Player Discussion: Mikhail Sergachev

[Volodya Krutov]

His offensive skillset is amazing and so polished for his age, it's like having a 19 years old defender edition of Kovalchuk. Let's hope they keep limiting his minutes to not wear him down.

 

[The Macho King]

His offensive skillset is amazing and so polished for his age, it's like having a 19 years old defender edition of Kovalchuk. Let's hope they keep limiting his minutes to not wear him down.

Eh - I'd prefer he take a few more. I don't want him playing 20 minutes, but 16-17 nightly seems about right.

I'm more worried about running Hedman into the ground. There was no reason for him to play 29 minutes last night.

 

[More 2004]

So knowing what we do now, who do you take for today and the future? Sergachev or Seth Jones?

 

[The Macho King]

That's not the debate though. For one, if we draft Jones we maybe don't go after Stralman. Second - Jones is a #1, Sergachev is playing in what can only be the *most* positive environment for a young player of his caliber to come into.

 

[Volodya Krutov]

Eh - I'd prefer he take a few more. I don't want him playing 20 minutes, but 16-17 nightly seems about right.

I'm more worried about running Hedman into the ground. There was no reason for him to play 29 minutes last night.

Neither a big fan of seeing so much of Hedman so early, but I guess Coop does everything in his power to have a strong start and avoid being on the hot seat.

 

[More 2004]

Not trying to put it up for debate, just thinking that Serge makes it right for all those that wanted Jones in the first place.

 

[waterboy65]

Great question about Serge vs Jones because in essence the Bolts would either have a 23 year old Jones instead of a 19 year old Serge had that draft played out differently. For this year, the Bolts would likely be better off with the older Jones but Serge has much higher upside in my eyes. The way Serge can change directions, get off an accurate wrist shot and pass to open teammates appears to be all superior to Jones skill set going forward. Serge at 19 >> Hedman at 19. Unless we are seeing a mirage and Serge falls into some bad habits, I believe that Serge can be a Norris caliber D-man.

 

[The Macho King]

Great question about Serge vs Jones because in essence the Bolts would either have a 23 year old Jones instead of a 19 year old Serge had that draft played out differently. For this year, the Bolts would likely be better off with the older Jones but Serge has much higher upside in my eyes. The way Serge can change directions, get off an accurate wrist shot and pass to open teammates appears to be all superior to Jones skill set going forward. Serge at 19 >> Hedman at 19. Unless we are seeing a mirage and Serge falls into some bad habits, I believe that Serge can be a Norris caliber D-man.

Slow your roll.

First - progression isn't linear. Being better at x age doesn't mean you're better at x+y age. Shit - we're a team that had Marty St. Louis on it - we should understand that better than anyone.

Second - you're severely underrating Jones here. Jones is a bona fide #1 Dman in this league - Serge is sheltered behind the best LHD in the league and with one of the better shutdown RHD as his partner, with the highest scoring offense in the NHL. He is doing great in his role, but how he handles increased responsibility is what is ultimately going to be important.

 

[These Are The Days]

The Church of Sergachev needs donations. Anyone got any money?

 

[Rschmitz]

I've been impressed with Sergachev defensively lately, he's come leaps and bounds. I think he needs to work on his first pass, him and Hedman have almost polar opposite offensive games.

 

[Boxscore]

His offensive skillset is amazing and so polished for his age, it's like having a 19 years old defender edition of Kovalchuk. Let's hope they keep limiting his minutes to not wear him down.

It is very impressive. He reminds me a lot of a young Roman Hamrlik.

 

[2020 Cup Champions]

Wasn't Jones playing 2nd pairing minutes for his first couple years behind Josi-Weber?

 

[Bolt32]

I've been impressed with Sergachev defensively lately, he's come leaps and bounds. I think he needs to work on his first pass, him and Hedman have almost polar opposite offensive games.

I keep saying this but I don't know if I'm the only one that sees this. He plays like hes Hedman 2.0 but instead of the passing ability that is phenomenal it is his shooting. (Not saying hes as good as Hedman is now, has a ways a way for that. Just saying at the level of play at his age. AKA 19 years old.)

 

[Volodya Krutov]

Nah, I think most of us noticed how defensively competent he's become the past games, he's a force to be reckoned with at the moment, but people are being cautious IMO. The point is, there are many young defensemen capable to play well for a short amount of time, the most difficult is to sustain that level of consistency. We won't absolutely know what Sergachev is really made of until the end of the next season, at least. It's a very promising start tho, nobody is denying that.

 

[DFC]

Nah, I think most of us noticed how defensively competent he's become the past games, he's a force to be reckoned with at the moment, but people are being cautious IMO. The point is, there are many young defensemen capable to play well for a short amount of time, the most difficult is to sustain that level of consistency. We won't absolutely know what Sergachev is really made of until the end of the next season, at least. It's a very promising start tho, nobody is denying that.

I think the difference is most young defenders come out of the gate firing, and most of their success can almost be attributed to nervous energy. Sergachev was sort of the opposite. He came up, started slowly, was a bit shaky at times, but good enough to stick around, and then seemed to get the hang of things. He'll probably hit a wall in growth at some point, but his "step back" will take him to a place that's still pretty good.

 

[Volodya Krutov]

I think the difference is most young defenders come out of the gate firing, and most of their success can almost be attributed to nervous energy. Sergachev was sort of the opposite. He came up, started slowly, was a bit shaky at times, but good enough to stick around, and then seemed to get the hang of things. He'll probably hit a wall in growth at some point, but his "step back" will take him to a place that's still pretty good.

Yeah, it shows calm and confidence, and he played it smart too. Can't recall who said that he didn't start take bolder decisions with the puck up until he knew Yzerman just couldn't sent him back to Juniors, and it was spot on. If calmness, confidence and smartness are three of Sergachev's main attributes, we're going to love watch this kid play defense.

 

[DFC]

Yeah, it shows calm and confidence, and he played it smart too. Can't recall who said that he didn't start take bolder decisions with the puck up until he knew Yzerman just couldn't sent him back to Juniors, and it was spot on. If calmness, confidence and smartness are three of Sergachev's main attributes, we're going to love watch this kid play defense.

I noticed his patience a few times against Florida. He's really caught on to NHL speed, neither overwhelmed by it nor forcing his own decisions because of it.

And then there's the big shot, which has given us an entirely new weapon, offensively.

 

[waterboy65]

Slow your roll.

First - progression isn't linear. Being better at x age doesn't mean you're better at x+y age. **** - we're a team that had Marty St. Louis on it - we should understand that better than anyone.

Second - you're severely underrating Jones here. Jones is a bona fide #1 Dman in this league - Serge is sheltered behind the best LHD in the league and with one of the better shutdown RHD as his partner, with the highest scoring offense in the NHL. He is doing great in his role, but how he handles increased responsibility is what is ultimately going to be important.

I am not underrating Jones- I said for this year and short term that Bolts would be better with Jones than Serge. But it is undeniable that Serge already at his young age has certain skillsets that are just not typical of most NHL defenseman. I do not see Jones ever being a Norris caliber defenseman. He is very good but I look at his play and stats and do not see spectacular. And of course Serge is being sheltered this year next to Stralman as he should be. But it is also a testament to Serge that he is playing within the framework of team play and scoring at a rate that is top 10 amongst all NHL defenseman. Do I expect that to continue for rest of the year- probably not but it would not shock me that he ends up in top 25 for scoring Dman. And when you again consider that the kid is 19 years old, with continued hard work, the sky is the limit.!

 

[Bolt 45]

I noticed his patience a few times against Florida. He's really caught on to NHL speed, neither overwhelmed by it nor forcing his own decisions because of it.

And then there's the big shot, which has given us an entirely new weapon, offensively.

He does seem a bit more at ease with the speed of the NHL, and the overall skill level, too. He increasingly looks undaunted by it, but not in a reckless way. I think he's pretty accurately started to guage himself relative to the competition. His rushes tell me there might be a little more to come in that department, because he still looks like he's keeping a healthy margin for error. Which shows maturity.

Hopefully we're smart about resting him in the grindier half of the season if he looks like he needs it.

 

[These Are The Days]

lol man we gotta slow down. He's been impressive but we have to keep excitement leveled. It's okay to make comparisons of playing style as long as there is not resulting disappointment if he hits the rookie wall.

 

[DFC]

lol man we gotta slow down. He's been impressive but we have to keep excitement leveled. It's okay to make comparisons of playing style as long as there is not resulting disappointment if he hits the rookie wall.

He's still getting 17 minutes on a good night. Things are slow and steady. He'll inevitably hit a wall. I just think his wall is going to be making some mistakes, rather than, as seen with previous rookies (Nesterov), becoming a disaster in skates.

 

[These Are The Days]

He's still getting 17 minutes on a good night. Things are slow and steady. He'll inevitably hit a wall. I just think his wall is going to be making some mistakes, rather than, as seen with previous rookies (Nesterov), becoming a disaster in skates.

Hopefully he won't have to hit a wall. If we keep putting him in situations where he can be successful then I doubt we're going to see it at all. The kid simply has too much talent to fail for long. In all honesty I was upset about the Drouin trade for about 20 minutes and came around to it because players like Sergachev are so hard to get unless you draft them. He's been a steal by Yzerman so far

 

[Rschmitz]

It's just nice to have a legitimate weapon on the backend without feeling like we are compensating anywhere. Last time we had that was Garrisons first season, and the effects are felt throughout the defensive core.

 

[Boltswin]

What I am glad that I haven’t seen with Sergachev is the arrogance. I thought people said he had an attitude similar to Drouin, but he seems modest so far.

 

[Bolt32]

What I am glad that I haven’t seen with Sergachev is the arrogance. I thought people said he had an attitude similar to Drouin, but he seems modest so far.

I'm sure if he did have that Arrogance Kucherov put him in his place real quick. Not many players it seems gathers as much respect from his fellow country men as Kucherov does from everything I read. I wouldn't be shocked if hes the leader of that Russian Click we have going on in our team, and to be fair I'm all for it.