A brief synopsis of regular arguments
So, the
general points of posters who don't support Russian players' development in the CHL are:
1) A simple fact that since the 2005 NHL draft, only 1 highly thought of Russian player has become a really good player after going the CHL route, and it was Nikita Kucherov who only played there about 50 games as an already drafted 19 year old, so we can effectively turn this number to
0, while there were literally hundreds of Russians trying that way.
There are several more players who have become reliable NHL players (Kulikov, Namestnikov), and it's too early to judge a lot of young guys, but there's only 1 star in 10 years, and it's not really a CHL product. And the only true Russian star ever to come from the CHL was Radulov.
2) Meanwhile, all other "new" NHL stars and even regulars came over as estabilished players. Tarasenko, Kuznetsov, Panarin, and even inferior tier players like Nichushkin, Orlov, Voynov, Kulemin, Anisimov, Plotnikov, Kalinin, Medvedev etc. didn't play in the CHL, going either straightly to the NHL or playing their way from the AHL and even ECHL (Khudobin).
3) Another fact is that the players who were regarded as their year's biggest talents don't end up as good as possible. Most typical example is Mikhail Grigorenko, who was expected to become a star playmaker.
4) A higher draft position, which is most player's intention while going to the CHL, doesn't guarantee a successful NHL career (Filatov, Burmistrov), and players should focus on developing their skills instead of going for that mythical draft number.
5) While some players handle the transition well, for a lot of Russians going to NA is a huge culture shock, not even talking about a different playing style. Like Maxim Kazakov, a tiny finesse winger, going to a physical French-speaking team and considering quitting hockey in a month. While playing in Russia means staying with their families, teams and hcokey philosophy. Also, as
Vorky has pointed out, not all agents do anything to help the players once they are abroad, and sometimes their relationship just straight up hurt the player:
Vladimir Tkachev, now SKA, played in injured in his CHL season. He did not tell it to his agent because he was afraid of reaction of his chl club.
6) MHL-VHL-KHL system is a good ladder for players on different steps of their developments.
7) Playing against veteran players in the KHL under KHL coaches is much more beneficial for 17-19 year old, even with limited ice time, than tearing up an inferior competition in the juniors.
8) Playing hockey in Russia is generally free for talented kids, so they owe something to Motherland.
Regular counter-arguments from the pro-CHL posters:
1) Most of NHL players are drafted from the NA leagues.
- That's true, but in fact only 7 of 36 Russians to play in the NHL this year were drafted from the CHL, including 0 impact players. So an absolute majority of NHL Russians get drafted from Russia or don't get drafted at all, which doesn't stop them from becoming stars with giant contracts.
2) Most Russian youngsters get brought up by big name club schools and can't make it to KHL fast enough, so they are either stuck in the MHL and VHL or go abroad.
While a player from SKA or Ak Bars isn't very likely to make the big club's roster at 16-17 years, there are several counterpoints here:
- I have a pretty hard time naming a player who was ruined by overstaying in the MHL. There were some who struggled a bit like Gusev, but he's a PPG+ player now.
- there are a lot of low budget teams who would gladly take a talented player and give him a good leading role, which is infinitely better than playing for some WHL team.
- all players who get to the NHL from the CHL route are definitely well known enough to get a serious pro contract offer.
-
statistic says that this KHL season is record one for number of U20 players in KHL teams rosters for last 5 seasons. It is 6,68% of 898 players who has played at least a game in KHL this season.
Source
3) Maybe the Russian players just aren't good enough, or hard-working enough...
- True for some guys, but, once again, a lot of examples of extremely promising talents ending up on a much lower level with literally 0 examples of the opposite over the last decade makes me doubt it was just players not being good enough.
4) Everyone does it, why can't the Russians?
- I'd say it's because of the combination of a completely different culture and an entirely different hockey philosophy. Russia differs a lot even from Czechia.
5) Why do the kids still keep going if it's that bad?
- A bad advice from their agents who make money off it;
- It's hard to expect a patient path from a 14-16 year old boy;
- Some of them just have an idealistic image of NA as some hockey haven;
I don't say no Russian player should ever go to the CHL. I just think it's a very rare case when a player has obstacles that don't allow him to dvelop just as well in Russia.
Just my $.02.
