Prospect Info: Vitali Kravtsov: Part IX

[Kovalev27]

The best thing he can do for himself and this team is become very good defensively. We’re going to need guys that can play those mins. We know he’s got skill but there are guys he with more. What we don’t have is many guys that have skill and a strong two way game. I think he’s got that Iq. I’ve seen it in Hartford and in the K. He puts the effort in. It’s his best shot at nailing down a top 9 role.

Gauthier doesn’t play a lick of defense.

Kakko at this point doesn’t either but you’d expect him to get better

Barron will do it. Very smart player.

Kravtsov is going to have to be a strong two way guy to fit here.

 

[nyr2k2]

The best thing he can do for himself and this team is become very good defensively. We’re going to need guys that can play those mins. We know he’s got skill but there are guys he with more. What we don’t have is many guys that have skill and a strong two way game. I think he’s got that Iq. I’ve seen it in Hartford and in the K. He puts the effort in. It’s his best shot at nailing down a top 9 role.

Gauthier doesn’t play a lick of defense.

Kakko at this point doesn’t either but you’d expect him to get better

Barron will do it. Very smart player.

Kravtsov is going to have to be a strong two way guy to fit here.

This is increasingly how I see him making it here. Not as a huge scorer, but as a big, strong, two-way winger. I think he can do it. I hope he can get some reps in Hartford and play some PK time.

 

[kovazub94]

Yeah that's what frustrated me about his play in the AHL and why I was hoping we'd be able to get him back to the AHL this season ASAP (maybe not even an issue now). He made some really tremendous plays, really high skill stuff. However, he also made a lot of decisions that led to really low-percentage plays (or no percentage plays/bad giveaways). In general he did not know what to do with the puck on his stick; the skill was there but he needed to adapt to a different style of play and I was afraid he would just stick with what had always worked if he was in the KHL.

His overall game has clearly improved but I'm not really sure he's necessarily much closer to being an impact player in the NHL than he was at the start of last season. But I'm just a "doubter" so whatever.

Watching him play this season - his overall body of work tells me he’s closer. With a puck on his stick he practically never complicates his play and typically goes for the most straight forward play that’s in front of him - typically executing that play.

The area I’d like to see more improvement is actually about a bit more hassle without a puck when it comes to “dirty” work like finishing checks and closing in onto a puck carrier. Sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn’t.

 

[kovazub94]

I will just throw a name out there and you say how you’d feel about it if Kravtsov turned into Nichushkin. There are some parallels starting with the original KHL affiliation, size and draft position.

 

[nyr2k2]

I will just throw a name out there and you say how you’d feel about it if Kravtsov turned into Nichushkin. There are some parallels starting with the original KHL affiliation, size and draft position.

If he became a defensive and possession monster I'd be thrilled. If he topped out as a 35-point guy, I'd be disappointed overall.

 

[2014nyr]

Yeah, that's very typical of Kravtsov. He's an introvert. Unless it's a big goal, you won't see him celebrate

did go back and rewatch a handful of his goals this season and kinda mixed, definitely showed some more emotion earlier, seems to have continually gotten more subdued but nothing drastic. would have thought this qualified as a big goal which is what stuck out to me but anyways, not trying to make a mountain out of a molehill, just something minor that seemed a little off. seems like it was mostly my memory a little off. not gonna lose any sleep over it and i doubt he will either

 

[JohnC]

If he became a defensive and possession monster I'd be thrilled. If he topped out as a 35-point guy, I'd be disappointed overall.

I’d be OK with a Buchnevich redux. Not thrilled, but OK.

Anything lower than that and the pick is a failure. I preferred Farabee on draft day.

 

[Baby Duck Homme]

Kratsov made ESPN top 10 plays again today for that sick backhand goal. Second time he made it this year.

 

[The Sweetness]

The best thing he can do for himself and this team is become very good defensively. We’re going to need guys that can play those mins. We know he’s got skill but there are guys he with more. What we don’t have is many guys that have skill and a strong two way game. I think he’s got that Iq. I’ve seen it in Hartford and in the K. He puts the effort in. It’s his best shot at nailing down a top 9 role.

Gauthier doesn’t play a lick of defense.

Kakko at this point doesn’t either but you’d expect him to get better

Barron will do it. Very smart player.

Kravtsov is going to have to be a strong two way guy to fit here.

This line of thinking makes no sense to me.

Taking a gamble on a talented forward and hoping for a responsible two-way player because of “team needs” isn’t what we want.

If we need balance in our top 9 we can do it through other ways. Especially if Kravtsov ends up being a strong offensive player.

The best thing he could do for us and himself is to become a game breaking offensive talent. It’s far harder to acquire game breaking forwards than it is to acquire responsible two-way players.

Team needs will work themselves out if our prospects come good.

 

[Raspewtin]

I will just throw a name out there and you say how you’d feel about it if Kravtsov turned into Nichushkin. There are some parallels starting with the original KHL affiliation, size and draft position.

I'd accept it solely for the fact that our org strength has changed in such a way that Kravtsov needing to be an offensive impact player is no longer make or break, but I'd be annoyed.

 

[True Blue]

I’d be OK with a Buchnevich redux. Not thrilled, but OK.

Anything lower than that and the pick is a failure. I preferred Farabee on draft day.

If he was Buchnevich, it would be a home run.

Was rooting for Dobson or Farabee on draft day.

 

[kovazub94]

I'd accept it solely for the fact that our org strength has changed in such a way that Kravtsov needing to be an offensive impact player is no longer make or break, but I'd be annoyed.

Just think this might be the absolute FLOOR in terms of expectations.

 

[mas0764]

Buchnevich by the numbers is a borderline first line player perhaps but in reality he is a supporting player.

If Kravtsov is that it’s not terrible but it’s not a home run at all. At that high in the first round, a home run is getting a legit player to build around like Tarasenko or Rantanen.

 

[Mikos87]

I will just throw a name out there and you say how you’d feel about it if Kravtsov turned into Nichushkin. There are some parallels starting with the original KHL affiliation, size and draft position.

Nicushkin was very good last year, especially in a specified role. But Colorado also has some of the best puck movers in the game. With Vitali, consistency is going to be a theme if the numbers aren't there. He's got the skill level to be a top offensive weapon. The KHL is a low scoring league but you have guys like Kaprizov who are stars at Vitali's age.

Do you think he can handle pressure? Not bashing the kid, but if he's going to be a scorer, it just comes with the territory.

 

[kovazub94]

Nicushkin was very good last year, especially in a specified role. But Colorado also has some of the best puck movers in the game. With Vitali, consistency is going to be a theme if the numbers aren't there. He's got the skill level to be a top offensive weapon. The KHL is a low scoring league but you have guys like Kaprizov who are stars at Vitali's age.

Do you think he can handle pressure? Not bashing the kid, but if he's going to be a scorer, it just comes with the territory.

Definitely too early to say that he doesn’t. He clearly doesn’t mind going to dirty areas around the paint and paying the price.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

Still think that if Vitaly has a future here, its going to be down the middle.

 

[RangersFan1994]

what are the chances Kravtsov stays in the KHL with the success he has now and never comes back to North America?

 

[kovazub94]

what are the chances Kravtsov stays in the KHL with the success he has now and never comes back to North America?

Very low. Don’t recall high profile draftees from Russia not coming over. The question is when. And with the way his current lease contract to Traktor has been discussed in terms of the Rangers being able to recall him before the KHL season is over or not (they can’t), he should be here in the spring.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

what are the chances Kravtsov stays in the KHL with the success he has now and never comes back to North America?

Well, zero.

He cannot stay in the KHL since he is under contract with the Rangers for 2 more years. The only reason he is allowed to play in the KHL now is because the Rangers allow their employee to do so

 

[will1066]

Phone battery at 74%. It's a sign.

My Nest is also showing 74.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Buchnevich by the numbers is a borderline first line player perhaps but in reality he is a supporting player.

If Kravtsov is that it’s not terrible but it’s not a home run at all. At that high in the first round, a home run is getting a legit player to build around Tarasenko or Rantanen.

9 overall I bet you don't get too many superstars.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

9 overall I bet you don't get too many superstars.

Yeah too many people expect top 10 picks to all be superstars. Even in “generational” drafts like 2015, there a bunch of just okay players in that top 10.

 

[nyr2k2]

I wasn't expecting a superstar. Just a really good player. Even if only four out of every top ten picks become really good, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect your team can identify one of the four. Given our other high profile busts with top picks, kinda felt like we were due.

So now it's a matter of what will VK become. I don't see him busting. I don't see him as a PPG player. It's fine, IMO, if he's Buchnevich. It's disappointing if he's Nichuskin. If he's anything less, that's a big miss. If he's more than Buchnevich, that's a big win.

We'll see how it all develops. I'm okay with his progress this year, but from his draft through today I'm not super enthusiastic, all things considered.

 

[kovazub94]

I wasn't expecting a superstar. Just a really good player. Even if only four out of every top ten picks become really good, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect your team can identify one of the four. Given our other high profile busts with top picks, kinda felt like we were due.

So now it's a matter of what will VK become. I don't see him busting. I don't see him as a PPG player. It's fine, IMO, if he's Buchnevich. It's disappointing if he's Nichuskin. If he's anything less, that's a big miss. If he's more than Buchnevich, that's a big win.

We'll see how it all develops. I'm okay with his progress this year, but from his draft through today I'm not super enthusiastic, all things considered.

I’d agree that Nichushkin level would be disappointing but if we’re talking percentages then at this point it’s likely that developmentally Kravtsov will fall somewhere between Buch and Nichushkin. Helps with better managing expectations at this point. Also need to keep in mind that both of these Russians are only on the precipice of their prime and neither still has really entered that territory.

 

[its josh]

I think comparing him to a defensive forward is unfair. If you've seen the kid play, you know he's going to explode once he plays with some offensive talent. And based on his play this year, he isnt going to be a defensive liability for long.