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

[CoMoBlues]

This was my thought as well. Well, minus the "force" part.

I've recently thought of Kostin as a bottom-9 player. He is somewhat of a weird one because he has some plus tools at his disposal that could be utilized on a top line as well as a 4th line. I don't think he's a "top line" player or a "4th line" player, but rather he has tools that could be utilized in both scenarios. He's a great complimentary player. Nothing irreplaceable, but someone that is always welcome.

Kind of reminds me of Barbashev in that regard, a “glue” guy. To me, those guys are important, yet not as highly rated prospect-wise.

 

[DatDude44]

This was my thought as well. Well, minus the "force" part.

I've recently thought of Kostin as a bottom-9 player. He is somewhat of a weird one because he has some plus tools at his disposal that could be utilized on a top line as well as a 4th line. I don't think he's a "top line" player or a "4th line" player, but rather he has tools that could be utilized in both scenarios. He's a great complimentary player. Nothing irreplaceable, but someone that is always welcome.

I see a higher end sundqvist if he has the IQ. Which is honestly what makes Sunny, Sunny lol

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

The key with Kostin will be patience. Can the Blues wait on him or will they give up - or will he head back to Russia.

The player and the team need to stay committed to his development here. He probably would have been better off playing two years of Canadian juniors but that didn't happen.

I still think he'll be a top six scorer with some beef - a "Big Rig" with 25 goals a season. He definitely has the tools and a nasty streak.

The risk of going to Russia seems negligible when he got into NHL games this year. He’ll have a solid chance to make the roster out if camp next season.

 

[Davimir Tarablad]

I see a higher end sundqvist if he has the IQ. Which is honestly what makes Sunny, Sunny lol

I see something more along the lines of a more skilled Blais. A heavy forechecker who will put up some decent offense.

 

[Mike Liut]

I think Klim has more offensive upside than Sunny, Blais and Barbie. He’s going to be a force in front of the net. He also doesn’t have the non stop motor and forecheck of those 3...yet.

 

[DatDude44]

I see something more along the lines of a more skilled Blais. A heavy forechecker who will put up some decent offense.

Could totally see that. To me it’s gonna come down to his I.Q. If he Atleast possesses average hockey sense and willingness to play our style, he could be real good

 

[Vincenzo Arelliti]

I think Klim has more offensive upside than Sunny, Blais and Barbie. He’s going to be a force in front of the net. He also doesn’t have the non stop motor and forecheck of those 3...yet.

And it’s important to note that neither did they initially.

 

[ezcreepin]

Could totally see that. To me it’s gonna come down to his I.Q. If he Atleast possesses average hockey sense and willingness to play our style, he could be real good

I'm interested to see if his IQ is better than Yakupov's. I think him marinating in the ahl is really good for his development, so I could see him ending up better and having a longer career, but I've heard since the day he stepped on NA ice that he had troubles with making plays. He would look down at the puck, he would make a play by himself, etc. I think he looked fine in the NHL, obviously trying to prove something, but he has been really good as of late in the minors.

 

[Coach Nate]

I'm interested to see if his IQ is better than Yakupov's. I think him marinating in the ahl is really good for his development, so I could see him ending up better and having a longer career, but I've heard since the day he stepped on NA ice that he had troubles with making plays. He would look down at the puck, he would make a play by himself, etc. I think he looked fine in the NHL, obviously trying to prove something, but he has been really good as of late in the minors.

He still does those things. All the time. He's been better, but he's still a major project, IMO.

 

[Ranksu]

I liked Kostin what I saw. He'll be NHL regular in no doubt, but questionmark is wil he develope top6 or bottom 6 winger? He's still 20-years old soon tho 21, but lot of time to grow.

 

[Ginger Papa]

Really good to read that he's recovered so well from that injury. Shows that the shoulders are likely not going going to be a chronic issue for him considering his previous injuries. For how solid he was crushed to create the shoulder injury he obviously took care of it & received excellent treatment.

I've mentioned it earlier but as a bump: I see a raw Tom Wilson type who is going to be a real handful in the corners & in front of the net. If he can develop his hands and foot speed accordingly, wouldn't it be great to see him patrolling a wing with Thomas and Kyrou.

P.S. Appreciate the updates and scouting you folks provide. Klim is one of those players that I just kinda got attached to during his Draft Year and have maintained an interest in, hoping he breaks through.

Cheers

 

[DatDude44]

Really good to read that he's recovered so well from that injury. Shows that the shoulders are likely not going going to be a chronic issue for him considering his previous injuries. For how solid he was crushed to create the shoulder injury he obviously took care of it & received excellent treatment.

I've mentioned it earlier but as a bump: I see a raw Tom Wilson type who is going to be a real handful in the corners & in front of the net. If he can develop his hands and foot speed accordingly, wouldn't it be great to see him patrolling a wing with Thomas and Kyrou.

P.S. Appreciate the updates and scouting you folks provide. Klim is one of those players that I just kinda got attached to during his Draft Year and have maintained an interest in, hoping he breaks through.

Cheers

Somewhat yes, idk if wilson would be my comparable, but I believe if we stay patient for his long term development it'll pay dividends. If we rush him or give up on him before he's 23 then i think we'll regret it.

 

[CaliforniaBlues310]

So through 33 games this year, Klim is up to 9 goals and 11 assists, and is a +3.

Last year he only had 10-14-24 in 66 games, so it’ll be interesting to see how far he blows by that point total this year.

I’m gonna take a guess and say that he’ll be in our top 9 next year, along with Kyrou.

 

[ForsbergForever]

He's played 8 games with Omsk in the KHL so far and only has 2 assists. I was expecting him to have much bigger offensive impact, granted it's still early but does anyone have a more complete scouting report of his performance so far?

 

[Tenkkapoo]

He stinks.

He went to play junior hockey in Canada "pursue his NHL dream". Such a starry-eyed fool. Ruined his own career.

These kids learn nothing from past mistakes. It is time to force them to stay in Russia until they turn at least 20.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

He stinks.

He went to play junior hockey in Canada "pursue his NHL dream". Such a starry-eyed fool. Ruined his own career.

These kids learn nothing from past mistakes. It is time to force them to stay in Russia until they turn at least 20.

What? He never played in Juniors. He went straight to the AHL as an 18 year old playing against players that were 10-15 years older than him and some have been playing in the top 3 NA (NHL, AHL, ECHL) leagues for a long time.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

He stinks.

He went to play junior hockey in Canada "pursue his NHL dream". Such a starry-eyed fool. Ruined his own career.

These kids learn nothing from past mistakes. It is time to force them to stay in Russia until they turn at least 20.

I wish he’d played junior hockey. That would have arguably been a lot better for his development. It’s what the Blues advised him to do.

 

[Bluesnatic27]

He stinks.

He went to play junior hockey in Canada "pursue his NHL dream". Such a starry-eyed fool. Ruined his own career.

These kids learn nothing from past mistakes. It is time to force them to stay in Russia until they turn at least 20.

Are you sure you aren't thinking of Toropchenko?

 

[Ted Hoffman]

Reading back through the thread from the beginning, there's a lot of people who had high expectations of Kostin that ... to put it nicely, haven't been met.

The one who appears to be the most spot-on so far?

Evgeny Grachev 2.0? Comparison doesn't seem too outlandish.

No offense, but that's a terrible argument. The competition of ones draft class determines final rankings and 2008 saw the likes of Karlsson, Filatov, Josi & Voynov ranked at the top. That's no indictment of Grachev's talent...many pre-draft rankings speculated he was a 1st round talent. And Kostin's top-ranking doesn't amount to much if scouts think his peers aren't very good...and if he's not ultimately selected according to the rankings. Grachev was very talented and highly regarded going into the draft. Don't give me the "watch the tape" and "he was a third rounder" non-sense. Both guys had question-marks, the least of which revolves around the shoulder injury to Kostin.

I know, I know...shiny new toy syndrome here...but the expectation of Kostin being NHL-ready at some point next season is kind of hilarious. Blues will be lucky if he's a third liner who can keep a roster spot two or three years from now.

 

[Brockon]

I'll re-iterate, I still think Gurianov's development is the best timeline that should be looked at when trying to project Kostin. Their pre-draft status, physical stature and developmental progress is near identical...

Gurianov, currently 6'3 200lbs
pick #12 in the 2015 Draft
2015-16 KHL 47gp 4-1-5
2015-16 MHL 7gp 4-2-6
2016-17 NHL 1gp 0p
2016-17 AHL 57gp 12-15-27
2017 WJC U20 7gp 4-3-7
2017-18 AHL 74gp 19-15-34 AGE 21
2018-19 NHL 21gp 1-3-4
2018-19 AHL 57gp 20-28-48
2019-20 NHL 64gp 20-9-29
2019-20 AHL 2gp 3-0-3

Kostin, Currently 6'3, 212lbs
pick #31 in the 2017 draft
2017-18 AHL 67gp 6-22-28
2018 WJC u20 5gp 5-3-8
2018-19 AHL 66gp 10-14-24
2019 WJC u20 7gp 3-3-6
2019-20 NHL 4gp 1-0-1
2019-20 AHL 48gp 13-17-30 AGE 21
2020-21 KHL 13gp 0-2-2 NEW TEAM, Bigger ice, completely out of his element.

I've underlined their D+2 seasons and bolded their respective D+3 seasons. FOR EMPHASIS LOOK AT THEIR AGES. Based on Gurianov's development, Kostin's expectations for this season should be in the neighbourhood of 0.84PPG. Remember Kostin was 0.63PPG last season in his D+3 season well ahead of Gurianov's 0.46PPG, Kostin's D+4 season should be pretty telling - especially with him currently playing in the KHL, he should come back in great shape to step into either an AHL/NHL lineup after the KHL season ends.

I heard alot of chatter about Gurianov being a busted Stars pick 2 years ago, but nobody is bitching about his 20G rookie season this past year. Kostin's D+5 season (the one Gurianov just finished, will be 2021-22) hold your judgement until then. Many first round picks don't even play PRO before their D+3 season. Kostin rushed himself into the PRO ranks prematurely, and likely hurt his development doing so, but can't be compared to many other players, because so few take his development path (they can't, because North American players can't go to the AHL beofre they turn 20).

 

[EXTRAS]

A lot of kostins game will come from power when he finally gets it. It's tough for a 18/19 year old to overpower fully grown men. I'm sure it will begin to click a bit more as he hits 22/23 years old.

 

[Celtic Note]

A lot of kostins game will come from power when he finally gets it. It's tough for a 18/19 year old to overpower fully grown men. I'm sure it will begin to click a bit more as he hits 22/23 years old.

Kostin’s biggest challenges are how he utilizes and supports his teammates. If he grows in those areas he has greater opportunity to succeed.

Him getting bigger isn’t going to magically change him into some beast that can overpower NHL players. There really aren’t many players like that in the NHL. This isn’t the 90’s game anymore. We don’t see big physical specimens taking over games.

What we do see is a need for players to work more within a system than ever before. Unless you are a superstar, there really isn’t room to do your own thing in the NHL and even those superstars can only get by with it sometimes. Kostin is not that player.

 

[Quaz]

Love the Gurianov comparison! I hope he gets a decent amount of games at the NHL level this year. He can bring some toughness to the lineup which I think Berube would value. Barbashev, Blais, and Jaskin all became better players under Berube in Chicago. I think he will get the best out of Kostin. I like the forward depth the Blues currently have. If they have an injury in the top 6 they can move Kyrou up and plug Kostin in on the 3rd line with Bozak and Blais. If Tarasenko comes back they will have even better depth.

 

[Brockon]

Kostin’s biggest challenges are how he utilizes and supports his teammates. If he grows in those areas he has greater opportunity to succeed.

Him getting bigger isn’t going to magically change him into some beast that can overpower NHL players. There really aren’t many players like that in the NHL. This isn’t the 90’s game anymore. We don’t see big physical specimens taking over games.

What we do see is a need for players to work more within a system than ever before. Unless you are a superstar, there really isn’t room to do your own thing in the NHL and even those superstars can only get by with it sometimes. Kostin is not that player.

I'll concur with your assessment of Kostin's hurdles. I just wanted to emphasize Kostin's age and a similar prospect's development path...

I'm sick and tired of seeing all the "HeS a BuSt, FiRsT RoUnD PiCk NoT iN NhL aFtEr 3 YeArS, RoFl LoSeR" type posts I'm seeing with increased frequency.

I mean if Barzal, Connor, Tarasenko, Gurianov and other stars from the mid first are given their D+1 and D+2 seasons to develop before their NHL debut in their D+3 season, it stands to reason a guy taken later in the draft will be more of a project and need more development time... I mean, shit, the guy wouldn't even have been a 1st round pick at 31 a year earlier - he'd have been the first pick of the 2nd round.

I mean, we may disagree about big physical specimens not dominating today's game - MacK, Draisaitl and Ovi are hardly small, with MacK coming in at 6'0 and 200 lbs. Players no longer plow through the opposition, to dominate today you need respectable size, good IQ and speed - to overcome one of these, you need exceptional skill.

Kostin lacks hockey IQ according to some reports I've read, he's not blessed with exceptional talents in the other departments - he won't be dominant and take over games like the aforementioned players. But he's got the toolset and shows growth, he's not a 4th line grinder - I expect a solid middle sixer that may get spot top line duty as an injury fill in or if he shows chemistry with our top line guys in another 3-4 years once one or more of Perron (retires), Tarasenko (doesn't recover from shoulder surgery or declines in early 30s), Schenn (shows the power forward regression in early 30s), Schwartz (loses a step or move on). Kyrou is the only guy who projects to step up currently in our system (Sanford I've accepted is now a part of the top 6) - Kostin will have opportunities to show if he's a top 6 talent.

Edit:
@Celtic Note, this is less about your comment above itself and more a continuation of what I've been saying for nearly 2 years now.

Value of: - Kostin to Habs

 

[Brockon]

Merged with previous comment as an edit, disregard.