Is Korshkov going to be a bust?

[member 300185]

As others have said, too early to tell. Thread seems like an excuse to hate on Hunter.

Let me put that to bed Gary. Hunter is in my top 5 favourite players of all time. I have every jersey he ever worn (numbers and name, not actually game worn). I like him as a scout. I liked him as a Leafs head scout. I may have misspoke when I said "another Hunter blunder" because what I meant by that is some of his picks were not the best and I think the Euro scout put pressure on Hunter to make this pick. You have to trust your scouts as you cannot be at every game across the world to scout players.

This is probably more the Euro scout at the time. Is it still Tommie over there?

 

[ULF_55]

A bit early for this.

Yeah, but looking at this Toronto Maple Leafs Draft History at hockeydb.com it isn't exactly a one-pony list of suspects.

Bracco didn't really get ice time in the AHL playoffs, but many are still touting him.
Engvall came over last year in for the AHL playoff and played, and I'd guess many had already written him off.

Good thing about having a solid NHL team, you don't need rush your picks.
Bad thing about having a solid NHL term, you get impatient fans predicting busts before they get on the ice.

 

[member 300185]

Another thing that bothers me about this player is that he said he plans on staying with Lokomotiv until he has a great season on the top line. That means not next season either.

If he bounces back and makes it back to the second line then that says not next year either. He wants to be a top player on the first line. His coach just benched him because of his poor play. He is not even on the 3rd line right now and not only is he not on the first 2 lines, he actually has to play himself back on the roster.

 

[ULF_55]

Its not cap management by the Leafs. They wanted him this year. They did not tell him to stay in the K for another year, they asked him to come over this year and he said no and re-signed with Lokomotiv for another year.

Sounds like Par Lindholm, who was pressured to sign in the NHL last year, but wanted to take another year of development before signing in the NHL this year.

 

[member 300185]

Yeah, but looking at this Toronto Maple Leafs Draft History at hockeydb.com it isn't exactly a one-pony list of suspects.

Bracco didn't really get ice time in the AHL playoffs, but many are still touting him.
Engvall came over last year in for the AHL playoff and played, and I'd guess many had already written him off.

Good thing about having a solid NHL team, you don't need rush your picks.
Bad thing about having a solid NHL term, you get impatient fans predicting busts before they get on the ice.

I assure you that I am not impatient. We are in the 18/19 season. He was picked in the 2016 season. 2 years is not being impatient.

I am just showing the evidence why Korshkov probably doesn't even get a sniff in the show because of his poor play with the Lokomotiv team. And now he is benched all together for 2 games straight so far. I'm thinking he may not be as good as some of you think. Staying in the K for another season is one thing, but playing yourself off the Lokomotiv team is another.

 

[member 300185]

Sounds like Par Lindholm, who was pressured to sign in the NHL last year, but wanted to take another year of development before signing in the NHL this year.

Not the same comparable at all in my opinion. Par was developing, Korshkov just played himself off Lokomotiv and have been benched for 2 games. Lindholm was actually developing and improving. Korshkov seems to be going the wrong way.

 

[moon111]

"Denisenko and Korshkov had a 22-year-old center who played 22 KHL games last year. They were okay, not exciting, and they didn’t get a lot of offensive zone time."

"That was the start of a bit of a tear for the youngster, in which he had two goals and seven assists in eight games leading up to October 10th. Once again, Korshkov has found a degree of chemistry with regular linemates Pavel Kraskovsky (Winnipeg) and Alexander Polunin (undrafted) on Lokomotiv’s kid line; and now that they’ve earned a degree of trust from their coaches, they’ve been allowed to play more significant offensive minutes."

"As it stands, Korshkov is having one of the most offensively impressive Age-20 seasons of any KHLer to date. Since the league’s opening year in 2008/09,
only eight skaters have had a higher points-per-game at the same age."

 

[SprDaVE]

Yeah, but looking at this Toronto Maple Leafs Draft History at hockeydb.com it isn't exactly a one-pony list of suspects.

Bracco didn't really get ice time in the AHL playoffs, but many are still touting him.
Engvall came over last year in for the AHL playoff and played, and I'd guess many had already written him off.

Good thing about having a solid NHL team, you don't need rush your picks.
Bad thing about having a solid NHL term, you get impatient fans predicting busts before they get on the ice.

It's clear that context is needed and prospects are normally in different situations.

Korshkov is entering his 4th full year in the KHL (I won't count the first year he played 24 games). He started really young. The trajectory when drafted seemed really good at the time but he has pretty much plateaued since drafted.

Engvall improved every season (and wasn't a top 60 pick). Bracco improved a little but was also a victim of one of the best AHL teams in the last decade and he was a rookie.

It is still early to declare anything but I do think there are cause for concern with him as a NHL prospect.

 

[Fogelhund]

Kadri benched --> https://www.cp24.com/sports/kadri-benched-for-islanders-game-after-missing-team-meeting-1.2270760
Toronto Maple Leafs’ Nazem Kadri admits he’s ‘humiliated’ by three-game benching

I suppose some of you saw him as a bust at that point too?

Marner was demoted.

Nylander is a bust --> Nylander demoted to bottom six in Leafs' latest lineup shuffle

Sure, plenty of Russians have busted. Sure, plenty of Canadians have busted. No need to go all Don Cherry closet, or not so closet White Nationalist here. The Leafs have drafted plenty of Russians, or players who developed in the KHL, who were well worth having... this notion is just dumb.

The jury is out on Korshkov... it's time for him to make strides forward, though it isn't always linear, and shouldn't be expected to be.

 

[Mess]

Remember the name Kale Clague.

• 2017-2018
  • U20 WJC Gold Medal
  • WHL (East) First All-Star Team
  • WHL Most Assists by Defenseman (60)
  • WHL Top Defenseman (Bill Hunter Trophy)
  WHL Stats: 195 games 26 goals 141 assists 167 points 0.86 PG 144 Pims & +58

If I were drafting for my beloved Leafs, then this is who would be a Maple Leaf today instead of Korshkov.

PS. I have from day 1 had my concerns that we may never see Korsh on this side of the Ocean and the KHL will remain his home.

 

[BlueForever75]

I wouldn't say anyone is a bust until they reach Biggs and Cereda territory. He has the tools to be something if he puts it together. Give it time especially when we have the luxury of not needing him at this time. I'm ok with him turning into a late bloomer like most NHL power forwards do.

 

[dominicmoore19]

Same people calling it a bad pick as of now have clearly never seen him play. He was arguably NHL ready this year and the Leafs tried to bring him over, but Korshkov opted to spend a bit more time over there instead. Not a big deal. We have the depth from our Marlies team and signings like Ennis and Jooris to be placeholders for the moment.

So for the love of god calm down people! Stop adding to our stereotype of being way too overreactive for no reason.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Let me put that to bed Gary. Hunter is in my top 5 favourite players of all time. I have every jersey he ever worn (numbers and name, not actually game worn). I like him as a scout. I liked him as a Leafs head scout. I may have misspoke when I said "another Hunter blunder" because what I meant by that is some of his picks were not the best and I think the Euro scout put pressure on Hunter to make this pick. You have to trust your scouts as you cannot be at every game across the world to scout players.

This is probably more the Euro scout at the time. Is it still Tommie over there?

OK so you misspoke and you're not hating on Hunter, cool. It's still too early to judge this pick though, he might come over to the Leafs 2-3 years from now, who knows. If he does, that'll be awesome as we'll badly need inexpensive contributors at that point.

 

[dominicmoore19]

I'm not recognizing too many names that were taken after him in the draft only a few. Who would you rather have had? Also his twitter appears to be nothing but NHL/ Leafs stuff. What were you referring to there? Yeah I agree though not looking like a great pick.

Why are people so high on Grundstrom? His stats don't look all that impressive do they? 14 points in 20 playoff games with the Marlies. Not bad I guess. Good defensively? I don't watch many Marlies games.

He plays a North American game. Skates well, has skill, lots of grit, will go to any area, responsible defensively. He's like a better Hyman.

 

[Morbo]

It's not looking good but he hasn't busted yet.

 

[4thline]

Hahaha so salty. And let's pick and chose parts of my post that fit your narrative. Read the reasons why it's such a risk. Thanks for coming out.

Ignorant takes deserve flippant responses.
"The message" is the farthest thing from "don't draft Russians". The "message" is "Drafting russians is a slow play move, don't rush them over, don't try to make them fit into the standard: "Two years evaluation-> sign elc -> a couple years in the minors -> work up from 4th line" development framework

There is no reason for a good Russian player to come over prior to either A. Reaching single Year ELC signing age, B. Being NHL ready and worthy of roster guarantees, C. being in a bad development situation. This thread is two years premature.

Picking Russians is a great strategy if you understand how it works, and the potential payoffs that mitigate the risks.

 

[2022 Stanley Cup]

The majority of Leaf fans had a love for Hunter after the 2015 draft because it was our first clearly good draft since I've been alive ('97). I feel in the 2016 and 2017 drafts however, the players drafted (outside of Matthews, Liljegren, and Rasanen) were met with a lot of disappointment from our side. Personally, I have rarely watched Korshkov play but he clearly has NHL potential and being an impact NH: player at that. For a lot of players however, they just don't reach their pinnacle. Justin Holl is just now starting to look like an NHL player at the age of 27 as a 2nd round pick.

For me, I was preaching taking a defender with that 31st pick so I did not like it much from day one.

 

[4thline]

"Denisenko and Korshkov had a 22-year-old center who played 22 KHL games last year. They were okay, not exciting, and they didn’t get a lot of offensive zone time."

"That was the start of a bit of a tear for the youngster, in which he had two goals and seven assists in eight games leading up to October 10th. Once again, Korshkov has found a degree of chemistry with regular linemates Pavel Kraskovsky (Winnipeg) and Alexander Polunin (undrafted) on Lokomotiv’s kid line; and now that they’ve earned a degree of trust from their coaches, they’ve been allowed to play more significant offensive minutes."

"As it stands, Korshkov is having one of the most offensively impressive Age-20 seasons of any KHLer to date. Since the league’s opening year in 2008/09,
only eight skaters have had a higher points-per-game at the same age."

Yeah but he had a bad week

 

[Bluelines]

That doesn't make sense on so many levels. Marner wasn't performing like he should. He worked his way out of it. Marner was a 4OA pick. Marner is actually in North America. Marner paid his dues. Marner is actually IN the NHL as opposed to Korshkov, who is none of these. Korshkov has been sat the last 2 games without injury. His poor play is seeing him go down the lineup....in the KHL, not the NHL. Marner is developed, Korshkov is not. And with Lokomotiv hiring a new coach, is not helping. For some reason that new coach doesn't like Korshkov. Marner has done everything the Leafs have asked. When the Leafs asked Korshkov to come over this year, he signed a new deal in the K.

You cant compare Korshkov to and NHL player, unless that player eventually came over later and did well. But right now, Korshkov is falling in our depth of our prospect pool and its not looking good.

See there ya go, just being demoted to the 3rd line in isolation is a nonsense statement.

So yeah there is a guy who might not pan out in the NHL, perhaps the first time in history that has ever happened?

 

[Garthinater]

Seems like statistically korshkov has plateaued a bit.

Would be awesome if he can come over and play for the leafs eventually though. We could use his size up front.

 

[Kubus]

just wondering how many players do people believe a team should get out of every draft and how quick do think believe they'll make the NHL ?

Hunters drafts

2015
-Marner - Dermott
-Bracco - Lindgren
- Timashov

2016
-Mathews
-Grundstrom
-Korshkov - Woll

2017
- TL
- ?

this is just off the top of head so if people believe others are progressing well feel free to add them

also it's still way to early imo to gauge how his drafts were

and judging by some of the comments it seems like people expect to get 3 to 5 quality NHLers out of every draft which would be great but delusional

That's the problem, people don't actually compare to the success of other teams. And people don't understand that other teams also have experts looking at the same thing. Sometimes you also have to take a risk for that high reward. Toronto is in a good position to take those risks.

 

[rent free]

he's drafted too low to be a bust, but there's no doubt that he was a bad pick.

 

[Jozay]

they need to get him to NA

 

[TheScandal89]

Not sure if its been pointed out and im at work so im not gonna read everything, but a year or two ago I think he suffered a horrendous knee injury. He seemed to have bounced back last year though.

 

[PromisedLand]

I am very high on the guy, I really hope he is not a bust