Larry Brooks: Vitaly Kravtsov headed back to the KHL

[Inferno]

So let me ask you this:

If this was a 19 year old who was just sent back to his junior team after a handful of games, which we’ve seen hundreds of times in the NHL, would we view this as being as damning?

Is the kid being sent...or is he requesting out?

The context matters greatly

 

[iggyDDS]

Finally someone noticed that at this age it is not only about eliminating your weaknesses and maturing your game, but also about developing your talent and that is not easy to do if you're benched all the time.

VK is a smart kid from all I've gathered. He's well-spoken and seems like a great teammate.

People forget he is 19! This was his first time on North American ice. That's a huge adjustment for someone so young and raw.

I think if anyone should be disappointed it's Vitali, but now he has a chance to man up and play hockey and hopefully a lot of minutes. We don't know the behind the scenes, but maybe the plan was NHL or KHL the whole time... which would explain his sparse ice time in Hartford. We can debate AHL vs KHL all day, there are obvious differences. He needs to bulk up and be an offensive threat when he comes back, not a 3rd line forechecker.

 

[Edge]

Is the kid being sent...or is he requesting out?

The context matters greatly

I doubt this is Kravtsov throwing a temper tantrum.

Considering the Pack have already benched him and scratched him, I strongly suspect this both parties realizing he isn’t ready.

 

[CaptTennille]

 

[Caser]

Being a top prospect gives you opportunities, it doesn't guarantee anything more. It's up to every prospect to make use of those opportunities. I don't know exactly what happened in Hartford with Kravtsov, but if the rumours spread here are true then I can understand the tough love approach.

If being a top prospect doesn't guarantee some trust and icetime on the AHL level then it would be better to encourage him to re-sign in the KHL right after the end of last season and just re-evaluate after that, at least there you could expect him not to be benched after every mistake.

 

[Inferno]

I doubt this is Kravtsov throwing a temper tantrum.

Considering the Pack have already benched him and scratched him, I strongly suspect this both parties realizing he isn’t ready.

Yes but I can't imagine the team who tried to get him over here WANTS him to go back. He isn't being assigned there... He is exercising a clause that allows him to run away... After what... 3 games played?

It's a horrible look for the kid. And again, the holes in his game aren't going to be fixed by him going back to a league where he can try to dangle an entire team on every rush.

 

[NYRKindms]

This thread is straight fire takes.

Can't imagine everyone here was sent to another country, with another language, expect to produce while playing, do well enough to play in a city like NYC, get sent to another city that's essentially a big town, and expect to be cool with it. Oh, and you're 19, not your current age.

Everyone would want to go home crying in two weeks, not two months.

well I was in college at 17. I wasn't given a salary or had any $$ or was looking at the possibility of millions. Also didnt have entire organization around me to help me with everything from my job to living conditions and securing a place to stay. Didnt have an agent to pay my bills or negotiate on my behalf either

and just about everyone in the same situation didnt run home crying that life isnt fair. maybe the above is just another sign about how soft "kids" have become. I mean hes 19 almost 20 has $$ and a shot to be fabulously wealthy. If this doesn't SCREAM soft I don't know what does.

 

[Oscar Lindberg]

He has every right to go back, he negotiated for the clause to do so. It's not a good PR move for him, but it is what is.

I think if he stuck around a little longer, people wouldn't be as upset. Today was the first day he could use the clause, and he immediately exercised it.

I'm a little surprised he didn't stick it out a bit more, considering Shestyorkin and Rykov are in the same situation as him

 

[LeetchisGod]

At what point do we all take our rose-colored glasses off and acknowledge this organization has an issue developing its own high draft picks?

It's a concern. They seem to rush prospects to come from overseas before they're ready or into the NHL before they're ready.

 

[Edge]

Yes but I can't imagine the team who tried to get him over here WANTS him to go back. He isn't being assigned there... He is exercising a clause that allows him to run away... After what... 3 games played?

It's a horrible look for the kid. And again, the holes in his game aren't going to be fixed by him going back to a league where he can try to dangle an entire team on every rush.

Assuming they’ve watched him closely for a month, I’d suspect there comes a point where you realize that you’d be shoveling sand against the tide by trying to force this.

Would they love for him to be ready? Of course.

But if you arrive at the conclusion he isn’t, and the player feels the same, you either adjust or you keep doing what already isn’t working with the hope it magically does.

 

[nyr2k2]

So at what point, if both parties agree that he’s not ready, does one stop banging their head against a brick wall and revisit things a little further down the road?

Or is it a skull be damned type approach because this is what we want, we want it now, and to hell with the reality staring us in the face?

I would think the point is sometime after 5 games. It's not like he looked like a midget-caliber player, he just wasn't totally ready. This seems far too soon, particularly considering there's no telling if his deficiencies will be addressed by stepping back into the KHL environment.

 

[iggyDDS]

Now if Shesterkin went back to the KHL we can all riot.

With Kravtsov, there is more to this story. Hearing an interview by him sometime soon would help settle the nerves.

 

[Edge]

I would think the point is sometime after 5 games. It's not like he looked like a midget-caliber player, he just wasn't totally ready. This seems far too soon, particularly considering there's no telling if his deficiencies will be addressed by stepping back into the KHL environment.

When you send a kid back to the OHL, do you assume their deficiencies are are being addressed by going back, or do you assume you are sending them back because they aren’t ready to address those deficiencies and need more time to mature?

 

[Trxjw]

For those saying that a return to the KHL won't help him fix the holes in his game; part of fixing those holes means a kid has to be ready and willing to fix those holes in his game. If Kravtsov and the coaches are having a hard time getting on the same page in terms of what he has to work on, then perhaps what's best for both parties is a little bit of time apart. That's not to say Kravtsov is a spoiled kid or anything like that, but every kid matures at a different pace. You can look around the league and see examples of prospects who were brought over too soon and eventually it all came to a head. Most recently Jesse Puljujarvi who is having a great start to the year in Finland, but also seems to never want to play for the Oilers again.

 

[Edge]

It's a concern. They seem to rush prospects to come from overseas before they're ready or into the NHL before they're ready.

Like who?

 

[Tawnos]

Yes but I can't imagine the team who tried to get him over here WANTS him to go back. He isn't being assigned there... He is exercising a clause that allows him to run away... After what... 3 games played?

It's a horrible look for the kid. And again, the holes in his game aren't going to be fixed by him going back to a league where he can try to dangle an entire team on every rush.

Once again, as seems to be the perpetual case when it comes to prospect development around here, judgments are being made without anything close to all of the information. We have no concept of the discussions Kravtsov and the Rangers staff have been having, but I think it's crazy to believe that they haven't been having any. For all we know, this was the organization's idea.

 

[Ola]

I doubt this is Kravtsov throwing a temper tantrum.

Considering the Pack have already benched him and scratched him, I strongly suspect this both parties realizing he isn’t ready.

To be honest, I would be surprised if this was the franchise’s preferred option given how our brass usually reason.

Not saying that we should have a melt down. But between these two scenarios I know which one I rather would have seen:

1. A kid saying that wow, HFD is a place I can learn a lot in and wanting to play there.

2. A kid as usual doing everything possible to get out of HFD ASAP.

 

[FIRE DRURY]

A kid his age needs to play, and play a lot. That wasn't happening in Hartford for whatever reason. He'll get his playing time in the KHL.

I'm disappointed with our organization in Hartford, and Vitaly. They're both to blame imo.

This could just be a bump in the road in what's likely going to be a long and successful career.

 

[Edge]

To be honest, I would be surprised if this was the franchise’s preferred option given how our brass usually reason.

Not saying that we should have a melt down. But between these two scenarios I know which one I rather would have seen:

1. A kid saying that wow, HFD is a place I can learn a lot in and wanting to play there.

2. A kid as usual doing everything possible to get out of HFD ASAP.

I have no doubt this isn’t the Rangers ideal plan. Having said that, at some point want turns to need. And the Rangers will do what they need to do.

 

[FIRE DRURY]

Delusional:

Those that penciled Kakko, Chytil, and Kravtsov in the top-9 to start the season. This is the most competitive league in the world. Some of you guys refuse to have any patience.

 

[haveandare]

Imo there’s a huge gap between being upset about playing in the AHL and being upset about being scratched or barely played in the AHL.

 

[Pawnee Rangers]

I doubt this is Kravtsov throwing a temper tantrum.

Considering the Pack have already benched him and scratched him, I strongly suspect this both parties realizing he isn’t ready.

Not being ready for the NHL is one thing, not being ready for the AHL is pretty alarming. If he can't hang in the AHL they made the wrong pick. Seems more like an attitude thing though.

 

[FireGerardGallant]

Just another in a string of poor draft picks led by Gordie Clark. What else is new? He let the Islanders get Wahlstrom and Dobson who are both on the NHL team while he drafts a player who flees to the KHL at the first sign of adversity. This does not bode well for his future. You'd like to see him fight through struggles and get used to the game rather than just quit and go back to his comfort zone. We've seen this before from other European players too. Mikhail Grigorenko, Jesse Puljujarvi, and Nail Yakupov all went back to Europe after struggling out of the gate to the pro game in the NHL and haven't seen the NHL since. Val Nichushkin went there, came back, and hasn't scored a single goal in 62 games since then. Late firsts are when you gamble on these type of guys. With a top 10 pick you need to go with more of the sure thing as opposed to the player who has options outside of the NHL.

I can’t tell if this is a joke or not

 

[Tawnos]

I know that, as a teenager, I was completely unprepared, psychologically, to go to college 4 hours from my home. I mean completely... and it was just a 4 hour drive!

I don't know if there's a similar thing going on with Kravtsov, but it definitely seems like a bigger possibility than him just bailing.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Enigmatic Russians smh