Player Discussion Vitali Kravtsov - Signed 2-Year Deal with Traktor Chelyabinsk

[strattonius]

He looks so weak. Like he has some tools and skill but doesn't bring any of it together. And for 6'5", you'd like to see him bulldozing in and winning more battles - but he is always making his checks off balance and reaching in on players. 1/2 step behind. He could really be a player of he developed in the AHL for a couple of years but I don't think this player will be looking for bus rides across the States.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

He looks so weak. Like he has some tools and skill but doesn't bring any of it together. And for 6'5", you'd like to see him bulldozing in and winning more battles - but he is always making his checks off balance and reaching in on players. 1/2 step behind. He could really be a player of he developed in the AHL for a couple of years but I don't think this player will be looking for bus rides across the States.

my fandom of this team now exists squarely in fantasyland

in my head, tocchet and foote are going to spend every day of the summer with krav and boeser and turn them into stone cold killers.

…gonchar will also teach quinn how to take a friggin’ slapshot from the point.

 

[Diversification]

He's not trending well and as a waiver eligible RFA who is a flight risk for the KHL, there's not much time left for him to show he belongs in the NHL.

At this point, do we give him a sub-1M contract for next year to try and figure things out?

 

[DonnyNucker]

He looks so weak. Like he has some tools and skill but doesn't bring any of it together. And for 6'5", you'd like to see him bulldozing in and winning more battles - but he is always making his checks off balance and reaching in on players. 1/2 step behind. He could really be a player of he developed in the AHL for a couple of years but I don't think this player will be looking for bus rides across the States.

Why does this player grow an inch every week?

 

[Bitz and Bites]

He's not trending well and as a waiver eligible RFA who is a flight risk for the KHL, there's not much time left for him to show he belongs in the NHL.

At this point, do we give him a sub-1M contract for next year to try and figure things out?

I’d re-sign him for another year at that price point and see if he comes back next season stronger and more hungry. If he doesn’t, than he can be waived and a rebuilding team can take a flier on him or he can be buried in Abby with minimal cap implications.

Not about his size, more about his draft pedigree. That's the only reason people care.

Sometimes you get what you pay for and he seems destined for the KHL.

Part of why he was drafted high was his size, if he was 5’11” he probably doesn’t get picked in the first round at all and likely would still be in the KHL.

 

[andora]

what a weird last few pages.

if you take the fact that he was traded for and where he was drafted - put any player his age in the lineup with the deployment any everyone would be like 'meh.. not much but ok'

his deployment has been more than fair, even powerplay time. yes you can see talent, but you can also see some lack of confidence and some overthinking - which, let's be real here. let's get him confident playing less minutes than firing an extra 5 or 6 down his throat so when he misses plays or can't finish it's that much worse..

he hasn't earned what some are asking he gets.. it's weird

 

[Gurn]

The thing about Kravtsov is he was brought here by the new management team. That means, to many on here, that he is automatically better than anyone brought in by Benning.
However , if you pretend that Vitali was a Benning decision, it looks like another 'meh' outcome.
This is also true of how, many, look at the other 'meh' guys.
Joshua?- whatever
Aman- same thing.
Studnicka- ditto
Scrub replacement level players are just that- no matter who signed them.

 

[Josepho]

The thing about Kravtsov is he was brought here by the new management team. That means, to many on here, that he is automatically better than anyone brought in by Benning.
However , if you pretend that Vitali was a Benning decision, it looks like another 'meh' outcome.
This is also true of how, many, look at the other 'meh' guys.
Joshua?- whatever
Aman- same thing.
Studnicka- ditto
Scrub replacement level players are just that- no matter who signed them.

All of those guys cost a combined 2026 7th and Jonathan Myrenberg. Nobody would've cared if Benning brought in his Veys and Pouliots at that price.

I have very little faith in Kravtsov being more than a middling 3rd liner but I still think it's a fine gamble. And there's no reason not to re-sign him and give him a chance to make the roster next year. Literally nobody is overly praising his play right now.

 

[Canucks LB]

I haven’t seen a player play with less intensity this year on the canucks, than him so far.

He has tools, the problem is he doesn’t want to put in the work, I’m sure the Rangers have been telling him for a while now, work on your board bottles, play with more fire, instead, he just floats around, it’s actually kind of annoying.

The funny part is, the first couple games where he did playoff intensity, I thought he was very good, created chances, won puck battles, very little since.

I will say this, though, his two way game is very decent, he should carve himself a niche on the third line, with more fire

 

[andora]

The thing about Kravtsov is he was brought here by the new management team. That means, to many on here, that he is automatically better than anyone brought in by Benning.
However , if you pretend that Vitali was a Benning decision, it looks like another 'meh' outcome.
This is also true of how, many, look at the other 'meh' guys.
Joshua?- whatever
Aman- same thing.
Studnicka- ditto
Scrub replacement level players are just that- no matter who signed them.

Joshua and Aman... really?

who did benning sign in this category

effective and cheap and young

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

He's not trending well and as a waiver eligible RFA who is a flight risk for the KHL, there's not much time left for him to show he belongs in the NHL.

At this point, do we give him a sub-1M contract for next year to try and figure things out?

a high reward guy like this, i'd definitely wait to see what he does after being given end of year notes from the coaching staff. if he comes back having put in the work, then you'll know whether you have something you can turn into a real player. if not, then you can grabner him.

 

[Gurn]

Joshua and Aman... really?

who did benning sign in this category

effective and cheap and young

the guys JB signed

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replacement level players, are replacement level players- no matter who signed them.
Aman is getting $883,750 this year-
Many JB signings were for about that or less. some hits, lots of misses; which happens with replacement level players.

 

[andora]

the guys JB signed

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Thank you for the amazing 9 years

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replacement level players, are replacement level players- no matter who signed them.
Aman is getting $883,750 this year-
Many JB signings were for about that or less. some hits, lots of misses; which happens with replacement level players.

So.. any names that stand out as young effective and cheap on that list?

Ones that project to be on the team a second consectutive year after signing?

 

[4Twenty]

So.. any names that stand out as young effective and cheap on that list?

Ones that project to be on the team a second consectutive year after signing?

Can you define effective?

 

[4Twenty]

Highmore, Lamikko, Motte, Chiasson, Macewan, Stecher, Vesey, Boyd, Dries (the actual best performing bottom of the roster forward this season….not really close either).

Aman and Joshua are rocking Beagle-esque GF%

 

[credulous]

there's this circular logic where aman, joshua, studnicka, kravtsov, etc are good because the canucks pro scouting has improved and the canucks pro scouting has improved because aman, joshua, studnicka, kravtsov, etc are good

i don't think studnicka is an nhler at all and i'm still skeptical of aman. he looks like an nhl player but his results are terrible. joshua i think is a little better but his production is very, very low for his usage. kravtsov we'll see i guess

 

[MS]

Highmore, Lamikko, Motte, Chiasson, Macewan, Stecher, Vesey, Boyd, Dries (the actual best performing bottom of the roster forward this season….not really close either).

Aman and Joshua are rocking Beagle-esque GF%

Aman and Joshua are very obviously more effective than Dries - both overall this season and especially in the last couple months. They just get buried in very tough minutes while Dries doesn't, and they both have unsustainably bad PDOs.

 

[4Twenty]

Aman and Joshua are very obviously more effective than Dries - both overall this season and especially in the last couple months. They just get buried in very tough minutes while Dries doesn't, and they both have unsustainably bad PDOs.

Of course you think this.

Let me guess it’s all Lazar’s fault.

 

[MS]

Of course you think this.

Let me guess it’s all Lazar’s fault.

I watch the games.

Those two guys - especially since Aman's recall - have been effective in tough defensive minutes with like 30% o-zone starts, especially factoring in their age/experience. Both did have a lag mid-season.

Dries gets sheltered minutes and is basically unplayable defensively at C. He does have some 2nd unit PP utility which has got him to 10 goals.

Yes, Lazar was crap and was a poor pro scouting call which actually works in favour of your argument.

 

[Josepho]

there's this circular logic where aman, joshua, studnicka, kravtsov, etc are good because the canucks pro scouting has improved and the canucks pro scouting has improved because aman, joshua, studnicka, kravtsov, etc are good

i don't think studnicka is an nhler at all and i'm still skeptical of aman. he looks like an nhl player but his results are terrible. joshua i think is a little better but his production is very, very low for his usage. kravtsov we'll see i guess

I think people are probably leaning too much into the pro-scouting being really good now narrative just because none of the pickups have shown to be obviously terrible like some of Benning's normally did, but you can point out literally any list of random depth guys that any GM ever has signed and make a post like the one that guy was making, and he clearly missed the point of what Benning pickups people disliked, and why they disliked them.

And in the case of Aman the only similar transaction (U23 UDFA making an NHL role pretty quickly) Benning ever made was Stecher, which I don't think anyone has ever criticized him for.

 

[credulous]

Aman and Joshua are very obviously more effective than Dries - both overall this season and especially in the last couple months. They just get buried in very tough minutes while Dries doesn't, and they both have unsustainably bad PDOs.

pdo has nothing to do with c%, f%, s% or xg% and aman is team worst or nearly so (beaten only by studnicka and boeser in xg%). joshua isn't much better. aman has tough deployment but joshua doesn't really

i don't think aman is the worst forward on the roster but he's pretty close. joshua only looks as good as he does because vancouver have played so many awful players in their bottom six this year and he's probably an everyday nhler at least

I think people are probably leaning too much into the pro-scouting being really good now narrative just because none of the pickups have shown to be obviously terrible like some of Benning's normally did, but you can point out literally any list of random depth guys that any GM ever has signed and make a post like the one that guy was making, and he clearly missed the point of what Benning pickups people disliked, and why they disliked them.

sure. i'm not comparing the current crop of "pro scouting finds" to benning's though. i'm just pointing out that people just assume aman or joshua are good because the pro scouting is good but then the evidence the pro scouting is good is that aman and joshua are good

 

[4Twenty]

I watch the games.

Those two guys - especially since Aman's recall - have been effective in tough defensive minutes with like 30% o-zone starts, especially factoring in their age/experience. Both did have a lag mid-season.

Dries gets sheltered minutes and is basically unplayable defensively at C. He does have some 2nd unit PP utility which has got him to 10 goals.

Yes, Lazar was crap and was a poor pro scouting call which actually works in favour of your argument.

You’re weighting the recency over the whole as per usual.

Look I don’t mind those two guys (I liked Pedersen too) but the idea they’ve been crazy effective is just narrative.

They’re miles better than Studnicka that’s for sure.


Just checked over the recent sample….the numbers are similar to the whole. Both in Beagle GF% range.

 

[MS]

You’re weighting the recency over the whole as per usual.

Look I don’t mind those two guys (I liked Pedersen too) but the idea they’ve been crazy effective is just narrative.

They’re miles better than Studnicka that’s for sure.

Where did I say 'crazy effective?'

They started pretty decently as a 4th line, had a poor run mid season and Aman got sent down, and now they've been playing well as a 3rd line for the last month or two. Overall both have been a success and look like quality 4th liners for next season with an extra year of experience.

They also have - by far - the best PK results of any forwards to play over 50 minutes there this season.

Both are easily better than Dries who has produced less at ES in softer minutes and is much worse defensively.

Studnicka has been mostly poor and I've never said otherwise.

 

[andora]

Can you define effective?

Is this going towards advanced stats?

Joshua, what i see
- showing potential as a penalty killer
- physically engaged consistently
- subtle skill along the boards in ozone
- showing character amongst his teammates
- outside of a mid season lull (first year as a real regular) he is showing legit improvement and probably due to realizing he has a role on this team as a regular

Aman
- zone awareness and knows where to be
- very quick on the offensive again knowing where to be and where to be
- improved strength in physical battles
- very quick on forecheck
- developing a very strong stick and quick

Highmore, Lamikko, Motte, Chiasson, Macewan, Stecher, Vesey, Boyd, Dries (the actual best performing bottom of the roster forward this season….not really close either).

Aman and Joshua are rocking Beagle-esque GF%

Oh come on..

I think people are probably leaning too much into the pro-scouting being really good now narrative just because none of the pickups have shown to be obviously terrible like some of Benning's normally did, but you can point out literally any list of random depth guys that any GM ever has signed and make a post like the one that guy was making, and he clearly missed the point of what Benning pickups people disliked, and why they disliked them.

And in the case of Aman the only similar transaction (U23 UDFA making an NHL role pretty quickly) Benning ever made was Stecher, which I don't think anyone has ever criticized him for.

Agreed

Where did I say 'crazy effective?'

They started pretty decently as a 4th line, had a poor run mid season and Aman got sent down, and now they've been playing well as a 3rd line for the last month or two. Overall both have been a success and look like quality 4th liners for next season with an extra year of experience.

They also have - by far - the best PK results of any forwards to play over 50 minutes there this season.

Both are easily better than Dries who has produced less at ES in softer minutes and is much worse defensively.

Studnicka has been mostly poor and I've never said otherwise.

Dries shouldnt even be getting mentioned... guy is up due to how poor our depth is and does not initiate a single thing in game time

 

[Izzy Goodenough]

Kravstov is clearly better suited to play Centre as he did in the World Juniors for Russia.

His game is thru the middle, not sealing off walls and getting pucks out along the boards.

If he weren't a left-shot (like the rest of their centres), I expect they would already be trying him at centre.