Your Thought On Kostitsyn

[Maithz]

I'm a Habs Fan and you know like me that the Habs Fab are always high on our prospects and I'm actually very high on Kostitsyn . I really have hope on him that he's gonna be a 30 goals scorer . I just wanna know what the fans around the league think about this guy , if anyone saw him play on the WJC .

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[BuppY]

Has a lot of talent, he is a boom or a bust prospect. If he is a boom and reaches full potential he'll be a 30 goal scorer 60+ points!!!

 

[CREW99AW]

Has a lot of talent, he is a boom or a bust prospect. If he is a boom and reaches full potential he'll be a 30 goal scorer 60+ points!!!

I haven't seen him play,but scouts project him to be a potential 1st line scorer.

You say boom or bust?Let's say he doesn't reach his full potential but instead becomes a very good 2nd liner.How is that a bust?Bust indicates he'll do nothing in the nhl.

 

[BuppY]

I haven't seen him play,but scouts project him to be a potential 1st line scorer.

You say boom or bust?Let's say he doesn't reach his full potential but instead becomes a very good 2nd liner.How is that a bust?Bust indicates he'll do nothing in the nhl.

When I said Bust I ment he won't play in the NHL. If he plays in the NHl he will play on one of the top 2 lines, but he will not play as a 3rd or 4th liner.

 

[CREW99AW]

When I said Bust I ment he won't play in the NHL. If he plays in the NHl he will play on one of the top 2 lines, but he will not play as a 3rd or 4th liner.

I'll agree that he'll need to play on the top two lines with other skilled players,but I don't agree that he's a boom or bust prospect.He could develop into a good 2nd liner,neither boom or bust.

We've seen talented,but flawed players like Czerkawski and Val Bure play for yrs in the league.Not living up to their highest potential because of their defensive shortcomings,but still skilled enough offensively to stick.

 

[Jacob]

Looks good to me. But sooner or later he's gotta start translating his skill into production- at a meaningful level.

 

[MePutPuckInNet]

meaningful level? not sure what that is......but, I thought he translated just fine in the game against Team USA.

I was impressed with his speed, which, in my opinion was a bit of a surprise. He's got a great shot and he's one of those "explosive" types of players....by that I mean,,,he takes himself out of the play at times, only to return into the play at the most opportune moments - while some people call that "floating", I call it ice vision. He seems to have a really good way of anticipating puck movement. Overall, I'd say I was more impressed with him than I was any other prospect on any team. Maybe it's because I wasn't expecting to see him play as well as he did, I'm not sure. But, I think the Habs got a good one.

 

[417]

meaningful level? not sure what that is......but, I thought he translated just fine in the game against Team USA.

I was impressed with his speed, which, in my opinion was a bit of a surprise. He's got a great shot and he's one of those "explosive" types of players....by that I mean,,,he takes himself out of the play at times, only to return into the play at the most opportune moments - while some people call that "floating", I call it ice vision. He seems to have a really good way of anticipating puck movement. Overall, I'd say I was more impressed with him than I was any other prospect on any team. Maybe it's because I wasn't expecting to see him play as well as he did, I'm not sure. But, I think the Habs got a good one.

I think it's because he stood out on such a poor team, and if you read Mckeen's report on Kostitsyn during the WJHC, you'll also notice that alot of experts thought he had a great tournament, especially the game vs. the US, he was absolutely dominant, I don't see why everybody always puts the boom or bust label on this guy, he hasn't done anything to show he won't produce at the NHL level, a guy like Kostitsyn IMO, is a bit overrated by Habs fans and a bit underrated by others, just watch him play, and you'll understand why alot of people thought he had just as much talent as Zherdev in the 2003 draft

 

[West]

I think it's because he stood out on such a poor team, and if you read Mckeen's report on Kostitsyn during the WJHC, you'll also notice that alot of experts thought he had a great tournament, especially the game vs. the US, he was absolutely dominant, I don't see why everybody always puts the boom or bust label on this guy, he hasn't done anything to show he won't produce at the NHL level, a guy like Kostitsyn IMO, is a bit overrated by Habs fans and a bit underrated by others, just watch him play, and you'll understand why alot of people thought he had just as much talent as Zherdev in the 2003 draft

I've watched a few Bulldog games this year and been not at all impressed with what he's done. It's his first year in the league and many players have developed very nicely in the AHL after having less than stellar first season's.

I've only seen him in play for the Bulldogs and the WJC a few years back, but looking at his stat's over that period he looks like a player who just had a really WJC and hasn't done anything else. Personnally if I was to redo the draft I don't think that he'd make my top 20.

 

[DanKramerHabs]

Location: Toronto

I've watched a few Bulldog games this year and been not at all impressed with what he's done. It's his first year in the league and many players have developed very nicely in the AHL after having less than stellar first season's.

I've only seen him in play for the Bulldogs and the WJC a few years back, but looking at his stat's over that period he looks like a player who just had a really WJC and hasn't done anything else. Personnally if I was to redo the draft I don't think that he'd make my top 20.

Wheeee. Just thought I'd underline that.
Kost produced best in the WJCs, yes, but his play in Belarus was certainly good as well. And since coming to Hamilton, he has played fine. Yes, there were alot of expectations on him, and he struggled somewhat to produce at first, but his defensive game has improved immensely and he was beginning to light it up before leaving for this year's World Juniors.

Now I'm not saying the kid's gonna be a 50 goal scorer, but I don't see bust potential in him. He will make it to the NHL and be a consistant, reliable, top 2 line forward. He doesn't shy away from contact, can skate well, has crazy moves, and a blistering shot. Sounds pretty good to me.

 

[Habsaku]

I've watched a few Bulldog games this year and been not at all impressed with what he's done. It's his first year in the league and many players have developed very nicely in the AHL after having less than stellar first season's.

I've only seen him in play for the Bulldogs and the WJC a few years back, but looking at his stat's over that period he looks like a player who just had a really WJC and hasn't done anything else. Personnally if I was to redo the draft I don't think that he'd make my top 20.

Same could be said about Perezhogin last year(who was, mind you, a year older). I remember watching him at the start and at the end of the year, it was a huge difference. At first he was temptative, didnt quite know what to do but you still saw flashes of brilliance, at the end however, he was the best player on the ice.

 

[Freaky Habs Fan]

Now I'm not saying the kid's gonna be a 50 goal scorer, but I don't see bust potential in him. He will make it to the NHL and be a consistant, reliable, top 2 line forward. He doesn't shy away from contact, can skate well, has crazy moves, and a blistering shot. Sounds pretty good to me.

If Dagenais was able to make the NHL and score 20 goals in 55 games(something like that...), Kostistyn is a sure fire NHLer. And BTW, he will be a more complete player than Valeri Bure and Marius Cwerkaski.

 

[Habitantpeasoup]

This was already posted on the habs board by Komi#1 but for those
who missed it here is a report from McKeen's.

According to Mckeens...

`` Andrei Kostitsyn (Mtl), RW
Did not light up the scoreboard, but nevertheless enjoyed an outstanding tournament .. learning his AHL lessons well as he demonstrated a consistent dedication to defense and positioning throughout .. often hung back deep to help break up plays at his own blueline .. uses body effectively .. notched a pair of nice assists against Switzerland, but really raised his game up a few notches against the Americans .. nearly went end-to-end on one play, mostly one-handed while fending off a checker .. made another slick move to undress Likens .. looks thicker and stronger all over .. displayed superb anticipation and hand-eye coordination to pick off Suter's cross-ice pass while shorthanded, and then quickly moving the puck up to Efimenko who scored on a 2-on-1 .. made great cutback move to elude checker in neutral zone, then faked wrister and tried to slip puck back between his legs to open teammate .. always seemed to be in control of the puck even while making hair-pin moves at top speed .. strong on the puck, very comfortable in possession .. took a big hit behind the net, but still got pass out front to set up second goal .. creates space for himself by first bumping opponents a la Forsberg .. skated back hard on penalty kill .. likes to fire one-timers from the right half-boards on the power play, but also functioned as QB at top of the umbrella in alternate formation .. fast, explosive release - needs little time or space to unload shot .. showed excellent imagination and initiative on one PP, exploding in from the point, passing to himself off the boards and then driving in hard behind the net - gamebreaker stuff .. will stand up for himself, threw quick elbow after taking one hit .. hard, heavy slapshot .. great hands that really disguise his intentions well .. tricky passer, has neat little backflip that he saucers up and down expertly .. can change his mind in a heartbeat and has the skill to pull off moves .. against Slovakia, he thwarted a shorthanded chance from Marek Zagrapan by taking him into the boards .. took a horrific check from behind from Boris Valabik in which he laid motionless on the ice for several minutes .. returned a few minutes later and proceeded to put on another stickhandling exhibit .. stole the puck, blew past a defender and blazed down the ice for a shot on goal .. did not play against Germany .. twice voted player of the game for Belarus, AK delivered a composed and quite mature performance here, sprinkled with dashes of elite speed and playmaking talent. (5-1-4-5, minus-1) ``

 

[KingPurpleDinosaur]

I'll agree that he'll need to play on the top two lines with other skilled players,but I don't agree that he's a boom or bust prospect.He could develop into a good 2nd liner,neither boom or bust.

We've seen talented,but flawed players like Czerkawski and Val Bure play for yrs in the league.Not living up to their highest potential because of their defensive shortcomings,but still skilled enough offensively to stick.

contrary to popular opinion on this board, a prospect who makes it as a 2nd liner is considered a boom. and u once again missed his point that he feels kost won't make it as a 3rd or 4th liner, which u failed to address. never seeing kost i don't have an opinion on him, just clarifying what he said.

 

[Jacob]

meaningful level? not sure what that is......but, I thought he translated just fine in the game against Team USA..

Meaningful, like the AHL, RSL, etc.

 

[417]

This was already posted on the habs board by Komi#1 but for those
who missed it here is a report from McKeen's.

According to Mckeens...

`` Andrei Kostitsyn (Mtl), RW
Did not light up the scoreboard, but nevertheless enjoyed an outstanding tournament .. learning his AHL lessons well as he demonstrated a consistent dedication to defense and positioning throughout .. often hung back deep to help break up plays at his own blueline .. uses body effectively .. notched a pair of nice assists against Switzerland, but really raised his game up a few notches against the Americans .. nearly went end-to-end on one play, mostly one-handed while fending off a checker .. made another slick move to undress Likens .. looks thicker and stronger all over .. displayed superb anticipation and hand-eye coordination to pick off Suter's cross-ice pass while shorthanded, and then quickly moving the puck up to Efimenko who scored on a 2-on-1 .. made great cutback move to elude checker in neutral zone, then faked wrister and tried to slip puck back between his legs to open teammate .. always seemed to be in control of the puck even while making hair-pin moves at top speed .. strong on the puck, very comfortable in possession .. took a big hit behind the net, but still got pass out front to set up second goal .. creates space for himself by first bumping opponents a la Forsberg .. skated back hard on penalty kill .. likes to fire one-timers from the right half-boards on the power play, but also functioned as QB at top of the umbrella in alternate formation .. fast, explosive release - needs little time or space to unload shot .. showed excellent imagination and initiative on one PP, exploding in from the point, passing to himself off the boards and then driving in hard behind the net - gamebreaker stuff .. will stand up for himself, threw quick elbow after taking one hit .. hard, heavy slapshot .. great hands that really disguise his intentions well .. tricky passer, has neat little backflip that he saucers up and down expertly .. can change his mind in a heartbeat and has the skill to pull off moves .. against Slovakia, he thwarted a shorthanded chance from Marek Zagrapan by taking him into the boards .. took a horrific check from behind from Boris Valabik in which he laid motionless on the ice for several minutes .. returned a few minutes later and proceeded to put on another stickhandling exhibit .. stole the puck, blew past a defender and blazed down the ice for a shot on goal .. did not play against Germany .. twice voted player of the game for Belarus, AK delivered a composed and quite mature performance here, sprinkled with dashes of elite speed and playmaking talent. (5-1-4-5, minus-1) ``

Yeah right, Kostitsyn was horrible the whole WJHC's, this guy must be a habs fan

(insert sarcasm here____.)

 

[HFNHL Canadiens]

Yeah right, Kostitsyn was horrible the whole WJHC's, this guy must be a habs fan

(insert sarcasm here____.)

your saying that a point per game average and only a minus -1 rating on by far the worst team in the world juniors is bad. man u must have some high expectations. u probably think gretzky was just average. u obiously don't know what your talking about if you think kostitsyn's performance was horrible. This is all coming from a leaf fan who hates montreal.

 

[417]

your saying that a point per game average and only a minus -1 rating on by far the worst team in the world juniors is bad. man u must have some high expectations. u probably think gretzky was just average. u obiously don't know what your talking about if you think kostitsyn's performance was horrible. This is all coming from a leaf fan who hates montreal.

I guess the 'insert sarcasm" sentence slipped by you right?

Well, i'm a Habs fan, and Kostitsyn is my favorite prospect, I was just being sarcastic because everyone here is so quick to say he'll be a bust...

I thought and the reference to sarcasm would of made it quite obvious that I was joking, I thought Kostitsyn had a great tournament and was overlooked by alot of posters as one of the tournaments best players, take a second and read that again Leaf fan who hates montreal

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

haven't seen him play, but is there any reason he couldn't stick in the RSL? someone mentioned zherdev, from the same '03 class. zherdev is averaging a point per game in the best(currently) league in the world (RSL), while kostitsyn couldn't make it in the RSL and is sputtering in the AHL.

 

[Crusher20]

this guy is improving so much his play, but what really is letting me think he got superstar potential isnt his skills, wich are evident in shooting and stickhandling but his physical potential, this guy can hit or what, yeah he isnt even used to do it and still he got all his weight focus on one spot, incredible weight transfer wich make him like a bulldozer out there, is positionning is improving and his confidence growing while making better decisions for passing and shooting (still shots too much but improved a lot in few months only).

I think his physical attributes + speed + shot will make him an nhler at least, I hate to say that, but heck he got a superstar face, superstar style of skating superstar confidence.. he said when he arrived at habs rookie camp he was like at 50% of his shape.. lol

anyway, i still think he could fail but every week i see improvement.. remains to see what his offensive potential will be that is the only question i ask myself, positioning and physical aspect are not bothering me at this point, he has learned a lot already, and heck, he is 19 years old where he was playing in belarus, where coaching i guess isnt the best there is.

 

[417]

haven't seen him play, but is there any reason he couldn't stick in the RSL? someone mentioned zherdev, from the same '03 class. zherdev is averaging a point per game in the best(currently) league in the world (RSL), while kostitsyn couldn't make it in the RSL and is sputtering in the AHL.

Well, Kostitsyn played for a notoriously tough coach in Viktor Tikhonov, who isin't known for trusting young unproven players, Kostitsyn before this year, had no idea what to do on defense, while there were other young players on CSKA who received more icetime, Kostitsyn couldn't crack the lineup mostly due to his defensive shortcumings and an apparent disagreement with he and Tikhonov, he was sent down to the farm team where he almost scored at a goal per game pace, basically, he was never given a real opportunity in the RSL to prove himself, 17 games in 2 years on the 4th line with 5 or 6 minutes a game...

he's not sputtering in the AHL, he's recorded a point in the 1/3 of games for the Bulldogs this season, while getting limited icetime early in the season, he started to produce more before he was sent to the WJHC's and he's progressing along nicely, should have a much better 2nd half, at least stats wise, much like Perezhogin last year, but remember, he's only 19 yrs old, the best is yet to come

 

[Crusher20]

haven't seen him play, but is there any reason he couldn't stick in the RSL? someone mentioned zherdev, from the same '03 class. zherdev is averaging a point per game in the best(currently) league in the world (RSL), while kostitsyn couldn't make it in the RSL and is sputtering in the AHL.

Kost is cocky and apparently things didnt go well between him and the coach, only have positive for kost in the ahl, at this time offense isnt really a issue for me. dont look too much at the stats. Some players, see kost and a bunch more didnt produce at all in the elite leagues of their country when they got draft, scouts look at skills and potential depending on various things not only at stats. even Zherdev left russia in his second season where he was struggling big time.

 

[CREW99AW]

contrary to popular opinion on this board, a prospect who makes it as a 2nd liner is considered a boom. and u once again missed his point that he feels kost won't make it as a 3rd or 4th liner, which u failed to address. never seeing kost i don't have an opinion on him, just clarifying what he said.

I got his point that Kostitsyn won't be a 3rd or 4th liner,that he has to play with skilled players,not grinders or muckers.I agreed with that point.

I do not agree that the kid's a boom or bust prospect.Some of the scouting reports have said he could develop into a 40+ goal scorer if he reaches his top potential.My argument is that if he instead of becoming a 40+ goal scorer,he instead becomes a 25 goal scorer,he won't have reached the potential some scouts projected,but he will still be contributing,playing in the nhl.How is that boom or bust.

 

[417]

I got his point that Kostitsyn won't be a 3rd or 4th liner,that he has to play with skilled players,not grinders or muckers.I agreed with that point.

I do not agree that the kid's a boom or bust prospect.Some of the scouting reports have said he could develop into a 40+ goal scorer if he reaches his top potential.My argument is that if he instead of becoming a 40+ goal scorer,he instead becomes a 25 goal scorer,he won't have reached the potential some scouts projected,but he will still be contributing,playing in the nhl.How is that boom or bust.

because the boom or bust label, is a label that was put on Kostitsyn by alot of members on this board, it's just become the "cool" thing to say when speaking of Kostitsyn, I haven't heard 1 single expert say that he was boom or bust...

 

[Crusher20]

because the boom or bust label, is a label that was put on Kostitsyn by alot of members on this board, it's just become the "cool" thing to say when speaking of Kostitsyn, I haven't heard 1 single expert say that he was boom or bust...

well db23 did... :lol

edit: sorry he didnt say that, he said HE WAS A BUST. lollll