one for us, if not in total number of players drafted then at least in quality.
I expect three players to be drafted in first 3 rounds and one or two in late rounds.
Klimovich - 1st to 2nd
Kolosov - 2nd to 3rd
Kuzmin - 2nd to 3rd
Suvorov - late rounds
Pinchuk - late rounds

I realize putting Klimovich as a potential first rounder might look pretty biased, however I've been following him for last 3 years or so and I believe the kid is much underrated by most writers so won't be surprised if he gets picked so early.
Not too much hope on Pinchuk being drafted, just put him as a wild card if I may.

First three are set to be drafted for sure, but anyone besides that, I'm sceptical. Pinchuk is indeed a decent wild card for being taken, but Suvorov must be scoring in KHL first to overcome concerns about his size. I'd rather predict Zhigalov or Chayka getting drafted by someone in late rounds. Belarus league is simply not scouted or rated at all. I still remember somewhat hoping that Ivan Drozdov gets drafted out of Extraleague...

 

[SoundAndFury]

While I agree Extraleague isn't scouted or valued at all (especially if you play for a tire fire team like Vitebsk was) I think Belarussian prospects have way better chances this year due to 1) a strong U18 campaign, 2) some of the usually heaviest-scouted leagues not playing at all. Those scouts had to do something in the meantime and players they did get to see play actual games are much more of a sure thing this year than an OHL guy.

 

[Prizrak]

Hi all! Season 22/23 allowed the Dynamo-Shinnik team to play in the MHL again. This gave a chance to new prospects from Belarus. This season gave the world such names as Vadim Moroz, Daniil Sotishvili, Ivan Anoshko, Stepan Zvyagin and many others. But now I would like to focus on the players born in 2005.

Matvei Ladutko (Matvei Ladutko at eliteprospects.com). Attack. Started the season actively, but unstable. Matvey compensated for the lack of points in the set of points with a confident game at the boards and activity in a power game. The player has an average size, but the power play is confident. Not afraid to go on the run. Confidently goes to the gate. Having received adaptation to the league, Ladutko began to confidently score points. One of the main prospects of Belarus in the 2023 draft.

Konstantin Volochko (Konstantin Volochko at eliteprospects.com). Defender. Player of the second pair. Potentially strong shooting guard. His offensive game is exemplary at times. Timely connection to the attack creates superiority for his team in front. This allows him to both throw himself and help partners. Playing on the opponent's blue line still needs to be developed. The game of defense is not so unambiguous. He conducts a power struggle well, but due to age he loses his position. Potentially drafted in 2023.

Dmitry Tukach (Dmitri Tukach at eliteprospects.com). Attack. The season started very well and effectively. But an injury (broken arm) spoiled the further development of the player this season. Active striker with good vision. Not afraid of power play. In attack, it opens well for the final throw. But he can play both under the goal and in the underplay. If everything is normal with health and continues to develop, then he may be a candidate for selection in 2024.

Egor Borikov (Yegor Borikov at eliteprospects.com). Attack. The player's statistics do not reflect the full benefit to the team. Yegor is a very active striker. He fights all over the place. The constant pressure of the opponent, the fight on the penny, the constant provocations - it's all about him. At the same time, he plays well in creation. Sufficiently technical, sees the site well. But we need to work on finishing. If it reveals its potential, then Belarus will have its own Marchand.

Kirill Zhilyuk (Kirill Zhilyuk at eliteprospects.com). Attack. I played little in Dynamo because of my age. Was a lower tier player. A player with the potential to become a small, fast and technical striker. I made a choice in favor of the Neman and played with adults in the Extraliga.

Arseniy Kovgarenya (Arseni Kovgorenya at eliteprospects.com). Forward. Youth-Minsk. The player who opted for the Extraleague. This season has shown good progress. Not lost at the adult level. A very active striker. Fast, technical. He plays well in the power game. Not included in the ratings only because he plays in the Extaligue.