I am newly Hawks fan as of last year since Panarin and Anisimov landed in Chicago. The teams tolerance for the puck moving style of their skilled guys is admirable and hopefully long lived. I am a KHL fan who reads all news about KHL and occasionally some Russian NHL news crosses my path...
Recently I read Barry Smith (former KHL coach) made a trip to Russia to watch 3 games. Sibir (2 games) and 1 Kazan game. Obvious guys he was looking at were Tkachev, Shalunov and Nalimov. 1 other interesting note was that Smith met with former NHLer/KHL coach and now scout Andrei Nikolishin to discuss prospects for the upcoming draft.
I didnt realize the Hawks had these types of resources in Russia, but this is awesome to hear since besides Toronto (Namestnikov, Kozlov & Fedorov all scouts/coaches/GMs) I dont know of a team who has better contacts over there.
Kayumov was a nice pick up last year (I have watched him in the playoffs for Loko MHL, scored a nice goal in the last game). I beleive the Hawks are likely to take a flyer on another Russian guy at this years draft and will likley land one of the FA seeking an NHL test this summer.
Love that the Hawks are doing this, not all guys will "pan" out (no pun intended) but these guys inherently as a result of their system have an inclination for puck possession style of hockey, which coincides perfectly with the Hawks style. Im excited for offseason already!