LW Denis Smirnov - Kalamazoo Wings, ECHL (2017, 156th, COL; unsigned)

[bigdog16]

Nothing really. Just another russian guy who thought NA minors are a great place to develop.

He was actually well on track until he was about 21. He was acclimated to the US. It wasnt until his 7th year in the states until his game started to fall apart. He actually developed very well as a youth/junior hockey player. Had an incredible NCAA freshman year and then fell off a cliff the past 3 years. Not sure you can fault his development path for that

 

[thrillhous]

I happen to agree with you that by and large it is better for skilled Russian junior hockey players to stay in Russia to develop rather than choose to come over to NA as a teenager. There will always be exceptions but by and large I’m with you.

But we are talking about Smirnov here, not about the general “development in NA vs Russia” debate.

You are proclaiming that Smirnov can be used as yet another example for why developing in Russia is smarter but I don’t have nearly enough information about this player. But since you are arguing this you must have that information because otherwise why would you go down this path? That’s why I asked you about what you knew about the move to NA. Was it hockey related even? What year did he make the move? Secondly, tell me about Smirnov’s hockey path prior to moving to NA. According to elite prospects he was already playing in the US at age 14 so you must know a lot about his success as a young child in Russia. I am very interested to know how successful of a player he was at a U14 (or younger) level.

@Atas2000

Will you be backing up your statements or will you just admit that you know nothing about the player other than what we can all find on elite prospects?

 

[S E P H]

Damn... What happened?

Don't listen to the anti-NA bloke below your post. He's still not a bad prospect, played much better than his stats say I argue. However, the problem is that he's never really improved his skating and for a smaller player that is almost a death sentence. Additionally, he's had some unfortunate luck with injuries like a virus infection (which killed like two months of hockey for him) and was pushed farther down on the depth chart with multiple strong freshmen classes.

 

[Caser]

I guess he wasn't a huge fan of the ECHL, as now he has signed with SKA in the KHL until the end of this season.

 

[wings5]

I guess he wasn't a huge fan of the ECHL, as now he has signed with SKA in the KHL until the end of this season.

Bad choice of team

 

[ozo]

I guess he wasn't a huge fan of the ECHL, as now he has signed with SKA in the KHL until the end of this season.

Interestingly enough it is two-way deal announced on SKA-Neva webpage and not SKA itself.

 

[Caser]

Interestingly enough it is two-way deal announced on SKA-Neva webpage and not SKA itself.

Not surprising, it is unlikely he plays in the KHL at least this season.

 

[Caser]

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Five points in 27 games. Was that due to injury or performance?