Why was Panarin never drafted ?

[Joannie9]

I'm sorry if it's common knowledge but I was looking at Artemi Panarin's stats from 17 to 20 years old and I can't wrap my head around why he was never drafted by any NHL teams.

In his draft year, 2010, he ended up with 8 points in 20 games in the KHL which is pretty good for a 17-18 years old. In comparaison, Kuznetsov ended up with 9 points in 35 games and was drafted 26th overall. Did size play a part into it as Panarin is only 5'10'' ?

Does it have anything to do with the fact that I didn't play for any U17, U18, U19 or U20 Russia team ? What's up with that too ? It makes no sense to leave out a player who has the stats he had as a 18, 19 years old.

Has he ever expressed his intention to not leave Russia ?

 

[WarriorofTime]

Panarin came from a very poor childhood. He came from a small mining town. He was a small kid that used lousy equipment that didn't fit growing up. He was not one of those Russians that came out of one of the elite Moscow academies that would have been on the hockey world's radar at ages 13/14/15/16 when the top players start separating themselves and I believe played on Chelyabinsk's second division junior team for his age group at first. He just was not heavily scouted and flew under the radar. He wasn't with one of the big Russian clubs during his draft eligible years (their senior team is consistently one of the worst in the KHL). He was also not on Russia's under-18 team which likely suggests a player that broke out late and his name was likely not even known by a lot of NHL scouts as a first time draft eligible players. By the time he did break out, NHL franchises weren't looking at players on a small Russian team and any success without looking too closely can be dismissed as a player who is "old" relative to the first time draft eligibles. Once he became a really good KHL player he was traded to St. Petersburg which is one of the big teams and the NHL took notice.

TLDR; late bloomer plus not looked at heavily the way he might have been if he was in a Canadian junior league at the age players get drafted.

 

[Jumptheshark]

Late bloomer in a lower league with little exposure in tournies

 

[CartographerNo611]

He played for Vityaz which was a gong show at the time. YouTube KHL brawls Vityaz. Also had pretty meh numbers his first few years with them.

Oil was booming at the time and he got more money from the KHL than an ELC with the NHL while staying close to his family.

 

[hotcabbagesoup]

He came up during the gluten-free era so it's understandable that many GMs avoided him.

 

[EdJovanovski]

Panarin came from a very poor childhood. He came from a small mining town. He was a small kid that used lousy equipment that didn't fit growing up. He was not one of those Russians that came out of one of the elite Moscow academies that would have been on the hockey world's radar at ages 13/14/15/16 when the top players start separating themselves and I believe played on Chelyabinsk's second division junior team for his age group at first. He just was not heavily scouted and flew under the radar. He wasn't with one of the big Russian clubs during his draft eligible years (their senior team is consistently one of the worst in the KHL). He was also not on Russia's under-18 team which likely suggests a player that broke out late and his name was likely not even known by a lot of NHL scouts as a first time draft eligible players. By the time he did break out, NHL franchises weren't looking at players on a small Russian team and any success without looking too closely can be dismissed as a player who is "old" relative to the first time draft eligibles. Once he became a really good KHL player he was traded to St. Petersburg which is one of the big teams and the NHL took notice.

TLDR; late bloomer plus not looked at heavily the way he might have been if he was in a Canadian junior league at the age players get drafted.

This
And by lousy equipment that didn't fit it was much worse than people would imagine lol. The skates were adults skates that his grandpa found in a dumpster, so Panarin at like 8 years old was wearing adult skates that he had to wear shoes inside of so his feet wouldn't move around so much. His "gloves" were just parts of a leather boot that his grandma sewed together.

 

[robes1]

Disadvantaged/poor background mixed with being a late bloomer.

He was probably too good to eventually go unnoticed, but it does make you question how many other potentially good players, that never had the financial means, have been passed up (or never had a chance) over the years because of their upbringing.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Disadvantaged/poor background mixed with being a late bloomer.

He was probably too good to eventually go unnoticed, but it does make you question how many other potentially good players, that never had the financial means, have been passed up (or never had a chance) over the years because of their upbringing.

Yes and no, there are probably an endless number of players that would have developed and become stars but stopped around age 12 or so because they were not on the top team due to the difficulties they faced at younger ages, and it was too expensive to continue... or if they did continue didn't get the coaching and training they would need such that they fell too far behind, but I don't think there are a bunch of players out there in the world better than NHL guys that just didn't get noticed.

 

[robes1]

Yes and no, there are probably an endless number of players that would have developed and become stars but stopped around age 12 or so because they were not on the top team due to the difficulties they faced at younger ages, and it was too expensive to continue... or if they did continue didn't get the coaching and training they would need such that they fell too far behind, but I don't think there are a bunch of players out there in the world better than NHL guys that just didn't get noticed.

Yeah, the development is what I was alluding to mostly.

 

[Black Kevin]

Some say his skates were actually just two old and rusty butter knives tied to a pair of 1950s soviet sneakers made out of plastic and feathers. He never had a helmet, so he had to grow his hair... this is why he has long hair after all these years. It brings comfort and reminds him of the better times back in Russia. Panarin was so poor growing up, he never had the chance to go to school. He never learned english, russian, chinese or any other language. He only speaks hockey and the language of love. NHL clubs finally took notice when he scored a beautiful goal and celebrated by making love to his team's DJ, Tatiyana Biegtiettinova, right there in the middle of the ice in St. Petersburgh. It was sensational. Seven years later he signed a $92 million contract with the Rangers. Much to think about.

 

[North Cole]

Scouting all of Russia is probably a very cost ineffective process. Scouts maybe only saw him once or twice in his eligible year and unless he was absolutely nuts, there's a lot of risk there. Much easier to stake an opinion on a player you've seen 10-15 times, versus once or twice. Obviously this is even more amplified if he doesn't appear on the national team, since the national team scouts probably spend more time scouting their country than the NHL-scouts - usually a red flag.

 

[Bobby Orr's Knees]

No wonder he's always so happy. Imagine becoming a star NHL player with that background. Where were his parents, btw?

 

[Saucechucker99]

Had no idea about this. The skates he had to wear is crazy. I wonder if that is why he does not have the traditional support at the back of his skates that comes up above the ankle. The first time I saw that when he came into the league it was weird, but maybe he just grew up without traditional skates for long enough that it was normal to him.

 

[Zine]

Growing up poor had nothing to do with it. If anything it made him work harder to get to the higher-level youth leagues. He eventually made it to Traktor and Vityaz schools where he had the same advantages and exposure as everyone else.

Panarin wasn't drafted because he was a late bloomer physically. He was a talented but skinny and weak junior player.
I remember thinking he could be a great player at the 2011 WJC if he could withstand the physical rigors of small ice,; because he had difficulty with the Canada's physicality at the Russia/CHL subway series a month earlier.

However he eventually performed very well at the 2011 WJC (winning gold), and I think it have him a boost of confidence. He really blossomed from that point forward.
I don’t know why he wasn’t drafted after that.

 

[WarriorofTime]

No wonder he's always so happy. Imagine becoming a star NHL player with that background. Where were his parents, btw?

His mother was only 20 when he was born. They divorced when he was 3 months and he lived with his grandparents his whole life. I don't think they were ready for a child. He does have contact with his mother and a little bit with his father. I don't know the specifics beyond that.

 

[MartyOwns]

Does it have anything to do with the fact that I didn't play for any U17, U18, U19 or U20 Russia team ? What's up with that too ?

you outed yourself there, artemi

 

[kp61c]

I'm sorry if it's common knowledge but I was looking at Artemi Panarin's stats from 17 to 20 years old and I can't wrap my head around why he was never drafted by any NHL teams.

In his draft year, 2010, he ended up with 8 points in 20 games in the KHL which is pretty good for a 17-18 years old. In comparaison, Kuznetsov ended up with 9 points in 35 games and was drafted 26th overall. Did size play a part into it as Panarin is only 5'10'' ?

Does it have anything to do with the fact that I didn't play for any U17, U18, U19 or U20 Russia team ? What's up with that too ? It makes no sense to leave out a player who has the stats he had as a 18, 19 years old.

Has he ever expressed his intention to not leave Russia ?

You didn't but he did. He scored a game winning goal against Canada in a WJC final.

 

[Kshahdoo]

He would have been a 1st rounder nowadays, NHL scouting of Russia just sucked back to then...

 

[bertuzzi2bure]

he didnt even wear skates as a kid. just glided on top of 2 knives. i heard he didnt use a stick until age 13.

no wonder he didnt get drafted.

 

[majormajor]

Growing up poor had nothing to do with it. If anything it made him work harder to get to the higher-level youth leagues. He eventually made it to Traktor and Vityaz schools where he had the same advantages and exposure as everyone else.

Panarin wasn't drafted because he was a late bloomer physically. He was a talented but skinny and weak junior player.
I remember thinking he could be a great player at the 2011 WJC if he could withstand the physical rigors of small ice,; because he had difficulty with the Canada's physicality at the Russia/CHL subway series a month earlier.

However he eventually performed very well at the 2011 WJC (winning gold), and I think it have him a boost of confidence. He really blossomed from that point forward.
I don’t know why he wasn’t drafted after that.

Yes, all the stories about Panarin growing up without proper equipment and whatnot are very interesting, but not really why he didn't get drafted. He was trained in high level academies for his teenage years.

In the 2011 WJC you can see he still didn't score half of what Tarasenko or Kuznetsov did. He probably should have been drafted somewhere but he wasn't an obvious NHL caliber player until he landed in St. Petersburg in 2013. Yes, he was only really noticed in the big city, but that was also where he took a real jump in his play.

If you look at Panarin's physique today, he has incredible core strength. You can see the effects in his game, he can stop and start and pivot instantaneously, while extending off to one side or another, and somehow maintain perfect balance and control. That's a big part of what makes him great. Before he was that strong, he wasn't a great player.

 

[chaser17]

Rather than buying new sticks or spending money on tape to repair them his grandpa cut down a couple old oak trees out back and hand crafted him new sticks whenever he would break one.

 

[hotcabbagesoup]

Some say his skates were actually just two old and rusty butter knives tied to a pair of 1950s soviet sneakers made out of plastic and feathers. He never had a helmet, so he had to grow his hair... this is why he has long hair after all these years. It brings comfort and reminds him of the better times back in Russia. Panarin was so poor growing up, he never had the chance to go to school. He never learned english, russian, chinese or any other language. He only speaks hockey and the language of love. NHL clubs finally took notice when he scored a beautiful goal and celebrated by making love to his team's DJ, Tatiyana Biegtiettinova, right there in the middle of the ice in St. Petersburgh. It was sensational. Seven years later he signed a $92 million contract with the Rangers. Much to think about.

Tell me more. There's no biography about Panarin yet I'm dying to know more about his tumultuous life (esp. relating to stuff like pucks, money, scandal, women, etc.)

 

[WarriorofTime]

He would have been a 1st rounder nowadays, NHL scouting of Russia just sucked back to then...

Three Russian guys his year went first round. It’s not so simple as that

 

[Kshahdoo]

Three Russian guys his year went first round. It’s not so simple as that

And? One of those three played in NA, two others played a lot of international games. It doesn't change anything. Panarin would have been a 1st rounder today even if NHL teams picked zero Russians in the 1st... I mean, look at the guys, who are projected as 1st rounders in the coming draft. How many games have they played in the KHL? How many points have they scored? Panarin had 8 points in 20 games...

 

[MaxV]

He was undersized. He is still about 170 lbs and had to put on significant muscle mass just to get there.