RW Nikolai Kovalenko (2018, 171st, COL)

[Kipper933]

Avs cleaning up in the latter rounds the last couple years with Russians. Kovalchenko, Shvyryov, Smirnov, and the big goalie Shmakov too.

 

[Leopain]

Drafted by his father's former teammate. Interesting story.

 

[cgf]

Avs cleaning up in the latter rounds the last couple years with Russians. Kovalchenko, Shvyryov, Smirnov, and the big goalie Shmakov too.

Zadorov has so much charisma that he has talked the entire scouting department into russifying our late round drafting

 

[BoxOfChocolates]

Colorado took 3 Russians to finish off the draft. Love swinging for the fences with these kids

 

[vorky]

Re-signed with Lokomotiv, 3y deal.

 

[Kshahdoo]

Was named MVP of Junior Club World Cup 2018.

 

[S E P H]

Was named MVP of Junior Club World Cup 2018.

He was always talented and didn't drop so low because a lack of it, but more due to his father being in charge of the KHLPA, which asks questions about if he's ever going to come over. If I remember correctly, he was at the NHL draft and has mentioned in wanting to come over in the future.

 

[Caser]

 

[Atas2000]

Assisted by Kayumov too. Loko at it again giving youngsters a great platform for development. They are again no serious threat though. Strange with the talent pool they have. The management is just strange.

Not Kovalenko's or my worries. It's great to see all those young players in the KHL. Loko is doing more for our development than SKA ever will.

 

[tigervixxxen]

We'll see if they prove that development by putting him on the WJC team.

Glad to see Kovalenko's first goal is a testament to his tough hard working nature. It's been a good couple of weeks for him. He's fun to watch.

 

[Caser]

 

[wings5]

Is he playing as a center?

 

[Caser]

Is he playing as a center?

Nope, I actually also wrote in the tweets that he was centered by Ivanov.

 

[Caser]

 

[Foppberg]

Really looking forward to watching him develop. Might have a steal here.

 

[tigervixxxen]

As mentioned on Twitter, that really is such a Kovy goal. I absolutely love his tenacity.

@Caser do you think he has a shot at making the World Junior team?

 

[Caser]

As mentioned on Twitter, that really is such a Kovy goal. I absolutely love his tenacity.

@Caser do you think he has a shot at making the World Junior team?

At this current moment I think that he is an undisputed #3 RW in the U20 NT roster depth behind Kravtsov and Kostin (assuming Svechnikov isn't let go to the WJC, of course), so yeah, I think he has a shot, to say the least. Of course, things might change after the CAN/RUS series in November.

 

[SoundAndFury]

do you think he has a shot at making the World Junior team?

As a rule of thumb anyone good enough to play in the KHL regularly makes the WJC team. It would be a real surprise if he didn't.

 

[Andrei79]

Anyone notice where he gets his goals from ? 25 feet in, they're NHL goals.

 

[Avsavsavsavsavs]

This kid looks great and seems very responsible defensively. I can imagine he takes Soderbergs role after his 3 year KHL contract finishes, which would put Soda at 36-37 y/o.

 

[Kevin Musto]

Pretty decent start in the KHL so far. My ranking of #40 is looking pretty good.

 

[tigervixxxen]

This kid looks great and seems very responsible defensively. I can imagine he takes Soderbergs role after his 3 year KHL contract finishes, which would put Soda at 36-37 y/o.

He's not a center. But a rich man's third line or middle six guy I think is possible.

 

[Caser]

 

[donut]

Any insight on how he's been performing recently?

 

[Caser]

Any insight on how he's been performing recently?

He still gets those unneeded penalties for trying too much to compensate his modest size, but overall I think he did well to prove that his place is in the KHL and not in juniors.