octopi said:
Probably second or third liners for the most part.Wasn't Pavel Datsyuk in one of those drafts, too?
No, Datsyuk is from way back (98, I think?)
Alexeev I don't like at all. At this point I think he is a non-NHLer. Really like Svitov and how he develops. Slowly but a good all-around player with some nice offensive potential. Don't know if he will pan out but if he does, Columbus is going to have a ridiculously good offense in a few years.
Chistov was great the first year, lifeless the second. I don't know what's up with him but I am not giving up.
Smirnov is not that bad. But he's on the bubble and looks like he will make it only as a support player, if he does at all.
Knyazev is a huge disappointment. And to think this guy was labelled by some as the next Vladimir Konstantinov? For ****'s sake, I think I would put on a jersey on Vlad and put blades under his wheelchair before I dress Knyazev on my team.
I don't follow Yakubov and Vorobiev closely, but a friend told me they follow a rocky progression yet still hold some promise as NHLers. From limited views, my favorite of the two is Vorobiev as far as style.
Out of all of these, Alexeev was my biggest disappointment. I don't remember being as unpleasantly surprised by a CHLer, as usually reports on these kids are pretty accurate. I had the misfortune of not seeing the guy play before the draft and envisioned something totally different.