Ak Bars Kazan 2013/14 season talk

[Hilly1]

But you don't have Kessel, you have Stapleton If you could get Kessel to replace him I'd say sure, fire that useless hobbit all the way to Helsinki where he has played before and they will be more than happy to take him of your hands. The thing is - you can't.

And explain me how is that Stapleton and his poor "advanced stats" managed to be a leading scorer with KHL juggernaut Dinamo and he can't even match them while playing with Burmistrov? And where exactly are you getting these "advanced stats" from since you are evidently willing to bet your house on them because I would be extremely interested to see them too.

P.S. Also, how is Gaborik a small sample-size? His career is like 8 seasons already.

Again another example Gaborik on LA is a small sample size, the only reason the guy produced like he did was because of one of the best centers in the world. http://www.extraskater.com/player/1005/tim-stapleton

 

[SoundAndFury]

Again another example Gaborik on LA is a small sample size, the only reason the guy produced like he did was because of one of the best centers in the world. http://www.extraskater.com/player/1005/tim-stapleton

Gaborik in the NHL isn't. What about when he scored 40 goals for the Rangers without someone even remotely similar to one of the best centers in the world?

These are from his time in NHL What does it have to do with Ak Bars? Anton Belov has 46% CF what does that have to say about his performance in the KHL? He's still one of the best defenseman here. Do you know Sergei Kostitsyn's, you know, the one you were bragging about, season best CF is 47,4%? On a pretty strong Preds team too. And you know what, he was there because he could score goals, just like Stapleton. Their possession stats, by the way, are extremely similar. Does that mean Kostitsyn isn't a great KHL player anymore? Maybe Ak Bars shouldn't have traded for him because he was sub-par possession player in the NHL? Did I just bust your dream?

And I was actually thinking you had something to say the whole time.

 

[Hilly1]

Gaborik in the NHL isn't. What about when he scored 40 goals for the Rangers without someone even remotely similar to one of the best centers in the world?

These are from his time in NHL What does it have to do with Ak Bars? Anton Belov has 46% CF what does that have to say about his performance in the KHL? He's still one of the best defenseman here. Do you know Sergei Kostitsyn's, you know, the one you were bragging about, season best CF is 47,4%? On a pretty strong Preds team too. And you know what, he was there because he could score goals, just like Stapleton. Their stats possession stats, by the way, are extremely similar. Does that mean Kostitsyn isn't a great KHL player anymore? Maybe Ak Bars shouldn't have traded for him because he was sub-par possession player in the NHL? Did I just bust your dream?

And I was actually thinking you had something to say the whole time.

Belov is a possession beast and i'm not saying to trade Kosty but to not blame everything on a good coach

 

[SoundAndFury]

Belov is a possession beast and i'm not saying to trade Kosty but to not blame everything on a good coach

And what makes him good? Those 2-1 games his team struggles to scrape through every night? That in elimination game his team was outshot 54-36 by Sibir who have three times smaller budget? That he refuses to brake his beloved line combinations no matter how the players struggle? That he traps like it's the 90s and his team doesn't score more than 2 goals unless they absolutely have to like in that game when Ak Bars lost at home to Kuznya? Oh yeah, that his team loses at home to Kuznya? What?

 

[Atas2000]

You clearly underestimate Vadim Shipachyov.

5th in means of pure numbers, not qualities.

 

[Atas2000]

At this stage Shipachyov is better than Svitov. I mean the guy was the 2nd line center for Russia in the World Championships.

1.It's not Shipachyov vs. Svitov. It's who we got for Barulin. So it's basically Shipachyov vs. Kostitsyn. Pretty even.

2.Also shipachyov clearly lacks very important qualities of Svitov: size, grit, faceoffs, playoff performance.

 

[Atas2000]

You clearly undersetimate Anders Nilsson...

I don't think he can handle the pressure. Garipov is much more comfortable with the team and is hungry. Nilsson is in for a very tough task to perform right away.

 

[Atas2000]

Guys, aren't you getting carried away? It's about AkBars. I don't think we'll see Gaborik or Perry in AkBars uniform any time soon.

On topic. We desperately need solid stay-at-home D-men. There are tons of talen up front and goaltending shouldn't be an issue. I'm happy Panin is finally out. Never was a great player and that car-thing by his wife was the point I wanted him out.

The D is still very very suspect.

 

[Hilly1]

Guys, aren't you getting carried away? It's about AkBars. I don't think we'll see Gaborik or Perry in AkBars uniform any time soon.

On topic. We desperately need solid stay-at-home D-men. There are tons of talen up front and goaltending shouldn't be an issue. I'm happy Panin is finally out. Never was a great player and that car-thing by his wife was the point I wanted him out.

The D is still very very suspect.

Aren't there rumours of Korneev back to CSKA? If thats true it would suck, I currently like our top 6 but with Korneev gone that would be a gap towards our defensive depth and great teams with good forward depth could really hurt us.

 

[Peter25]

Ak Bars just signed Oscar Möller. He was one of the best forwards in the SHL and had a very good World Championships for Sweden. And he is just 25 years old. Seems like an ideal signing for a KHL team these days.

The signing of Möller means that Tomas Vincour or Janne Pesonen is out. Vincour is younger and more talented than Pesonen, but he had a horrible last season so it is likely that Pesonen will stay and Vincour is out.

So what will be the lines after the signing of Möller? Maybe something like this.

Mikhail Varnakov - Alexander Burmistrov - Tim Stapleton
Oscar Möller - Vadim Shipachyov - Sergei Kostitsyn
Janne Pesonen - Fyodor Malykhin - Igor Mirnov
Alexander Svitov - Alexei Tereschenko - Kirill Petrov
----
Vladimir Tkachyov - Evgeny Bodrov - Artem Lukonyanov/Dimitri Obukhov/Denis Golubev

They really need to trade or loan some of their young forwards (Tkachyov and Golubev) to another team for them to get playing time and develop.

btw, has Shipachyov's trade to Kazan been confirmed yet? In Eliteprospects he is still marked as a SKA player.

 

[SoundAndFury]

btw, has Shipachyov's trade to Kazan been confirmed yet? In Eliteprospects he is still marked as a SKA player.

Because they traded Barulin for S. Kostitsyn, Shipachyov isn't coming. I think that has been clear for more than a week now. It's not like Ak Bars will try to get him at any price because they have a need there.

 

[malkinfan]

Because they traded Barulin for S. Kostitsyn, Shipachyov isn't coming. I think that has been clear for more than a week now. It's not like Ak Bars will try to get him at any price because they have a need there.

Oh I thought it was a done deal already. EP has its status as confirmed? So what now then, Shipachyov stays in St Petersburg?

 

[SoundAndFury]

Oh I thought it was a done deal already. EP has its status as confirmed? So what now then, Shipachyov stays in St Petersburg?

Yeah, pretty hard to see where all this confusion is coming from.

Everything is quite simple, Ak Bars wanted to get rid of Barulin and traded him for the best offer. Kostitsyn is a better fit for Ak Bars and SKA is better off without Barulin and with Shipachyov. Makes sense for everybody. The center piece of the deal was Ak Bars wanting to get rid of Barulin, not get Shipachyov or anyone else in particular. Once they did that, all is quiet.

 

[Atas2000]

Möller-Malykhin-Kostitsyn

Mirnov-Burmistrov-Varnakov

Pesonen-Svitov-Petrov

Obukhov-Tkachev/Bodrov-Lukoyanov

Nikulin-Korneev

Heshka-Medvedev

Rylov-Osipov

Zakharchuk-Yarullin

 

[SwissLeaf]

According to eliteprospects.com, AK Bars Kazan has the rights for Justin Azevedo (http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=9347).

What does that mean? Is he free to chose a club, which is NOT in the KHL? Or is he property of Kazan?

 

[SoundAndFury]

What does that mean? Is he free to chose a club, which is NOT in the KHL? Or is he property of Kazan?

He is free to play anywhere he wants outside of the KHL.

 

[SwissLeaf]

Thank you for the prompt reply.

 

[m4tt145]

He is free to play anywhere he wants outside of the KHL.

So he won't play in Kazan or what? I thought the signed him?

 

[SoundAndFury]

Not yet but I think they will.

 

[VictoriaJetsFan]

I would love to learn more about the KHL and Ak-Bars..just a head's up, countless debates around NHL guys who have nothing to do with your team makes it difficult to learn about your league.

 

[Atas2000]

I would love to learn more about the KHL and Ak-Bars..just a head's up, countless debates around NHL guys who have nothing to do with your team makes it difficult to learn about your league.

There are few AkBars fans on HF. The thread is easily turned into some place for OT debates due to that.

But whatever it is you are interested in I will gladly give my best to reply on it.

 

[Atas2000]

Not yet but I think they will.

Just wanted to make sure. Had to look it up too. Azevedo joined the team in Finland for the the pre-season camp. He's definitely signed and on the team now.

I'm curious myself about where he will fit in.

 

[SoundAndFury]

He's definitely signed and on the team now.

I'm curious myself about where he will fit in.

Maybe it's some sort of try-out, no?

I bet he will play LW, Ak Bars obviously like to have their LWs right-handed. However if he's indeed signed you guys will have some tremendous depth next year with at least one very solid KHL scorer on the 4th line.

 

[Atas2000]

Maybe it's some sort of try-out, no?

I bet he will play LW, Ak Bars obviously like to have their LWs right-handed. However if he's indeed signed you guys will have some tremendous depth next year with at least one very solid KHL scorer on the 4th line.

He's listed on the roster on the official site.

http://www.ak-bars.ru/team/

As far as my experience with the site goes they are rather conservative and slow actually. They wouldn't put a guy on a tryout on the site, just to remove him later.

 

[Hilly1]

Maybe it's some sort of try-out, no?

I bet he will play LW, Ak Bars obviously like to have their LWs right-handed. However if he's indeed signed you guys will have some tremendous depth next year with at least one very solid KHL scorer on the 4th line.

Yes I am VERY excited for the upcoming season due to this teams amazing scoring depth. It was 9th best last year and I will not be surprised if they put up top 5 team numbers next year or even top 3! It will be different without Barulin because he was obviously a top tier Goalie in the league but I think Nilsson and Garipov could potentially to a better job than Barulin.