Rumor: Khokhlachev is going back to Russia

[bearcountry17]

Lol, stop being ridiculous. Nino Niederreiter played 64 games for the Isles and scored the whole lot of 2 goals and 1 assist. So NYI has 7 times more reasons, than Bruins with Khokhlachev, to say Niederreiter was a bust, and we now know, how good it's ended up for the team...

You know the Bruins retained his rights, right? Maybe they are ok with him working on his game in the KHL. If they thought he was a bust they wouldn't have wasted a contract spot on him. Him being in Russia is best for both parties.

 

[Eddie Munson]

So what he's small! If Tyler Johnson and Martin St. Louis could make it why not him? Both 5'8" and the same weight as him. Bruins messed up not giving him real top 6 minutes. Really hope he comes back to haunt them!

Both Tyler Johnson and Martin St. Louis are/were waterbugs you noticed all over the ice with their effort and compete levels. I watched way too many preseason games where Koko was probably the most talented player on the ice but didn't fight for pucks, had brutal turn overs with minimal effort to try and get the puck back, and went missing for long stretches between good plays.

Kids have to earn a chance to play in the NHL and then give the team a reason not to send them down. He has the skill for the NHL, just never showed a professional effort level that warranted him staying up with the big club.

Boston should have absolutely traded him when they realized he wasn't a fit but I'd argue that they gave him a chance, he just never took it. Also he had some bad luck that seemed like whenever a Bruins center went down, he was injured and it was Spooner who got the call and not him.

 

[nmbr_24]

Lol, stop being ridiculous. Nino Niederreiter played 64 games for the Isles and scored the whole lot of 2 goals and 1 assist. So NYI has 7 times more reasons, than Bruins with Khokhlachev, to say Niederreiter was a bust, and we now know, how good it's ended up for the team...

If a player doesn't play well enough when given a chance and then doesn't play well enough in training camp I find it hard to believe that many teams are going to just put him on their team when they have other players who have played better. He didn't make the team and he left for Russia. I saw every NHL game he played and some of his training camp performance along with a handful of AHL games. He did not play well enough to make the NHL team, it wasn't just 9 games, it was also 3? Training camps. He didn't play well enough to stick in the KHL the first time either. The Bruins never said he was a bust, he left because he didn't want to play in the AHL anymore.

 

[Absurdity]

9 games is not anywhere near enough time to judge a prospect's effectiveness. Completely hilarious to think so.

He showed absolutely nothing in those 9 games to warrant any extra time on ice. During those 9 games, he was a zero-zone player that showed little effort and looked as if he was just going through the motions. That play does not pass in today's NHL. You can have all the talent in the world, but when you step on the ice and show absolutely none of that talent or the parts of the game you excel at, you aren't going to cut it. He needed to show something, he showed nothing. He's not cut out to be a center in the NHL, and he's too soft and lacks the effort to be a winger.

On the other hand, younger players at the time like Spooner and Vatrano actually showed that they could have a future on the team. Spooner showed his speed, skating, and passing abilities while Vatrano showed his speed, effort, and shot. That is the reason why both Spooner, 49 and 39 point seasons under his belt, and Vatrano, albeit both still have holes in their game, are still playing on the Bruins while Khokhlachev left for the KHL. Opportunities are earned, not given.

 

[HansonBro]

Coke deserved a much better chance then what he was given

 

[SoundAndFury]

They can always bring him back. I see nothing wrong with this, Koko has better chance and gets more money, Bruins can bring him back when they have a use for him. Win-win. Only bad decision Koko made is going back to overloaded SKA.

 

[BruinLVGA]

The Bruins are deep on players-who-should-play-in-the-top-6-but-aren't-good-enough-to-be-top-6-players. I hope he succeeds but it didn't work here. You don't get rewarded for being bad by getting top-6 minutes. Koko was only effective when he was scoring, and I don't remember him ever scoring at a consistent rate... 0 points in 9 games.

It's not a conspiracy theory as to why he wasn't given more time in the NHL, or given top-6 minutes. It's because he wasn't good enough. And his style of play wasn't a good match for the 3rd or 4th line. He got fed up by that, and rightly so. I don't blame him at all for wanting to leave and I hope he succeeds.

Not only that. The times he was up, he was completely invisible. I didn't see even one play in those 9 games where I saw anything that told me that he could have success. As a comparison, Jimmy Hayes looked like Gretzky compared to Koko & his 9 games. Never seen anyone as flatlined as Koko.

 

[BruinLVGA]

Lol, stop being ridiculous. Nino Niederreiter played 64 games for the Isles and scored the whole lot of 2 goals and 1 assist. So NYI had 7 times more reasons, than Bruins with Khokhlachev, to say Niederreiter was a bust, and we now know, how good it's ended up for the team...

I understand that you are Russian and you are supporting your homeboy. I do the same for Swiss players.
But this is just a bad example. Niederreiter wasn't obviously ready to be in the NHL in his rookie year and playing him on the 4th line with a bunch of plugs with 10 minutes of TOI per game for the 27th overall NY Islanders, is the quickest way to destroy a 5th OA pick.
In his sophomore year, after a year in the AHL, he asked for a trade and with his new team he immediately put up 36 points and just kept on improving his play & point totals every season, culminating in a 57 points performance in 16-17. He also has three 20+ goals season and he is a darling for advanced stats.

And Kokhlachev? Well... He had three seasons in the AHL to get ready for the big leagues and every time he came up, it was a complete no show: zero points, zero plays, zero flashes of brilliance. Zero on EVERYTHING. It's not by chance that nobody gave him a chance in any other team. He just isn't a NHL caliber player. Even in his first year in the KHL he had 10 points in 25 games. Hardly a barn burner. OK now he is ppg in 9 games. Hope he gets it together and perhaps he might still have an NHL career. But ppg in 9 games in the KHL in his draft + 6 season =/= something along the lines of "he got a raw deal from Boston, look at him now" thing, nor it's similar in any way, shape or form to a Niederreiter.

 

[whatsbruin]

I'm not saying the B's made a mistake letting him go to Russia, but Koko playing for
C. Julien had Koko on egg shells. Clode is not a good coach for a young offensive
player. One missed defensive assignment, and he sits for the game and doesn't play for a month.

 

[bob27]

What would a team give for his rights if he were to attempt a comeback? I don't think that the Bruins are very interested in him anymore, even if he crushed it in KHL.

 

[nmbr_24]

Coke deserved a much better chance then what he was given

Why exactly did he deserve a much better chance? What about all of the players who outplayed him in camp? Are you saying that they should have given a better chance to the player who wasn't as good in camp as a half dozen other players? He was given a chance and he didn't succeed and he left before his next chance. Maybe he should have been better or waited for another chance just like every other player but he left and went to play in Russia. That was his choice.

 

[Pia8988]

Why exactly did he deserve a much better chance? What about all of the players who outplayed him in camp? Are you saying that they should have given a better chance to the player who wasn't as good in camp as a half dozen other players? He was given a chance and he didn't succeed and he left before his next chance. Maybe he should have been better or waited for another chance just like every other player but he left and went to play in Russia. That was his choice.

Exactly. If you're a young player on the bubble on a deeper team, you have to force them to keep you up. Khoko didn't do that so someone else got a shot. It's not like Boston was a bottom 5 team keeping him out.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

He's starting to come into his own this year, I think after this current KHL season is over, he'll be back and he'll be a better player for it.

 

[ON3M4N]

What would a team give for his rights if he were to attempt a comeback? I don't think that the Bruins are very interested in him anymore, even if he crushed it in KHL.

I think he could be used on our #3LW if he's ready. If he has a great year in the KHL, you sign him, bring him and and see if he fits w/ Cassidy (who coached him in PRO when he was their leading scorer) and if it doesn't work you trade him.