26 points in 27 KHL games this season. Good for being a point behind Gusev for the league lead in points. He’s well on his way to setting the KHL record for his age.
Detroit suddenly has a lot of skill closing in on the NHL, to go along with all those young dmen and goaltenders in the system. Buchelnikov, Kisskinen, MBN, Emmitt Finnie (now among WHL scoring leaders at 19) and then obviously Danielson, Mazur and Lombardi already in Grand Rapids. Even Cross Hanas looks back on track. Kasper in the NHL at 20, getting better and better every night, along with Lucas Raymond, who’s already a PPG player in the league.
Buchelnikov might end up being the most talented of them all though, when it’s all said and done. Good bet at his current development, he’s gonna void his final year in the KHL, and head over after the season. Likely straight into the NHL.
So all those Yzerman haters right now, might wanna take a good look at how they’ve loaded a prospect pool in just 6 years with no lottery picks. The NHL isn’t the NBA or NFL. Not only do you have to draft 17-18 year old kids, you have to develop them properly. That takes years. Just look at the top teams today, and how long it’s taken them. Well over a decade for most of them. That organization was completely empty when Yzerman took over. Now they’re as loaded as anyone with NHL talent.