Prospect Info: Marlies & Prospect Discussion

[Malachi Crunch]

That he has quickly picked up the language leads me to think that Grebs is a going to transition to the North American game faster than most. New language acquisition is a sign of an agile mind. It will be interesting to see how this kid has progressed by January.

Agreed. Also, a guy who is dedicated to learning the language sounds like a guy who is dedicated to staying in North America. A good sign.

 

[Twine Tickler]

That he has quickly picked up the language leads me to think that Grebs is a going to transition to the North American game faster than most. New language acquisition is a sign of an agile mind. It will be interesting to see how this kid has progressed by January.

Historically the transition from Russia to NA is one of the hardest culturally that we see for NHL prospects. Lots of Russians do not grow up with English as a second language as opposed to other European nations. This leads to a ton of Russians feeling isolated and homesick. Understandably.

It's very very encouraging to hear that Nikita is seemingly adapting to NA culture well. It may seem like a small thing, but it will go a very long way into helping him on the ice if he is not battling demons in between his ears off the ice.

Aside from Rodion Amirov, who tragically lost his battle with cancer, Nikita is arguably our best Russian prospect since Nikolai Kulemin. Which was almost 20 years ago. Even the transition for Kule I don't remember being super smooth either. If not for guys like Grabo, Antro and Poni we could have seen a very different outcome. I seem to remember Antro basically being his interpreter for the majority of his early years as an NHL'er.

All that to say, I am very happy to hear guys specifically name him as a guy they like to be around. Being comfortable at that age is not easy for anyone, let alone a kid trying to make the best league in the world in a country he has little to know clue about. Very excited to see how he develops over this season

 

[The Iceman]

Leafs haven't had a great success with Russian players.

I would say Samsonov and Mikheyev are our most recent regulars.
Soshnikov, Barabonov, Marchenko and Ozhiganov are other recent players.