Breakthrough players in KHL in 2016-2017

[SoundAndFury]

I thought this thread went really well last year, was a joy to post in, joy to read and joy to follow the players listed and put them on the map for myself. All posts are greatly appreciated.

I'll post the summary of how did the players mentioned last year do and come up with some kind of new list of names later.

Click to read more...

 

[DANOZ28]

wild pick kaprizov sure looked good last year, i think he will keep it going and really shine this year. my nickname for him is "hemi" because his dob is 4-26. hopefully kaprizov turns into tarasenko part 2 cheers!

 

[Milos Krasic]

Some of the young forwards/defensemen for Avangard are going to have to step up.

 

[malkinfan]

Tkachev, Okulov, Kuzmenko, Semyonov are my choices. Does Filatov count?

 

[SoundAndFury]

So I literally wrote down all the names mentioned in last years thread and those are

PLAYERS WHO LIVED UP TO/EXCEEDED EXPECTATIONS

Albert Yarullin - 2nd between Ak Bars' D in scoring, lead the team in TOI in the playoffs. Top 4 D for years to come in the league.
Nikita Tryamkin - not a real breakout but good enough to sign with Canucks and leave the KHL.
Ivan Telegin - even though scored just 9 points during regular season was good enough to make Russia's WC roster, offensive output would improve if he was asked to play in a scoring role
Tomáš Filippi - answered all the questions about himself, great 2C for Gagarin Cup champs, 30 points and +24 in the first KHL season
Anatoli Golyshev - 4th in goals last year, enough said; overall the brightest breakout star in the league last year
Vasili Demchenko - I think one of the best young goalies in the league is still very much under radar just because how unimpressive Traktor was last year but he actually played 48 games for the team last year and achieved very respectable .922 Sv% and 2.32 GAA
Roman Lyubimov - much like in Telegin's case, only 14 points during regular season (and actually worse PPG than season before) but good in enough to make WC team and get signed by Flyers
Alexander Pechursky - I wasn't too optimistic when somebody mentioned Pechursky but he actually finished the season with .936 Sv% meaning that at some point Amur will probably give him the starting job, unless he screws up this season, that is
Kirill Kaprizov - 27 points for Kuznya and deal with SYu where he is looking pretty hot in the pre-season
Maxim Shalunov - 30 points in regular season and overall, from hero to zero moment; Shalunov really seemed like a huge bust in the making but turned it all around, at least for the time being. I'd imagine his attitude is still an issue
Maxim Kazakov - poor 2nd half of the season and demotion to the VHL at the end of it but still, 32 points is nothing to laugh about and he is now a man who is expected to score for Admiral
Anton Burdasov - 40 points after finally getting some minutes from SKA staff, trade to Avangard will only do him good, most likely
Ziyat Paigin - everyone knows this story by now
Roman Manukhov - real dark horse before last season he really broke out big time for Kuznya and is back to Loko this year
Alexander Torchenyuk - 2C for Avtomobilist at the end of the season, 27 points in his first KHL season ever being on of not that many VHL success stories in the league, a bit of an under the radar guy

And this is the player not mentioned in last years thread but obviously missing, Artyom Alyaev is a diminutive PP quarterback for Torpedo now, pretty much unknown (to me) before last season he finished with double digits in goals and was 2nd in TOI between Torpedo D in the play-offs, KHL rookie of the year.



Now, quite a few names may appear to be missing on this list but that's because they will be on it for this year as those players IMHO have more to offer than they showed last year.

 

[SoundAndFury]

PLAYERS TO KEEP WATCHING

Those are the players who had a very solid season last year but might have something more to offer, mostly Ds that didn't break out offensively and Fs that didn't quite reach that 30 point plateau.

Artur Gavrus - on pace for 31 points last season but only limited to 19 games last season due to injuries
Denis Guryanov - obviously a pretty terrible last season, best of luck in the AHL
Alexei Bereglazov - he scored 8 points in PO and was 4th in TOI overtaking Batyrshin so if he gets to play in top-4 for whole season there are greated things ahead. And he really does have some offensive potential
Vyacheslav Leshchenko - he quietly scored 20 points last year but he went from 9 to 20 so I'd expect around 30 this season unless Spartak are absolutely terrible
Maxim Mamin - the CSKA one. 7 points during regular season but he played in almost all PO games so with so many wingers leaving might get a bigger role this season
Yevgeni Grigorenko - usual suspect here, started last season extremely hot and went into a major slump afterwards. Still finished with 24 points but if he can get more consistent he might have 40 at the end of this season
Damir Zhafyarov - even more of a usual suspect he only scored 13 points last season. He either has to break out or he becomes that "top 6 forward too bad to play in top 6" kind of player
Vladislav Kartayev - 18 points are actually really good for that 3C role he played in last season and he won't be getting a bigger one this year. But still, this guy is one to watch, really good 2-way player, really smooth hands, good size. Pretty terrible skating I guess but still. He played in EHT last year already but maybe he can take the next step and become NT regular
Alexander Barabanov - scored 17 points and didn't look out of place at all for SKA. Again, hard to hope he gets a bigger role but if he does (gets traded/loaned) he sure can take advantage of that.
Kirill Rasskazov - I actually don't think he's a good player at all but he can score points and I might be wrong. Avangard gave up on him for good but he found a good team in Torpedo so maybe with good supporting cast he can actually produce if Skudra trusts him with a scoring role
Admiral no-namers: Alexander Kuznetsov, Artyom Poshendalyov, Dmitri Sayustov - production Admiral got out of absolutely no name players last year was ridiculous, these guys scored 27, 31 and 19 points so I for one will really be looking an eye on them if they could do it again. Kirill Voronin belongs to this list as well I guess since he scored 15 points last year being only 21 y.o. but new Admiral signings mean his role, at least offensively, might even decrease this season.

And all those Ds: Nikita Lisov, Nikita Cherepanov, Artyom Blazhievski (even though if CSKA keeps him he will still do nothing), Ivan Glazkov, Zakhar Arzamastsev, Ivan Vereschagin.

In goal, Kareyev and Podyapolsky have one more season to show how good they are after a promising yet unspectacular last season.

 

[Acallabeth]

wild pick kaprizov sure looked good last year, i think he will keep it going and really shine this year.

I hope so, but doubt it, Salavat Yulaev is no MNK.

In goal, Kareyev and Podyapolsky have one more season to show how good they are after a promising yet unspectacular last season.

They haven't. Mikhail Biryukov will be the starter, Kareyev and Podyapolsky will only fight for a backup job.
Similarly, I doubt the MHL MVP Anton Krasotkin (1997) gets a lot of KHL starts, but he l00ks extremely promising.

As a Kuznya supporter, I'm eager to see what Kirill Lebedev and Mikhail Plotnikov can do in a full season.
Kirill Semyonov looks promising in the presason.
A real hope that Nikita Lyamkin improves, he's 20 now, and doesn't need to readapt to the big ice and pro game.
And I believe that the youngest player on the roster, Prokopa-born Andrei Karavayev (1997), will have his chance with a big team too.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Igor Shestyorkin?

 

[alko]

In regard of Slovak players, there is not so much to follow. The crisis continue, at the start of the season we would have players only in Slovan Bratislava and Red Star.
Pavol Skalicky is for me a candidate for a "Breakthrough player".

 

[ozo]

I kinda expect some random kid to break trough in Cherepovets or Nizhnekamsk, both teams have pretty tiny rosters so a good chance to have an opportunity to impress.

 

[malkinfan]

I kinda expect some random kid to break trough in Cherepovets or Nizhnekamsk, both teams have pretty tiny rosters so a good chance to have an opportunity to impress.

Yeah reminds of Kuptsov and Vovchenko, two guys that fit the mold. Vovchenko (maybe not so random) has pretty sweet hands and is surprisingly strong on the puck for a small guy, I could see him getting big minutes and having a big year.

 

[cska78]

Kuzmenko should take the step into the KHL.

 

[SoundAndFury]

So, my thoughts before the season. Other than players already listed here,

Both Vladimirs Tkachyovs - both are in really good situations this year as Admiral has never been a deep team and Ak Bars are trying out this new youth thing. Of course the older Vladimir scored 20 points last year already and good amount more in the playoffs but this is the first season he should start with some trust in him as an offensive player so he might really take the next step.

Talking about Admiral's Tkachyov, I think he has a lot of work to do to not destroy the hype around him as it remains to be seen if he can play in the men's league at all yet but at the same time he is very talented so a lot of things can happen.

Artyom Zub - one of the best Ds Amur had towards the end of the last season, has top-4 role locked up for this year. Not an offensive juggernaut but I think a really good minute eater for years to come.

Ilya Mikheyv - it's actually quite ridiculous to me that he scored 18 points in a rookie season on a team as stacked as Avangard and frankly it might be close to a ceiling what he can get with so many veterans ahead of him on the depth chart. But if injuries happen and he keeps developing his body he is really one to keep an eye on.

Nikolai Timashov - again a guy who had a very good rookie season very quietly, 3rd in TOI and tier for 1st in scoring last year on a solid Avtomobilist team. Even though on paper Avto improved their defense this year he should still get plenty of PP time and a chance to improve on last year.

Denis Mingaleyev - a bit of an off-the-board pick but the guy scored like crazy in the MHL (which means nothing), then was 7th in VHL scoring in his rookie season and then scored over PPG in VHL playoffs. Some growing pains are to be expected but if all goes well he can finish his rookie KHL season with 20 points.

Nikita Mikhailis - Barys' best young talent should in theory be able to take a 3rd line spot on this year's roster and he picked up quite a few points in the pre-season friendlies so maybe it's his breakout time. Much like Tkachyov though, he has to prove he is able to score against men already.

Pavel Padakin - didn't have the greatest of rookie pro seasons in NA last year but scored loads this pre-season for Sochi, one of the forwards on this list that seem really poised to make an impact, not just have talent for it.

Yakimov and Vovchenko are obviously on the radar kids and have been some time, also Loko and CSKA have loads of kids that can step in (as they did last year) but it all depends on how much time do they give them.

 

[Atas2000]

Igor Shestyorkin?

Not getting enough starts on SKA to shine, if nothing like a goalie injury disease happens. Sad but true.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Not getting enough starts on SKA to shine, if nothing like a goalie injury disease happens. Sad but true.

I'm hoping that when Koskinen goes to the WCH, he doesn't come back with the SKA starting spot.

 

[SoundAndFury]

I'm hoping that when Koskinen goes to the WCH, he doesn't come back with the SKA starting spot.

Correct me if I'm wrong but you had similar hopes last year, how did that work out for you?

Back on topic, Vlad Tkachyov has 4 points after 2 games. Also previously unmentioned 19 y.o. Vladislav Naumov is currently leading Sibir in TOI.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Correct me if I'm wrong but you had similar hopes last year, how did that work out for you?

Very true.

If they want to keep ahold of him past this season when his contract is up, they'll play him. Why would he stay as a back up? He can find another KHL team that wants to play him as a starter or he can come to North America and play in the AHL where the Rangers can make sure he gets the starting reps they want him to get. Two good options for him, if SKA doesn't want to give him a chance to start.

 

[SoundAndFury]

If they want to keep ahold of him past this season when his contract is up, they'll play him. Why would he stay as a back up? He can find another KHL team that wants to play him as a starter or he can come to North America and play in the AHL where the Rangers can make sure he gets the starting reps they want him to get. Two good options for him, if SKA doesn't want to give him a chance to start.

He can't find another KHL team because he is RFA. AHL is an option but at the same time SKA can offer him at least 5 times the money he would get in the AHL so his options are not really all that good. SKA really holds all the aces in this situation.

 

[Milos Krasic]

Slow start for Mikhailis in the midst of a horrific start from Barys. Ivan Kuchin hasn't looked half bad, but he's 28 years old and just breaking into the KHL.

 

[Dueling Banjos]

Robert Sabolic has good start to his 1st KHL season, 3 pts in 3 games. He was 2nd in goals last year in Extraliga, playing for Sparta Prague. All 3 from our TSJ line have slowly but steadily reached KHL, well earned.

 

[SoundAndFury]

Does Filatov count?

Filatov with 4 points in 4 so far. Although seemingly everyone on Lada is overachieving at the moment this really can be breakout year for him, getting tons of minutes with very good linemates.

 

[Brewins]

How's Kochlachev look?

 

[SoundAndFury]

How's Kochlachev look?

He played 10 minutes in 1 game on the wing. Needless to say he didn't really leave an impression.

 

[Atas2000]

Bitter pill for Shestyorkin.He might end up in Znarok's dog house now. But he has to be more focused, even as a 3rd goalie.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Bitter pill for Shestyorkin.He might end up in Znarok's dog house now. But he has to be more focused, even as a 3rd goalie.

2nd goalie, and he did better today. Stopped 21 of 22 shots.

I'd like to mention Alexander Barabanov as a potential breakthrough player. I thought he'd eventually have a breakthrough season, but I wasn't sure when. He has 4 goals in 4 games so far, and even last season I didn't think he was bad for SKA, although he wasn't playing many minutes.