Prospect Info: Klim Kostin (31st overall in 2017) - Part II

[Stealth JD]

I think he's got Pat Maroon upside; albeit with better skating ability. Decent hands, physical, good size...but i'd be shocked if he ever got more than 30-points in a full NHL season, and even that may be a reach. If some team values him, I'd happily let Army flip him as part of a larger package.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

I think he's got Pat Maroon upside; albeit with better skating ability. Decent hands, physical, good size...but i'd be shocked if he ever got more than 30-points in a full NHL season, and even that may be a reach. If some team values him, I'd happily let Army flip him as part of a larger package.

Maroon has hockey sense. He doesn’t get credit for it as much as deserved. I’ve yet to see that from Kostin. But I admit, I haven’t been excited about Kostin since the draft. After seeing him in limited viewings in the AHL his first/second season, my optimism isn’t high that he ever makes any real impact in the NHL. But I respect Butler’s favorable comments a lot. I hope I find out I’m way off and that I have no business trying to assess talent.

 

[Mike Liut]

Stewart or Lucic would be my comparison

 

[ThunderCat]

I've always had high hopes for him.. not looking so good lately!

I've been following him a little bit.. saw he finally got his first goal in KHL.
Granted.. it's based on limited minutes.

Hopefully the Blues can find him a good home like they did for Toropchenko and Alexandrov..

I sent him some words of encouragement on his Instagram post a few weeks ago..
He liked it lol.. Never hurts to try and boost a players confidence..

Hopefully he turns it around eventually.. with a different environment that suits him.

 

[Mike Liut]

Stewart or Lucic would be my comparison

Or Benn?

 

[ThunderCat]

Or Benn?

Way too early to guess on those guys..

If I were to guess..
I would lean more toward Chris Stewart. Stewwy was a bad dude out there tho.. "Fighting wise".

Kostin does have a boxing background!
I know he trained with his cousin when younger.. who was an actual boxer.
He'll definitely have an edge to him, and won't be scared to throw hands!!

Haha so that's good to know..

How much he gets into scraps!?
Will be the question..
Don't know if he's really about that now!?
I'm sure he can hold his own tho..


Edit: Not really sure who'd I'm compare him to skill wise.. he's got good shot, skill set and big body.
Hopefully he can take advantage of that.. Eventually!!

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Speaking of prospects and Russia, where’s @elkranio been?

 

[elkranio]

Speaking of prospects and Russia, where’s @elkranio been?

Been working a lot, almost no time to shitpost.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Been working a lot, almost no time to shitpost.

Glad to “see” you here, regardless.

 

[Novacain]

Or Benn?

None of those seem realistic to me at this point in time.

Lucic by this time in his career had 150 NHL games and was just off a 17 goal, 42 point season. Benn had just had a 22 goal, 41 point rookie season at the same age. Even Stewart already had 50 NHL games and 20 points after 3 years. Expecting Kostin to step that far ahead in development when his development in his first 3 years has been slow is a little unrealistic.

Honestly I’m at the point with Klem I just hope he can become a 4th Liner who can score 15-20 points while playing decent defense, but I worry he just doesn’t have the mentality to play primarily defensive hockey. He screams to me as a player without a role, but I hope he proves me wrong.

 

[rumrokh]

None of those seem realistic to me at this point in time.

Lucic by this time in his career had 150 NHL games and was just off a 17 goal, 42 point season. Benn had just had a 22 goal, 41 point rookie season at the same age. Even Stewart already had 50 NHL games and 20 points after 3 years. Expecting Kostin to step that far ahead in development when his development in his first 3 years has been slow is a little unrealistic.

Honestly I’m at the point with Klem I just hope he can become a 4th Liner who can score 15-20 points while playing decent defense, but I worry he just doesn’t have the mentality to play primarily defensive hockey. He screams to me as a player without a role, but I hope he proves me wrong.

He still reminds me of Niederreiter, who impressed with his physical skills before the draft and took a while to blossom (looking pretty lost along the way at some points). I'm not saying I expect Kostin to have the same level of impact, but so many similarities jump out at me, so I can't help but see potential for a similar progression and career.

Regarding playing defensive hockey: when he was up with the Blues, he didn't look out of place at all in that role. He kept things simple and backchecked hard. There's a lot more they can see in practice, but I think if the Blues saw his ceiling as a 4th liner, he might actually have made the team already.

 

[canary]

8 points in last 3 games, here's a beauty from his latest game:

 

[CaliforniaBlues310]

8 points in last 3 games, here's a beauty from his latest game:

Really glad he’s starting to pick it up over there. 15 pts in his last 19 games since he got the uptick in ice time.

I’m interested to see what they do with him when the KHL season is over. It’d be nice to see him get some ice time, even though our roster will be pretty full at that point.

 

[Frenzy31]

I think there are more then a few players that he could challenge for playing time.

Imagine a line in the playoffs - Tarasenko, Bozak, Kostin as a line - 0 points in the regular season.

 

[mk80]

 

[AjaxManifesto]

Good to see him make a turn around and grow a little more.

 

[EL Bandito]

Much of Kostin's issues early on were due to lack of TOI, lack of a role getting mostly 4th line minutes and you have to think it would be difficult moving back to larger ice after 3+yrs in NA. I'm sure his confidence wasn't too high and he's very much a confidence type of player. He's quite hard on himself. Glad to see him doing so well after finally getting the minutes.

 

[AjaxManifesto]

I like that tip pass to self....sweet

 

[DeuceNine]

One sure fire way to be underwhelmed with Kostin is to slap him on the fourth line and go "see, told you top Euro means squat." And, you know that's exactly what will happen.

He needs to be on the third line at worst, maybe in Bozak's usual spot. Give the kid a chance, could be the next Kyrou.

 

[Reality Czech]

One sure fire way to be underwhelmed with Kostin is to slap him on the fourth line and go "see, told you top Euro means squat." And, you know that's exactly what will happen.

He needs to be on the third line at worst, maybe in Bozak's usual spot. Give the kid a chance, could be the next Kyrou.

True, but it has also taken Kyrou roughly 2 years of NHL/AHL action to develop into a well-rounded player. They likely won't take a veteran like Bozak out for Kostin, but maybe someone like Sanford, Barbie, Blais, etc. They won't just throw him in the top 6, but they shouldn't bring him in until they have a spot on the 3rd line at least as you said. Hopefully getting big minutes in Omsk will set him up to make a real run at it next year.

That self-pass play was sick!

 

[Blueston]

Great to see him putting it together. I've been skeptical of him last couple years, but him figuring it out would be huge.

 

[542365]

Glad to see that production return. I pretty much wrote him off in my top 10 prospect list, only listing him because he has all the physical tools you could ask for a forward, but the lack of any production was concerning. That chip pass goal was nasty. I’d rather he finish the year in Russia than come back and play the taxi squad roulette. If he’s going to get a real shot(which seems unlikely given who he’d have to replace in the lineup) then I’m all for getting him over here, but scoring goals and being an impact player in the second best league in the world is great experience, even if it’s on international ice.

 

[mk80]

True, but it has also taken Kyrou roughly 2 years of NHL/AHL action to develop into a well-rounded player. They likely won't take a veteran like Bozak out for Kostin, but maybe someone like Sanford, Barbie, Blais, etc. They won't just throw him in the top 6, but they shouldn't bring him in until they have a spot on the 3rd line at least as you said. Hopefully getting big minutes in Omsk will set him up to make a real run at it next year.

That self-pass play was sick!

Isn't this the last year of Bozak's contract? If we didn't resign him plus lose someone to Seattle there may be more spots for Kostin to battle for next year.

 

[MissouriMook]

Right now, I see Kostin's floor as Blais, but with more offensive upside. I haven't particularly high on Kostin, primarily because I thought he should be a Top 6 forward, and he may never be that. I do feel that if he can re-adapt to the North American game after his season in the KHL, there is every reason to believe that he can carve out a role as a physical middle-6 winger (I'm purposely NOT using the term "Power Forward" because I don't think that really even exists anymore in today's game) who can provide good supplemental scoring if he is able to play average defense.

 

[Reality Czech]

Isn't this the last year of Bozak's contract? If we didn't resign him plus lose someone to Seattle there may be more spots for Kostin to battle for next year.

Bozak, Schwartz and Hoffman going to be free agents. Would be nice to bring back Jaden, but I see no reason why Kostin wouldn't get a chance next year. But he'll have to show he can bring something to the table to stick with the team, whether it's scoring, forechecking, toughness or whatever. I don't really have any expecations myself, just looking forward to seeing what he can do.