F Roman Lyubimov (2010 undrafted; 2016 signed, PHI)

[Kshahdoo]

http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=42434 Good size (6'2'' 207), good skater, very gritty player. An interesting case: his regular KHL statistics is nothing special. But as soon as playoffs come, he starts to play way better. And now he's 3+3 after 6 games at WHC as a 4th-liner.

To me he and Telegin are better, than Kalinin and can be solid 3rd-liners in the NHL.

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[teddygmr]

I see that he is tied for 16th overall in points at the WC so that is quite impressive for a young guy! Four goals and three assists in seven games without prime ice time. Seems that his KHL contract is up and I wonder if a NHL team could be interested. Most had never heard of Soshnikov prior to the Leafs signing him. Worth watching.

 

[Caser]

 

[Caser]

 

[Gsus]

Third line centre potential? Flyers may have that spot open for a fight since Cousins isn't signed yet and Gordon is likely to be a lock 4C. He has the grit but does he have offensive upside?

 

[Caser]

Third line centre potential? Flyers may have that spot open for a fight since Cousins isn't signed yet and Gordon is likely to be a lock 4C. He has the grit but does he have offensive upside?

I doubt he can be a good C on the NHL level, so I currently see him more as a bottom-six winger. Yes, the offensive upside is a bit doubtful, but it's not like guys like this can't produce decent points if utilized properly.

 

[Gsus]

I doubt he can be a good C on the NHL level, so I currently see him more as a bottom-six winger. Yes, the offensive upside is a bit doubtful, but it's not like guys like this can't produce decent points if utilized properly.

Thanks. Flyers obviously have TOP6 spots filled so centering 3rd-4th line would make sense if he can pull it off.

If he starts the year in Flyers jersey it means up to that point everything seems to gone right with the kid. 3rd line is a line that Flyers really haven't had in a long time, at least a contributing 3rd line. So if he can bring anything, speed, grit, hits, he's pretty good.

 

[Phillyfan28]

4th line LW battle with Matt read, commence

 

[Caser]

 

[Mathew Barzal]

Haha jesus, definition of a puck hound.

 

[Don Nachbaur 26]

Great puck pursuit. Never gave up on the play.

 

[Tripod]

It's great to see the guys who work that hard, get rewarded. Flyers fans have wanted him to be getting more icetime.

He will likely only be a 4th liner, but getting those guys for free instead of wasting draft picks in them is nice. Nice find by Hextall and the scouting staff.

 

[LePalle]

It's great to see the guys who work that hard, get rewarded. Flyers fans have wanted him to be getting more icetime.

He will likely only be a 4th liner, but getting those guys for free instead of wasting draft picks in them is nice. Nice find by Hextall and the scouting staff.

If he's a career fourth liner he's a fourth liner that can bump up to any part of the lineup if there's injuries.

Like Vandevelde, apparently.

 

[Curufinwe]

I think he has 3rd line upside.

 

[MaxV]

It's interesting, and I've said this in Svetlakov's thread, NHL teams don't draft Russian (or even European in general) grinders. There are plenty of them in NA. NHL teams look for skill in Europe. The players that ended up in grinder roles (Burmistrov, Kulemin, etc) were 2-way prospects whose offensive game didn't develop.

And this is where the whole perception of European players are softer comes from.

Well, if NHL teams were to just draft skill players from NA...

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

He's starting to get the minutes to finally show something but it's also with two really limited players in Bellemare & VandeVelde. Those two really aren't skilled at all even for bottom six standards. Lyubimov can make some skilled plays but those two usually poorly react to it. So I think he can give more offense than he's showed to this point. I think he can be a good two-way guy for bottom six standards.

 

[phrenssoa]

Is he the first Italian to ever play in the NHL?

 

[Rebels57]

Is he the first Italian to ever play in the NHL?

Well he's Russian so...

 

[Rebels57]

Right now I think Lyubimov is a top 9 forward.

He has also been called the hardest working player he's ever seen by Jake Voracek.

 

[JDinkalage Morgoone]

Well he's Russian so...

Roman, I believe he was joking.

 

[phrenssoa]

Title clearly states he's Roman

 

[Rebels57]

Roman, I believe he was joking.

Doh. I'm dumb.

 

[Kshahdoo]

Is he the first Italian to ever play in the NHL?

Nah, he's first Roman. They play ice hockey in the north of the Empire, his dad served there as a legionnaire, so Roman started to play hockey, and now he's in the NHL.

 

[daa5250]

He's been great on the 4th line. It's weird saying you love a 4th liner's play so much but after watching a 4th line of Bellamare/Vandevelde/White/Rinaldo for a couple years, actual skill stands out.

He's big, fast, forechecks like a mad man, works his ass off on the boards, and can score ... It was crazy he was scratched for awhile but I think he's made it clear how effective he is.

 

[pit]

Is he the first Italian to ever play in the NHL?

No, that would be Roman Chechmanek.