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Prospect Info: Vitali Kravtsov: Part VIII

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dshea19 said:
I have no worries about VK. It is still too early. He started off poorly and left, but came back and did the right things. I wouldn't worry about his numbers in the AHL. He was playing with a bunch of guys who are grinders and can't shoot. I went to a Checkers v Wolfpack game. You could tell that the tools and skill are there and that none of the guys he plays with can see the game the way he does and convert on his passes. I felt bad for him.

Also, the Rangers were very happy with his play during this recent camp. I really think that as he adds adult muscle and gets in the reps in NA, he will be just fine. Then it really becomes an issue of him becoming a guy who rivals Kakko, a very good 2nd line winger, or a 2nd/3rd tweener. He is still young, but he is trending in the right direction.
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should the Rangers try Kravtsov at center?? he has played center in the past in the world junior championships on a line with Klim Kostin and i think the russian from the Panthers Greigorenko was on that line as well, with the lack of depth let him be a center in training camp. it can't hurt in my opinion.
 
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RangersFan1994 said:
should the Rangers try Kravtsov at center?? he has played center in the past in the world junior championships on a line with Klim Kostin and i think the russian from the Panthers Greigorenko was on that line as well, with the lack of depth let him be a center in training camp. it can't hurt in my opinion.
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Grigori Denisenko
 
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RangersFan1994 said:
should the Rangers try Kravtsov at center?? he has played center in the past in the world junior championships on a line with Klim Kostin and i think the russian from the Panthers Greigorenko was on that line as well, with the lack of depth let him be a center in training camp. it can't hurt in my opinion.
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This was also talked about on that Elite Prospects podcast. Button thought he would struggle at center with his profile, but he actually played well. He also did it while being hurt.

People talk about Kakko or Lafreniere making the move to center, but Kravtsov has actually played the position in a higher level tournament. Wouldn't be opposed to him trying it out. Not sure Traktor has the best centers out there.

I think Sedlak is playing center for them, but if he is not, there would be a top line opening there. Dorofeyev and Aberg are on that team too, so there will be skilled wingers to play with. It's not the old Traktor roster where he was playing with AHLers like Ryan Stoa and Christian Thomas. Hyka also had a good season for them last year and is back. That's 4 guys that have skill up front.

Hopefully we can get some info on their lines in preseason games and Kravtsov gets into them. I think he's got a shot to excel in this situation and his stock can completely change before camps opens.
 
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RangersFan1994 said:
should the Rangers try Kravtsov at center?? he has played center in the past in the world junior championships on a line with Klim Kostin and i think the russian from the Panthers Greigorenko was on that line as well, with the lack of depth let him be a center in training camp. it can't hurt in my opinion.
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Personally, I think that is a big ask. He hasn't made the NHL as a winger yet. To ask him to play center, which is even tougher, is asking a lot. If they tried him out at center in the KHL and he did well, I think that it could be something you try down the road after he establishes himself as a winger in the NHL. Until then, I would do my best to simplify his responsibilities in a game and just let him succeed at the thing he is most comfortable with.
 
RangersFan1994 said:
should the Rangers try Kravtsov at center?? he has played center in the past in the world junior championships on a line with Klim Kostin and i think the russian from the Panthers Greigorenko was on that line as well, with the lack of depth let him be a center in training camp. it can't hurt in my opinion.
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If he has struggled to establish himself as a wing, why would they want to make things even harder for him?
 
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SingnBluesOnBroadway said:
If he has struggled to establish himself as a wing, why would they want to make things even harder for him?
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Becuase it's HF and because switching positions is soooooooo easy.

Think of it. Two years again Kravstov gets drafted. HF: Let's have him play center. Last year Kakko gets drafted. HF: Let's have him play center. This year they have not even drafted anyone, but what happens at HF? Let's have him play center.
Ah, the well-known Kevin Hayes standard.
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Don't forget that not all that long ago, someone wanted to move DeAngelo to forward.
 
True Blue said:
Becuase it's HF and because switching positions is soooooooo easy.

Think of it. Two years again Kravstov gets drafted. HF: Let's have him play center. Last year Kakko gets drafted. HF: Let's have him play center. This year they have not even drafted anyone, but what happens at HF? Let's have him play center.
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No, no, you didn't take it far enough, TB. Let's move him to center and put him into the roster as the 2C. And put it in ink.
 
Amazing Kreiderman said:
Look at how long it takes kids in the 5-20 range to become NHL regulars. Kreider, drafted 19th overall in 2009, wasn't an NHL regular until the 2013-14 season despite his crazy few games in 2012.

Granlund, drafted 9th overall, played 3 full seasons in Liiga before even coming over to North America.

Tarasenko, drafted 14th overall was in the KHL for 3 full seasons after his draft.

Kadri played for Toronto but wasn't really a contributor until his D+4. Same with Brayden Schenn.
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Another recent example is Gurianov. Drafted in 2015 and just starting to really put it together this year and contributing significant goals for Dallas in the playoffs. That same timeline if projected onto Kravtsov would be 2022-23 season. I can absolutely envision a future where he's a key piece for us in the 2023 playoffs. Hope the Rangers and the fanbase can stay patient with VK.
 
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KwuLFvKH_0E.jpg


They don't have the bear eating the hockey stick logo anymore. It's some kind of Nashville Predators type thing?
 
Don Chytil said:
Another recent example is Gurianov. Drafted in 2015 and just starting to really put it together this year and contributing significant goals for Dallas in the playoffs. That same timeline if projected onto Kravtsov would be 2022-23 season. I can absolutely envision a future where he's a key piece for us in the 2023 playoffs. Hope the Rangers and the fanbase can stay patient with VK.
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I generally follow Russian prospects but I guess not close enough because Gurianov snack up on me.
 
JimmyG89 said:
This was also talked about on that Elite Prospects podcast. Button thought he would struggle at center with his profile, but he actually played well. He also did it while being hurt.

People talk about Kakko or Lafreniere making the move to center, but Kravtsov has actually played the position in a higher level tournament. Wouldn't be opposed to him trying it out. Not sure Traktor has the best centers out there.

I think Sedlak is playing center for them, but if he is not, there would be a top line opening there. Dorofeyev and Aberg are on that team too, so there will be skilled wingers to play with. It's not the old Traktor roster where he was playing with AHLers like Ryan Stoa and Christian Thomas. Hyka also had a good season for them last year and is back. That's 4 guys that have skill up front.

Hopefully we can get some info on their lines in preseason games and Kravtsov gets into them. I think he's got a shot to excel in this situation and his stock can completely change before camps opens.
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Sedlak is Traktor's 1C for the upcoming season (same as last year when he did perform pretty well especially with the background of pitiful performance of most of the rest of the team). They also have options for 2C including returning from Dynamo Moscow Polygalov (if I recall he centered Kravtsov in a number of games in 18-19). If Kravtsov comes over he'll probably will have a spot at 2RW across from Kalinin on the other wing. (First line will be all foreign imports)

Otherwise, let's not rewrite the history of Kravtsov performance at center. First, it was ONLY in WJC competition if we consider serious level tournaments. Not before and ever since. In WJC it happened not because he excelled at that position - as in better than how he had done at RW - but because Russia was completely devoid of capable U20 1C level performers while having some excess on the wing. His performance there IMO was adequate but no more than that - he looked worse than he did with Traktor playing his natural position on the wing and quite a few other 1Cs looked better than Kravtsov at that tournament.

From that point on he NEVER was tried again at center - not with Traktor, not with Hartford which is especially telling of Rangers organizational view on whether he should be tried at center position at all.
 
kovazub94 said:
Sedlak is Traktor's 1C for the upcoming season (same as last year when he did perform pretty well especially with the background of pitiful performance of most of the rest of the team). They also have options for 2C including returning from Dynamo Moscow Polygalov (if I recall he centered Kravtsov in a number of games in 18-19). If Kravtsov comes over he'll probably will have a spot at 2RW across from Kalinin on the other wing. (First line will be all foreign imports)

Otherwise, let's not rewrite the history of Kravtsov performance at center. First, it was ONLY in WJC competition if we consider serious level tournaments. Not before and ever since. In WJC it happened not because he excelled at that position - as in better than how he had done at RW - but because Russia was completely devoid of capable U20 1C level performers while having some excess on the wing. His performance there IMO was adequate but no more than that - he looked worse than he did with Traktor playing his natural position on the wing and quite a few other 1Cs looked better than Kravtsov at that tournament.

From that point on he NEVER was tried again at center - not with Traktor, not with Hartford which is especially telling of Rangers organizational view on whether he should be tried at center position at all.
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thanks for the info. i was wondering if Traktor had an opening at the 2C slot. Would have been perfect if it was something he could experiment with. Even if he looked worse there before, it's something that requires coaching and reps but if the opportunity isn't even there, it's moot.

Laf for center now!
 
kovazub94 said:
Sedlak is Traktor's 1C for the upcoming season (same as last year when he did perform pretty well especially with the background of pitiful performance of most of the rest of the team). They also have options for 2C including returning from Dynamo Moscow Polygalov (if I recall he centered Kravtsov in a number of games in 18-19). If Kravtsov comes over he'll probably will have a spot at 2RW across from Kalinin on the other wing. (First line will be all foreign imports)

Otherwise, let's not rewrite the history of Kravtsov performance at center. First, it was ONLY in WJC competition if we consider serious level tournaments. Not before and ever since. In WJC it happened not because he excelled at that position - as in better than how he had done at RW - but because Russia was completely devoid of capable U20 1C level performers while having some excess on the wing. His performance there IMO was adequate but no more than that - he looked worse than he did with Traktor playing his natural position on the wing and quite a few other 1Cs looked better than Kravtsov at that tournament.

From that point on he NEVER was tried again at center - not with Traktor, not with Hartford which is especially telling of Rangers organizational view on whether he should be tried at center position at all.
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To be fair to his performance at that WJC, he was injured
 
KirkAlbuquerque said:
This scouting staff would be under a lot more pressure if we hadn't won the lottery 2 years in a row. The awful Andersson pick, and then Krav looking shakey? Your first 2 top 10 picks in a decade. I'm not writing off Kravtsov totally yet though. He needs a lot more time to develop though. He's nowhere near ready.
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Clark should have been fired for the McIlrath disaster long before he had the chance to mess up on back to back top 10 picks
 
JT Kreider said:
I feel pretty confident that if we have a 30+goal/70+point Tarasenko with us in 2015 we win Game 7 against Tampa, and then go on to beat Chicago.
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Probably wouldn't have needed to trade for Nash.

But in any case, as badly as we need a center, I think we'll get the most mileage playing our guys at their natural positions.
 
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