I see Quick/Bobrovsky in style, but I don't think he's near the athlete of either of them. The real test for Nabokov will be facing NHL shooters from the middle of the ice. International goalies tend to face more shots to the outside and from worse angles, while the NA came is really a middle of the ice game. His work in the high slot and what save he makes there will likely determine if he can pan out or not.
I imagine Nabokov will have a good season or two more in Russia, but it probably won't tell us a bunch of how he translates just due to the different styles of games.
It took a lot of years for the Avs to refigure this out.
"Come on down to the Pepsi center and see Tyler Arnason and your Colorado Avalanche take on the Chicago Blackhawks, which will feel like a home game for the madmen from Madison Ave."
Pauly Walnuts was the only guy on the team that would go to the front of the net. He wouldn't actually skate there though, rather he just appeared. People forget that part of being Casper the Friendly Ghost, was that he had a knack for appearing at just the right time and place to make something happen. Basically a center version of Rants without that ungodly freaking shot of Mikko's.
As for Nabokov, I think the key is to get to NA ASAP. I kind of think this for all European goalies. Get them over and used to the smaller ice and angles as soon as possible so they have more development time thinking in these dimensions.
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