RW/C Vitalii Abramov - CSKA Moscow, KHL (2016, 65th, CBJ; traded to OTT)

[Flynn84]

Very small out there and didn't look any bigger than Conir Garland

So he's not 5'11"?

 

[GoBoltz56]

I would say there is no point for him to play junior next year. Even though many Canadians and Americans who dominate in the same way stay in junior bc they have to, he has good leagues at home to return to in the VHL and KHL.

If anything, he should go to Finland to learn how to play better hockey, right? Would not make much sense to go to a country that probably could not pay his contract.

 

[nbwingsfan]

So he's not 5'11"?

Obviously I don't know him personally and didn't see him outside of hockey gear but yeah I'd have a hard time believing he's over 5'10.

 

[enj92]

Another hat trick today. 65 in 45.

 

[Fantomas]

I don't care where he is ranked or is drafted, Abramov is Kucherov-level good.

 

[enj92]

I don't care where he is ranked or is drafted, Abramov is Kucherov-level good.

I came here to say the same thing.



That second goal was Bure-like.

 

[Atas2000]

Ridiculous how those threads derail into dicussing the height.When will people realize smaller guys can be very succesfull in today's NHL?

 

[kp61c]

Another hat trick today. 65 in 45.

svechnikov looks good there too. it didn't prevent him from looking (being) like a complete bust at the wjc

 

[enj92]

svechnikov looks good there too. it didn't prevent him from looking (being) like a complete bust at the wjc

I believe it's quite a different story. Svechnikov was one of the oldest kids in his draft year whereas Abramov is one of the youngest. And based solely on the eye test Vitalya is just much more talented player. He's much better skater, excellent shooter, amazing passer, great hockey smarts and has motor that never stops. Sometimes you are just too talented to be ruined and I hope that's Abramov case.

 

[enj92]

0+3 today.

 

[Number 57]

It's not about CHL production though. I mean, Yakupov's numbers were pretty good as well. Of course, I hope Abramov won't be another Yakupov.

Abramov is on par to match Yakupov's rookie number in the OHL, and Yak was the #1 overall pick in the NHL. Abramov is slated as a 2nd rounder, because of his size, I guess. The expectations will be lower than Yakupov, but still, I honestly cannot see Abramov fail, and I can't see him putting low numbers like Yakupov has done in the NHL.

Abramov is extremely talented, and I wouldn't be surprised if a team took him top-20 in the 1st round. He will be in the NHL very soon, and he will be an offensive machine.

 

[Zaddy]

Abramov is on par to match Yakupov's rookie number in the OHL, and Yak was the #1 overall pick in the NHL. Abramov is slated as a 2nd rounder, because of his size, I guess. The expectations will be lower than Yakupov, but still, I honestly cannot see Abramov fail, and I can't see him putting low numbers like Yakupov has done in the NHL.

Abramov is extremely talented, and I wouldn't be surprised if a team took him top-20 in the 1st round. He will be in the NHL very soon, and he will be an offensive machine.

I don't even know if Abramov is smaller than Yakupov. Yak is like 5'10½ and Abramov looks about the same.

He is going to be a very good player IMO. Perhaps the most underrated player in the draft right now. Crazy how little talk he is garnering.

 

[seadawg]

He is going to be a very good player IMO. Perhaps the most underrated player in the draft right now. Crazy how little talk he is garnering.

I completely agree. Regardless of nationality, he is an exciting player and I'm also surprised he hasn't been getting more hype. I haven't seen many draft rankings that have him going in the first round, which I find surprising considering his play this year would suggest that he should be a draft riser.

 

[enj92]

1+2 today. 71 pts in 47 games. 10+10 in last 10 games. And he's 56th on list of prospects who play in NA...

 

[Fantomas]

Top 10 player in this draft, but people are slow to catch on with smaller players. And I like him way more than Yakupov.

 

[Flynn84]

And I like him way more than Yakupov.

It is easy to say when Yakupov is not doing so well in the NHL for a 1st overall pick.

 

[Flynn84]

1+2 today. 71 pts in 47 games. 10+10 in last 10 games. And he's 56th on list of prospects who play in NA...

He's definitely great and I like him very much but I don't know if stats in the juniors could mean a lot.
Connor Garland had brilliant stats last season but was drafted pretty low.
Scouts probably can see some flaws besides size.
What flaws they can see in Abramov's skills? It is definitely not skating. Skating issues was probably a reason Timashov was drafted lower than someone expected.

 

[KILLger]

Garland at the same age had 51 GP 20G 34A 54Pts. That year he wasn't drafted.

 

[enj92]

Connor Garland had brilliant stats last season but was drafted pretty low.

Despite the fact that he was already a year older than Abramov now. And he's without a doubt even smaller than Abramov.

Scouts probably can see some flaws besides size.
What flaws they can see in Abramov's skills? It is definitely not skating. Skating issues was probably a reason Timashov was drafted lower than someone expected.

From what I saw I really didn't notice any flaws in his game. He has yet to prove his defensive play and become stronger overall but it's typical for the young guns like him. He has incredible tools and toolbox too. He not always plays like an ordinary teen, there are a lot of things in his game that usually natural for profesional hockey, not for juniors. He's brave guy who's never affraid to go in the dirty zones and scores dirty goals not paying attention to his size. He's also fast and strong on his skates. Maybe there are some local guys, who actually are more knowledgeable than I am and maybe any of these guys will be able to write more bout Abramov?
I always thought that draft place doesn't mean anything. If you have some skills and hardworking enough you will be a good player regardless of your draft position. Kucherov was selected in the late second. Why? Russian factor? Not only I believe. Tarasenko, Kuznetsov, Nichushkin - all of them are first rounders despite the fact at the time they all were playing in Russia. IMO Kuch was overlooked by scouts and apparently Abramov is too. But both of them have all talents in the world and one of them slowly becomes one of the best wingers in NHL.

 

[kp61c]

Despite the fact that he was already a year older than Abramov now. And he's without a doubt even smaller than Abramov.



From what I saw I really didn't notice any flaws in his game. He has yet to prove his defensive play and become stronger overall but it's typical for the young guns like him. He has incredible tools and toolbox too. He not always plays like an ordinary teen, there is a lot of things in his game that usually natural for profesional hockey, not for juniors. He's brave guy who's never affraid to go in the dirty zones and scores dirty goals not paying attention to his size. He's also fast and strong on his skates. Maybe there are some local guys, who actually are more knowledgeable than I am and maybe any of these guys will be able to write more bout Abramov?
I always thought that draft place doesn't mean anything. If you have some skills and hardworking enough you will be a good player regardless of your draft position. Kucherov was selected in the late second. Why? Russian factor? Not only I believe. Tarasenko, Kuznetsov, Nichushkin - all of them are first rounders despite the fact at the time they all were playing in Russia. IMO Kuch was overlooked by scouts and apparently Abramov is too. But both of them have all talents in the world and one of them slowly becomes one of the best wingers in NHL.

true, and lol at comparing him to yak. at the same age yak looked dumb as a mule when compared to abramov

 

[Fantomas]

It is easy to say when Yakupov is not doing so well in the NHL for a 1st overall pick.

Yakupov was a dim-witted even when he was drafted. There were warning signs all over the place, even before he was terrible at the World Juniors.

 

[JayHockey]

He really needs to be more consistent shift after shift. An incredible offensive dynamo, really quick and a high IQ. He is a no-brainer 1st rounder. So much talent.

 

[Fantomas]

Two more assists tonight.

January totals: 11 games, 10 goals, 12 assists, 22 points.

Last four games: 4 goals, 7 assists, 11 points.

 

[enj92]

It looks like he's going to flirt with 100-point mark already this season.

In that case if he will be able to score such an amount of points he will be the first russian u-18 player with such an achievement.

EDIT: Heck, forgot about Yakupov. Nvm.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

He's probably somewhere between 20-30 in my draft rankings. Recently I made a top 20, and he wasn't on it. I only had two forwards who were shorter than 6'0 in my top 20, Keller and Debrincat. Keller was #13 and Debrincat was #19. Keller plays more of a two way game than both of them and can probably play center in the NHL. He also comes out of that US Development Program that has such a good track record recently of producing good players. His point totals are pretty similar with that team to players like Eichel, Matthews, etc. Debrincat is probably the player that Abramov should be compared to, as I think they profile kind of similarly. Smaller wingers who put up a lot of points, but there are questions about their size and two way game. I think its very close between the two of them who is the first of the smaller mostly offensive minded players picked.