RW Vitaly Kravtsov - Traktor Chelyabinsk, KHL (2018, 9th, NYR)

[Lays]

Stylistically I see a lot of Filip Forsberg.

I kinda see a bigger Ehlers in Kravtsov

 

[bigdog16]

I kinda see a bigger Ehlers in Kravtsov

I think hes got way better hands than Ehlers

 

[CristianoRonaldo]

Wow, his team suck offensively... Great to see he was able to get some points.

 

[Irishguy42]

 

[haulinbass]

I kinda see a bigger Ehlers in Kravtsov

I will admit that I haven't seen much of Kravstov outside of highlights. But Ehlers is mainly effective utilizing his speed off of the rush. Inside the offensive zone he is a perimeter player that utilizes his speed to avoid tight areas and buy him time and space to open up passing lanes. Kravstov has that same ability but it seems to me he is much more effective than Ehlers in tighter areas making him a little more dynamic as he can go to the net and also has a better shot. Going off of very little, I have to believe Kravstov is showing more upside to become a elite player.

Anyone with more experience with Kravstov touch on my assessment?

 

[Elitersson]

I will admit that I haven't seen much of Kravstov outside of highlights. But Ehlers is mainly effective utilizing his speed off of the rush. Inside the offensive zone he is a perimeter player that utilizes his speed to avoid tight areas and buy him time and space to open up passing lanes. Kravstov has that same ability but it seems to me he is much more effective than Ehlers in tighter areas making him a little more dynamic as he can go to the net and also has a better shot. Going off of very little, I have to believe Kravstov is showing more upside to become a elite player.

Anyone with more experience with Kravstov touch on my assessment?

He definitely drives the net far more than Ehlers, I don't think that's a good comparable. Someone else in this thread said Kuznetsov which stylistically seems more accurate to me

 

[bagsw]

He definitely drives the net far more than Ehlers, I don't think that's a good comparable. Someone else in this thread said Kuznetsov which stylistically seems more accurate to me

Kuznetsov is much smarter player and has smoother skating. For me Kravtsov is combo of Kuzy and Yakupov, he has strengths and weaknesses of both players. I hope he will find the best way for his development, so I think he'd better stay in Traktor for one more year.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Kuznetsov is much smarter player and has smoother skating. For me Kravtsov is combo of Kuzy and Yakupov, he has strengths and weaknesses of both players. I hope he will find the best way for his development, so I think he'd better stay in Traktor for one more year.

Nothing good about staying on that dumpster fire team for another season after this one. He'll be over in NA the second his season ends.

 

[bagsw]

Nothing good about staying on that dumpster fire team for another season after this one. He'll be over in NA the second his season ends.

Playing top-line minutes is good for every young player. He learns how to play in most important situations, improves his leadership and becomes more mature.

 

[NYRfan]

Playing top-line minutes is good for every young player. He learns how to play in most important situations, improves his leadership and becomes more mature.

If he's not ready for top 6 minutes in the NHL, he can play top 6 minutes in the AHL and get used to NA ice. I don't see a scenario where he returns to Traktor after this year.

 

[Atas2000]

If he's not ready for top 6 minutes in the NHL, he can play top 6 minutes in the AHL and get used to NA ice. I don't see a scenario where he returns to Traktor after this year.

Yep, going to a worse league to get minutes he is getting in a better league is perfect logic.

 

[greasysnapper]

Yep, going to a worse league to get minutes he is getting in a better league is perfect logic.

I'm a general proponent of the KHL, but as of late, I really don't know if outside of a handful of teams that the general talent is better than the AHL. Teams like Slovan, Sibir, Dinamo's, Admiral are terrible and are like ECHL quality. What's worse, the game styles are still quite far apart. The style of play between the AHL and NHL is closer than the KHL and NHL, so it makes sense if a player isn't ready for the big time they spend some time in the AHL. Look at what's going on with Samsonov, or even to Shumakov. They're playing really bad and both were solid KHL contributors. Whether that's because the AHL is a better league, or that the adjustment is harder than expected (the angles of the smaller rink is a tough switch for goalies), it's really moot, all it really means is time likely needs to be invested in this league to continue development. I don't see how you can knock it as a development course. Kravtsov is looking great in the KHL, but if he isn't NHL ready next year, the AHL should be a considered option.

 

[SoundAndFury]

Teams like Slovan, Sibir, Dinamo's, Admiral are terrible and are like ECHL quality.

The rest of your post is up to an endless debate which is ongoing for as far as I remember (developing in NA vs. Russia) but this sentence is flat out wrong.

Admiral might be close to ECHL level but aren't the bottom AHL teams kinda close to it as well? You mentioned Dinamo Minsk. This is a team which had Enroth in goal and Kostitsyn bros, Pulkkinen, Bennett, Howden in the top 6. 5 out of their top 6 guys were NHL players at one point. Do you see a team like this struggling in the ECHL? Doesn't it tell you KHL as a whole is rather fine?

And the same goes applies to all the teams you mentioned - their top end guys are ones who were/would be very good in the AHL. Admiral is a dumpster fire and has no top end guys but others are nowhere near ECHL level.

 

[NYRfan]

Yep, going to a worse league to get minutes he is getting in a better league is perfect logic.

I may not post much but I've read your anti-NHL posts for a long time. I don't need to say much, you've been proven wrong plenty already.

 

[greasysnapper]

The rest of your post is up to an endless debate which is ongoing for as far as I remember (developing in NA vs. Russia) but this sentence is flat out wrong.

Admiral might be close to ECHL level but aren't the bottom AHL teams kinda close to it as well? You mentioned Dinamo Minsk. This is a team which had Enroth in goal and Kostitsyn bros, Pulkkinen, Bennett, Howden in the top 6. 5 out of their top 6 guys were NHL players at one point. Do you see a team like this struggling in the ECHL? Doesn't it tell you KHL as a whole is rather fine?

And the same goes applies to all the teams you mentioned - their top end guys are ones who were/would be very good in the AHL. Admiral is a dumpster fire and has no top end guys but others are nowhere near ECHL level.

Sure, some AHL teams from year to year could probably be beat by a well coached ECHL team.

Struggling in the echl? No, but I never said they'd struggle in the echl. I said "Teams like Slovan, Sibir, Dinamo's, Admiral are terrible and are like ECHL quality" meaning teams like that are -> like <- echl quality.

A team with a top 6, where Pulkkinen is the top offensive weapon speaks volumes. Pulk struggled at the NHL level and couldn't hang, he also only had 1 ppg season in the AHL, he was a top 6 forward in that league though. He scored less NHL points than TJ Hensick, who is currently in the the ECHL. I don't think Dinamo Minsk is a very good team at all, and I think the style in which they play is more akin to echl. The point of the argument is that, I don't necessarily believe that the KHL is a better league at the moment (I think there's been a steep decline this season), especially when we see last years KHL goalie of the year looking pretty average in the AHL for the Colorado Eagles.

 

[Lays]

Kuznetsov is much smarter player and has smoother skating. For me Kravtsov is combo of Kuzy and Yakupov, he has strengths and weaknesses of both players. I hope he will find the best way for his development, so I think he'd better stay in Traktor for one more year.

Where exactly see Yakupov in Kravtsov? I see very little similarities
Kuznetzov is a good one. If I had to be specific probably a combination of Kuz/Ehlers like I said before

 

[greasysnapper]

Where exactly see Yakupov in Kravtsov? I see very little similarities
Kuznetzov is a good one. If I had to be specific probably a combination of Kuz/Ehlers like I said before

I don't see Ehlers at all. There are some marginal Kuznetsov stylistic similarities and playstyles though.

 

[Atas2000]

I may not post much but I've read your anti-NHL posts for a long time. I don't need to say much, you've been proven wrong plenty already.

The only argument you have is a false claim I was anti-NHL. That says a lot about your well founded analysis.

You want to prove me wrong? Do it. So far you did not prove anything. You jist play a very funny card. "Somebody who os anti-NHL can't be right about anyrhing". It doesn't work that way.

You comment on a post in which I call the AHL a worse league than the KHL. If you dosagree I am sure you have some facts to back it up, right?

 

[Atas2000]

I'm a general proponent of the KHL, but as of late, I really don't know if outside of a handful of teams that the general talent is better than the AHL. Teams like Slovan, Sibir, Dinamo's, Admiral are terrible and are like ECHL quality. What's worse, the game styles are still quite far apart. The style of play between the AHL and NHL is closer than the KHL and NHL, so it makes sense if a player isn't ready for the big time they spend some time in the AHL. Look at what's going on with Samsonov, or even to Shumakov. They're playing really bad and both were solid KHL contributors. Whether that's because the AHL is a better league, or that the adjustment is harder than expected (the angles of the smaller rink is a tough switch for goalies), it's really moot, all it really means is time likely needs to be invested in this league to continue development. I don't see how you can knock it as a development course. Kravtsov is looking great in the KHL, but if he isn't NHL ready next year, the AHL should be a considered option.

As for the quality of the teams there was always that disparity in the KHL. It hasn't prevented other players from developing nicely in the KHL. And in my opinion the different style benefited them rather than the opposite. The common assumption that playing on the same rink size and in similar systems in the AHL helps adjusting seems logical at first, but the exact problem of Russians developing badly in NA minors is changing of styles too early. While they haven't finished their study of the brand of hockey foreign to NA they start adjusting to the NA style and never get there really. They end up not really good at both. Top talents mature as players earlier as we know. They have less problems with the above, but the guys who need some seasoning to fully translate the natural talents to pro play are often victims of those decisions in the crucial development years.

Maybe not for you, but for many posters here I never said the NHL or the AHL or the CHL were bad. That seems to be hard to comprehend for many. NA minors might not be the best option for development for young Russians(and btw many Swedes and Finns also choose to develop at home in their draft/draft+1 season). That is all.

The adversity Kravtsov now faces being on a bad team is part of the experience for him too. He will have his step out experiences with the U20 team soon though. I fully expect him to produce there.

Your examples are not really good too. Samsonov will be just fine. Goaltenders are a different story completely. Vasilevsky wasn't exactly breaking records in the AHL at the beginning too. And I still think they should not both played there, but Samsonov is a special case. He was locked behind a starter who likes to play a lot. He's really had a point leaving. Although I don't think playing in the AHL will help his development really. But his options in the KHL were limited.

I don't know how Shumakov gets overrated that much. He performs exactly as expected. Another example why numbers alone can't tell the whole story. From knowing the player well I can tell you that if everything works out ideally for him which rarely happens he is a servicable bottom 6 player. I don't know where the expectations come from he'd step right into NHL. Him and Shalunov got overhyped and overrated in the KHL after their Sibir days. Shumakov is also 26, so no part of that development discussion. I have no problem with him giving it a try at thwerege even if it's because of some quarrel with the team and not a very well planned course of action on his part.

 

[bagsw]

Where exactly see Yakupov in Kravtsov? I see very little similarities
Kuznetzov is a good one. If I had to be specific probably a combination of Kuz/Ehlers like I said before

I can't exactly explain it, but I have the same feelings sometimes when I see Vitaly playing.
Maybe it is because he is rushing to much sometimes, or because of some not smart decisions. It is more about my feelings.

 

[Deam78]

I don't see Ehlers at all. There are some marginal Kuznetsov stylistic similarities and playstyles though.

From what I've seen, my early thoughts was Tomas Hertl. Stylistically, I think Kravstov will end up way better than Hertl, but who knows really.

 

[GeorgeKaplan]

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

 

[Fvital92]

Some non scoring Kravtsov gifs so we don't break the tradition.

 

[Irishguy42]

Some non scoring Kravtsov gifs so we don't break the tradition.

Hey woah slow down there, punk.

He's not scoring in these, ergo people will think he's a bust.