Alexander Barabanov

[JayfromNB1219]

Hey guys

Leafs fan in Canada here...wondering if anyone has some insight into Alexander Barabanov...a lot of our fan base seems to want to shoot him into the sun at this point (I’m not one of them) he seems like a low event hockey player, plays his position and is dependable anyone have a little more insight into this guy

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[SoundAndFury]

Leafs fan in Canada here...wondering if anyone has some insight into Alexander Barabanov...a lot of our fan base seems to want to shoot him into the sun at this point (I’m not one of them) he seems like a low event hockey player, plays his position and is dependable anyone have a little more insight into this guy

I'm not sure what were people expecting, it's not like he was supposed to be Panarin/Gusev/Kaprizov etc. He can skate kinda fast, is responsible, and has some offensive ability. Having said that, he is soon to be 27 and unlikely to improve much. Again, not sure what were people expecting from an undersized guy who was a career 0.5 PPG player in the KHL. It's really hard to understand why would anyone want to "shoot him into the sun" when really he is doing all he is supposed to do.

 

[ozo]

Whatever position one might see him playing in, Leafs will always have a better player in front of Barabanov for that role anyway. Better KHL players have fallen out of NHL just because they fail to impress quickly enough on competitive lineups.

 

[aonb]

i agree with the previous speakers. he was an ok player on a stacked SKA team. what did you expect? he is five levels below players like bread, kuz, kaprizov and he has no particular skill except speed, so he can't be like idk guryanov (who is also super fast but has heck of a shot too) or nuke (big dude, strong 2 way game, pk)

 

[Atas2000]

Hey guys

Leafs fan in Canada here...wondering if anyone has some insight into Alexander Barabanov...a lot of our fan base seems to want to shoot him into the sun at this point (I’m not one of them) he seems like a low event hockey player, plays his position and is dependable anyone have a little more insight into this guy

It might hurt a Leafs fan feelings, but I don't get why te Leafs keep signing forwards in bunches despite having a logjam of forwards on the roster(and obvious needs elsewhere). Just as much as I don't undersatnd why those FA guys sign with the Leafs of all teams too. I get it, Toronto is a big city and probably a nice place to live and all, but there is also the hockey side to be considered. So in this case I just blame both sides for sigining a contract that was at least somewhat destined to fail.

In Barabanov's defence I think there weren't many suitors. So given his age he might have just thought it's his only chance, so who gives a crap about everything else. In Leafs defence they aren't losing much. It's a cheap two-way contract.

On the hockey side the guy had one above his average season in the KHL and it wasn't even his last before leaving. And that season wasn't too impressive. 46 points in 58 games. 36 points less than Nikita Gusev on the same team. Aside from that seasosn he was always as @SoundAndFury pointed out a 0.5 PPG player in the KHL. There are bunches of those. To put it in perspective, this season 0,5 PPG is 133th in PPG in the KHL. If he was a 19 years old, that would have been an achievement, but he is his prime age wise.

He is not big, he can't be an effective 4th liner, so the only best case scenario for him in the NHL would be a 3rd line energy line guy who is not a liability and can score from time to time. The reality of the NHL(and in particular the Leafs) is though that he won't be given much time to prove his worth, because players of that caliber are a dime a dozen. If he does not produce right away, he is out. Exactly that is happening right now.

So in conclusion I think it was a wrong choice of a team for Barabanov. If he wanted a real chance, he would have to find a team with openings on the forward spots. Frankly as mentioned above I don't know if there were many options, but I doubt there were, maybe none except Toronto.

I see him as a strong candidate to return to the KHL ASAP.

 

[JayfromNB1219]

It might hurt a Leafs fan feelings, but I don't get why te Leafs keep signing forwards in bunches despite having a logjam of forwards on the roster(and obvious needs elsewhere). Just as much as I don't undersatnd why those FA guys sign with the Leafs of all teams too. I get it, Toronto is a big city and probably a nice place to live and all, but there is also the hockey side to be considered. So in this case I just blame both sides for sigining a contract that was at least somewhat destined to fail.

In Barabanov's defence I think there weren't many suitors. So given his age he might have just thought it's his only chance, so who gives a crap about everything else. In Leafs defence they aren't losing much. It's a cheap two-way contract.

On the hockey side the guy had one above his average season in the KHL and it wasn't even his last before leaving. And that season wasn't too impressive. 46 points in 58 games. 36 points less than Nikita Gusev on the same team. Aside from that seasosn he was always as @SoundAndFury pointed out a 0.5 PPG player in the KHL. There are bunches of those. To put it in perspective, this season 0,5 PPG is 133th in PPG in the KHL. If he was a 19 years old, that would have been an achievement, but he is his prime age wise.

He is not big, he can't be an effective 4th liner, so the only best case scenario for him in the NHL would be a 3rd line energy line guy who is not a liability and can score from time to time. The reality of the NHL(and in particular the Leafs) is though that he won't be given much time to prove his worth, because players of that caliber are a dime a dozen. If he does not produce right away, he is out. Exactly that is happening right now.

So in conclusion I think it was a wrong choice of a team for Barabanov. If he wanted a real chance, he would have to find a team with openings on the forward spots. Frankly as mentioned above I don't know if there were many options, but I doubt there were, maybe none except Toronto.

I see him as a strong candidate to return to the KHL ASAP.

I heard the Az coyotes were his other suitors and they’d offered him better and he chose the Leafs...maybe it was because our personnel on the player development side of it are miles ahead of most NHL clubs but I didn’t really get it either...that being said I like him he’s responsible and doesn’t look out of place...but as you said that’s a dime a dozen thing in the NHL

 

[Spirit of 67]

I'm not sure what were people expecting, it's not like he was supposed to be Panarin/Gusev/Kaprizov etc. He can skate kinda fast, is responsible, and has some offensive ability. Having said that, he is soon to be 27 and unlikely to improve much. Again, not sure what were people expecting from an undersized guy who was a career 0.5 PPG player in the KHL. It's really hard to understand why would anyone want to "shoot him into the sun" when really he is doing all he is supposed to do.

Some fans can't seem to comprehend that some players are no better than 4th liners and that it's perfectly okay to be nothing better than a 4th liner.

 

[sxvnert]

I'm not sure what were people expecting, it's not like he was supposed to be Panarin/Gusev/Kaprizov etc. He can skate kinda fast, is responsible, and has some offensive ability. Having said that, he is soon to be 27 and unlikely to improve much. Again, not sure what were people expecting from an undersized guy who was a career 0.5 PPG player in the KHL. It's really hard to understand why would anyone want to "shoot him into the sun" when really he is doing all he is supposed to do.

Leafs management does a poor job of managing expectations when signing unknown euros.