- May 1, 2011
- 130,376
- 57,830
Eh. It was his first pro year and you visibly saw Kalinin adjust to the NHL game over time. He also came to the Devils with no Russian players and seemingly knowing very little Russian as well. I think there were some clear tools Kalinin had. His size/boardwork combo was very Zubrus-esque but it seemed like he lost some of his effectiveness there this year. He also showed some bursts of speed last year off the rush that I think made people think he could be an effective crash the net type fourth line forward who would be a pain to play against.
I could definitely see where people had some hope for Kalinin from last year. But at the same time, he never looked strong at center and at LW he's got tons of competition who are just as good if not better than him so I don't blame the Devils from moving on. I like the idea in getting Kalinin, but it clearly didn't pan out.
Well, he had the patented ''power move'', which happened at least monthly and I don't even think ever resulted in a goal.
Yeah I mean, he had some good boardwork and all, I just never thought he had a ceiling that was higher than a career 4th liner.