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.

 

[Fogelhund]

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[ULF_55]

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Rhett Parsons Hockey Stats and Profile at hockeydb.com

Statistics of Rhett Parsons, a hockey player from Cremona, ALTA born Aug 10 2003 who was active from 2020 to 2024.

www.hockeydb.com

 

[SprDaVE]

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He seemed just OK in the prospect camp. Fairly physical and moves around well.

 

[WTFMAN99]

He seemed just OK in the prospect camp. Fairly physical and moves around well.

Seems similar to Tommy Miller.

 

[Tiger Trauma]

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I've watched him every year in Junior. His game is ultra simple. As soon as he gets the puck he fires it off to the first available outlet. He doesn't have hands or scramble well, but his first pass is pretty good and hard, and you rarely see him need to scramble.

His strength is that opposing forwards HAAAAAAAAAAAAATE him.

He will push players out of the front of the net and make them fight for every inch of space without taking penalties. He is one of the better players I've seen at being able to do that without taking penalties. He excels at covering the front of the net. Any player that gets frustrated with him he is ready to fight and knock their head off. He also stands up for his teammates like they're family. Pure defensive guy that is difficult to play against.

I'm very interested to see how his career goes because he has no offensive upside, but is tremendous in his own zone especially in front of the net.