F Max Namestnikov - Sarnia Sting, OHL (2022 Draft)

William H Bonney

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Feb 27, 2002
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Why did not he play at Youth Olympics for team USA? Does he want to play for Russia?

The YOG is a smaller roster (9 forwards) so there's less opportunity to make the team. Namestnikov also wasn't at the USAH Select 15 Player Development Camp last summer, which served as the primary evaluation event for choosing the YOG roster. USAH doesn't prepare much for the tournament. And lastly, player evaluation at the 14/15 year old group isn't exactly a science. Things change quickly. Just look at the previous two USA YOG rosters. The '00 team didn't have what ended up being 2 of their top 3 NHL prospects on it (Joel Farabee and K'Andre Miller), and guys like Bode Wilde, Zac Jones, Alec Regula, etc. weren't there either. The '96 team didn't have Kyle Connor, Alex Tuch, Christian Dvorak, Brandon Carlo, Ryan Donato, Conor Garland, Sonny Milano, etc. The '96 team was also missing Dylan Larkin, but he was injured.

I don't know who Namestnikov will officially represent in the future if he's good enough for that to matter. But he was going to try out for the NTDP at the evaluation camp that was supposed to start tomorrow. Rumor is that the camp is cancelled and they may be naming the team soon. So if he gets an offer and accepts, it'll be USA Hockey.
 
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bagsw

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Apr 17, 2016
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Saint Petersburg, Russia
The YOG is a smaller roster (9 forwards) so there's less opportunity to make the team. Namestnikov also wasn't at the USAH Select 15 Player Development Camp last summer, which served as the primary evaluation event for choosing the YOG roster. USAH doesn't prepare much for the tournament. And lastly, player evaluation at the 14/15 year old group isn't exactly a science. Things change quickly. Just look at the previous two USA YOG rosters. The '00 team didn't have what ended up being 2 of their top 3 NHL prospects on it (Joel Farabee and K'Andre Miller), and guys like Bode Wilde, Zac Jones, Alec Regula, etc. weren't there either. The '96 team didn't have Kyle Connor, Alex Tuch, Christian Dvorak, Brandon Carlo, Ryan Donato, Conor Garland, Sonny Milano, etc. The '96 team was also missing Dylan Larkin, but he was injured.

I don't know who Namestnikov will officially represent in the future if he's good enough for that to matter. But he was going to try out for the NTDP at the evaluation camp that was supposed to start tomorrow. Rumor is that the camp is cancelled and they may be naming the team soon. So if he gets an offer and accepts, it'll be USA Hockey.
Thanks for the info.

About his possible participation in NTDP, it shouln't make him unavailable for Russian team from the point of IIHF rules. It is possible that he wants to play there because it is great opportunity for his development. At that early age players may change their country like Logan Brown did, for example.
 

William H Bonney

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Feb 27, 2002
25,081
7,133
Colorado
Thanks for the info.

About his possible participation in NTDP, it shouln't make him unavailable for Russian team from the point of IIHF rules. It is possible that he wants to play there because it is great opportunity for his development. At that early age players may change their country like Logan Brown did, for example.

The NTDP is a 2 year program (U17 and U18 seasons). The final event in the U18 season is the IIHF U18 tournament, which effectively cements the representation country of any participants, and the NTDP U18 goes to that. If Namestnikov were to get an NTDP offer and accept it, it's highly likely that he'd play in that tournament and thus be locked in with USAH. It's possible he wouldn't play at the IIHF U18s even if he's with the NTDP, but those instances are the exceptions (i.e. leaves NTDP early, gets demoted from the U18 team and not chosen for the IIHF roster, or is injured and unable to play) and not close to the norm.

Logan Brown isn't similar as of now other than also being a dual citizen. He tried out for the NTDP first, went to the OHL instead, then played for Canada at the U17 Challenge (not a binding event for player eligibility and USAH sends the NTDP U17 team), then tried out for Canada's Hlinka team (also not a binding event for player eligibility) and didn't make it, then got an offer to essentially join and play with the NTDP U18 team for the IIHF U18 (binding event for player eligibility) and is now locked in with USAH.

If Namestnikov doesn't make the NTDP, he certainly could end up on a path like that of Brown by basically choosing to represent whomever offers until he eventually locks in his eligibility at the IIHF U18 level. But it's pretty rare for a player to hop back and forth. Tyler Myers is another example. Played for Team USA in a non-binding tournament, later ended up gaining Canadian citizenship, and started representing, and locked into, Team Canada.
 
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Caser

@RUSProspects
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Hope so, it is normal for normal Russian guy to be f***ing sick at even the idea of being able to represent the United States

Artem Shlaine says "Hi". :)


About Namestnikov, the question is if he is even eligible to represent Russia by the IIHF rules, because if he really holds two citizenships, then he would need to spend two years in Russia at least in junior ages.
 
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bagsw

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Apr 17, 2016
351
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Saint Petersburg, Russia
Artem Shlaine says "Hi". :)


About Namestnikov, the question is if he is even eligible to represent Russia by the IIHF rules, because if he really holds two citizenships, then he would need to spend two years in Russia at least in junior ages.
Does he need to do it even in case he was born in Russia?
 

Caser

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May 21, 2013
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Does he need to do it even in case he was born in Russia?

Yeah, place of birth doesn't really matter: if you have multiple citizenships, then the next criteria is where you have played at least two years since, iirc, age of 12. But again, noone here can tell for sure how many citizenships does he hold (story of Nikita Alexandrov is a very good example here).
 

canuck2010

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Dec 21, 2010
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I've said it until I'm blue in the face and everybody is sick of hearing about it but here I go again. It's a problem for international hockey. It used to be that the USA took advantage only of Canadian/American duals, now it includes Swedes, Czechs, and Russians as well. It's an unfair recruiting advantage that 25 NHL teams and 27 AHL teams provide. The NHL is already involved in funding USA Hockey etc. NHL, USA Hockey and USHL Announce Partnership The 3 top rated Americans in the 2020 draft are duals, Sanderson, Bordeleau and Brisson.

It's just not my way to grow the game of hockey worldwide. Not saying I'm right just saying it isn't my way. As far as the players go I respect their right to choose their nationality however it is naive to think that money and resources don't play into that decision.

Off topic but sincere best wishes to all during these very troubled times.
 
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wings5

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Found it funny he described himself as a power forward, need to grow a little bit first before saying that kid. Hopefully he does.
 
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wings5

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I thought I had read he was committed to MSU but he must obviously be going to Sarnia if they took him that high.

Those commitments were before his NTDP snub, hearing him talk sounds like he's headed to Sarnia.
 

NA Hockey

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Nov 16, 2015
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He has confirmed that he is going to report Sarnia. He will be a contributor in his first year and will get lots of opportunity.

He does need to grow a bit before he can be power forward lol. I would say he is a skilled forward with the ability to make those around him better.

Looking forward to watching him in the OHL next year.
 

Corso

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wetcoast

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Man there sure are some impressive names on that Honeybaked U15 roster to watch going forward.
 

Frk It

Mo Seider Less Problems
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Picking it up with 3 points last night and points in 6 straight games.
 

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