Rumor: Russian players in Ottawa Senators, is it real?

[Bear12Good]

Russian players in Ottawa Senators, is it real?

You would like to see the Russian players in Ottawa?

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[NyQuil]

We've had mixed results with Russian players.

 

[Bear12Good]

 

[Knave]

I want good players we can win with... and if it's Russian players that's fine.

 

[BonkTastic]

Heck, I'll take players from North Korea, if I think they can help us win games.

Don't really care where they come from.

 

[The Expert]

I love Turris but yeah I wasn't too happy that we didn't draft Tarasenko when we had the chance. Blatantly refusing to draft a Russian is about as stupid and lazy a strategy there is.

 

[BondraTime]

Heck, I'll take players from North Korea, if I think they can help us win games.

Don't really care where they come from.

As long as it's not just picking a player due to the place they are born, (Islanders 2015....) have at er'. Pick the best players.

 

[Bear12Good]

The Russians think that the owner of the Ottawa Senators hates Russian people

 

[Bileur]

The senators certainly won't draft any Russians. That being said Volchenkov was loved here by the fan base and Gonchar was appreciated.

The draft cold streak of spending relatively high picks on high risk high reward Russians with absolutely no results during the Muckler era hurt.

Off the top of my head Kirill Lyamin, Igor Mirnov, Alexeï Kaigorodov, Dimitri Megalinsky, Vitaly Anikeyenko (rip), Ilya Zubov, Alex Nikulin, Ruslan Bashkirov, were all 4th or higher picks or higher (I think there are 4 second rounders there) who didn't work out.

That being said, its now 2016 and the full moratorium is ridiculous.

Also interesting that we keep dipping into the NCAA well despite multiple busts while completely cutting off Russians.

 

[derriko]

The Russians think that the owner of the Ottawa Senators hates Russian people

Yep, its a Melnyk thing vs a Murray thing.

Upsetting with all the elite high skill forwards Russia keeps cranking out.

And upsetting Melnyk cant put his ego aside and get over it. Its like assuming all Americans are racist, sexist, rapists because of Donald Trump.

 

[BondraTime]

The senators certainly won't draft any Russians. That being said Volchenkov was loved here by the fan base and Gonchar was appreciated.

The draft cold streak of spending relatively high picks on high risk high reward Russians with absolutely no results during the Muckler era hurt.

Off the top of my head Kirill Lyamin, Igor Mirnov, Alexeï Kaigorodov, Dimitri Megalinsky, Vitaly Anikeyenko (rip), Ruslan Bashkirov, were all 4th or higher picks or higher (I think there are 4 second rounders there) who didn't work out.

That being said, its now 2016 and the full moratorium is ridiculous.

Also interesting that we keep dipping into the NCAA well despite multiple busts while completely cutting off Russians.

They literally tried their hardest top trade up for Sergachev this year, and I know they loved Svechnikov in 2015.

 

[Bear12Good]

That Alexeï Kaigorodov

 

[Bileur]

They literally tried their hardest top trade up for Sergachev this year, and I know they loved Svechnikov in 2015.

Those are interesting for sure but fact of the matter is that if thy don't draft a Russian this year it will make 10 years since the last Russian was drafted by us.

 

[Bileur]

I was all aboard the Kaigorodov hype train and am still disappointed he didn't work out as our 2nd line centre behind Spezza.

I wish we could have seen what would have happened had he accepted te AHL demotion.

Spezza, Kaigorodov, Fisher, Kelly could have been deadly.

 

[BonkTastic]

I was all aboard the Kaigorodov hype train and am still disappointed he didn't work out as our 2nd line centre behind Spezza.

I wish we could have seen what would have happened had he accepted te AHL demotion.

Spezza, Kaigorodov, Fisher, Kelly could have been deadly.

Kaigorodov ended up being an OK 2nd line center at the KHL level, but it doesn't seem like he was going to have a stellar NHL career just based on how everything else turned out for him overseas.

Could have been an OK depth guy, perhaps. Mike Comrie (who we traded him for) was probably better than anything Kaigorodov could have turned into.

 

[Bileur]

Kaigorodov ended up being an OK 2nd line center at the KHL level, but it doesn't seem like he was going to have a stellar NHL career just based on how everything else turned out for him overseas.

Could have been an OK depth guy, perhaps. Mike Comrie (who we traded him for) was probably better than anything Kaigorodov could have turned into.

That is how it turned out but we'll unfortunately never know how it would have turned out had he stayed here and put in the work the sens were asking him to.

There are moments in your life when you make decisions that can completely alter the course and direction of it. What happens if Seguin does not get the Dallas trade wake up call? What happens if Bertuzzi does not get traded to Vancouver? There's all kinds of examples. If the rumours are true, for Kaigorodov to have stuck around he'd have had to put in a lot of work and change his game. It would have required a long look in the mirror and an attitude shift and who knows what could have come of it?

I'm certainly not saying the sens made a mistake or even that Kaigorodov made a mistake. I do know that you usually don't grow as a person or athlete if you aren't willing to step out of your comfort zone.

 

[thinkwild]

Yeah, Melnyk is a Ukrainian who has helped out their revolution against Russia eh. I guess I could see some bitterness there between nationalities. But I don’t know how much effect that would have on the Sens drafting or trading for a Russian.

Yashin did leave a bitter taste but we did get Gonchar, Kovalev, and the much loved Volchie since then. When Muckler was GM he focused a lot on Russians and American college players as a way to find an advantage. Those years of failed Russian prospects probably didn’t help. Many of them did seem to fit a stereotype of some Russian players. And that has led to a dwindling Russian presence in the NHL. There are not a lot of Russians available to us.


There is no bias in recognizing that Russian players on entry to rfa level contracts in the last decade have had a unique leverage in that they can often play for more money in their own country during that time if they re good. And many have taken that route. Tarasenko did present that risk in a year when we had limited picks needing to make as sure a bet on one as possible. But missing out out on Kopitar and Tarasenko reminds us to be wary of stereotypes, I know Kopitar is Slovenian but that was its own sterotype.

But I cant imagine our GM’s, coaches, players, or fans turning their backs on a Russian player that is good and helps us simply because he is Russian. I don’t think the Russian people need to worry about our conflating our unease with Russian political leaders with the Russian people.

 

[The Expert]

Yep, its a Melnyk thing vs a Murray thing.

Upsetting with all the elite high skill forwards Russia keeps cranking out.

And upsetting Melnyk cant put his ego aside and get over it. Its like assuming all Americans are racist, sexist, rapists because of Donald Trump.

The last sentence of this post is about as accurate as the rest of it. Couldn't be further from the truth.

If you had said Murray vs Muckler you'd have a point.

 

[sdf]

I dunno

 

[18Hossa]

I still find it funny that the "Russian Heritage Night" or whatever they called it got cancelled shortly before it was supposed to be and then a few games later they had a "Ukrainian Heritage Night".

 

[Bear12Good]

 

[Tundraman]

Melnyk anti Russian theory???? Wasn't it Melnyk who pushed Murray into signing aging Kovalev. Not a draft pick and pre-invasion but just saying.....

 

[OttawaSenators11]

The Russians think that the owner of the Ottawa Senators hates Russian people

He most likely does.

Has Ukrainian ties.

 

[OttawaSenators11]

Melnyk anti Russian theory???? Wasn't it Melnyk who pushed Murray into signing aging Kovalev. Not a draft pick and pre-invasion but just saying.....

Maybe but that was before the invasion.

Melnyk has criticized the Russians for invading Ukraine.

 

[thinkwild]

Ahh the infamous alexei kaigorodov. 9 GP, 1G, 2A it says? He's no Larionov. Im thinking there's many better players than him who think they didnt get a fair shot at the nhl. Some of them went to the AHL and proved they were right.