Player Discussion Marat Khusnutdinov

[Obvious Fabertism]

Will they give this dude a whirl in the top 6 ever?

Not until he shows more offensive chops or injuries pile up. Hartman is ahead of him if one of Rossi or JEE are out. Marat looks really solid though, his defensive play is very good even despite his size, I love his puck control and shiftiness in the transition game. Clever player, good effort level, and probably the fastest skater on the team, but no shot strength to speak of and it neuters his potential as a threat.

 

[MNRube]

My only complaint is that he hasn’t utilized his speed to carry the puck. He’s genuinely explosive but seems hesitant to use it. I like that he’s conscientious defensively but am excited for when he becomes more aggressive.

He’s also failing to connect on a lot of passes, usually only by a small margin. I expect that also will get cleaned up as he adjusts to the league. I like his chances to be a long term fixture on the 3rd line. Or maybe he becomes an elite 4C. I’ve really enjoyed watching him so far

 

[charger66]

Marat needs a chance in the top six. The End

Give players opportunities where their skill projects. They can earn their spot later. Opportunities on lines that are below their skill set are useless

 

[Obvious Fabertism]

Marat needs a chance in the top six. The End

Give players opportunities where their skill projects. They can earn their spot later. Opportunities on lines that are below their skill set are useless

He's been a defensive specialist prospect since the beginning. He wasn't a scorer in the WJCs or in the MHL or KHL, what skill set do you think he has that is better than a depth contributor? He isn't better than Rossi or JEE at really anything but skating speed, so top 6 makes little sense unless you want to take him out of his natural position in his rookie season. He is still very young and has room to develop, be more patient.

 

[AKL]

Marat needs a chance in the top six. The End

Give players opportunities where their skill projects. They can earn their spot later. Opportunities on lines that are below their skill set are useless

I don't think the bottom six is below his skill set. He has a lot of good tools right now, but he doesn't look like he's really putting them together in the offensive zone to create scoring chances. He'll have some here and there, don't get me wrong. The one last game where he cut in front of the net and it probably would have gone in if anyone but Trenin was following it was great, but those types of things are few and far between to put him with guys like Kaprizov or Boldy at this time.

Think there'd need to be several injuries to Ek, Rossi, Hartman before Khusnutdinov gets that chance. To put Khusnutdinov over any of those guys would be to play them below their actual skill set right now.