Prospect Info: Semyon Chistyakov, D, 117th Overall, Ufa

[herzausstein]

Let him get big minutes over there and come over here when there isn’t quite the logjam

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

Yeah, I don't see any problem whatsoever with letting him spend at least 2 or 3 more years over there. He's doing great, but we're already trying to figure out how to fit in Carrier and Farrance, with Davies and Del Gazio knocking on the door in Milwaukee. I'd be thinking, leave Wilsby one more year in Sweden (he's a year older), then maybe he's ready to come over. Then it can be the year after that when we start looking at Chistyakov maybe?

 

[Kat Predator]

Yeah, I don't see any problem whatsoever with letting him spend at least 2 or 3 more years over there. He's doing great, but we're already trying to figure out how to fit in Carrier and Farrance, with Davies and Del Gazio knocking on the door in Milwaukee. I'd be thinking, leave Wilsby one more year in Sweden (he's a year older), then maybe he's ready to come over. Then it can be the year after that when we start looking at Chistyakov maybe?

Earlier in the season, we had no talent and no prospects. The cupboards were so bare, many wanted to rip them out, bust 'em up, and make some s'mores.

 

[Flgatorguy87]

This kid has can really lay the body defending zone entries. It's pretty entertaining. He's got a few of these just in the playoffs alone.

 

[JohnWillow]

Bob Hartley: A KHL Champion | Podcasts - Sportsnet.ca

Hey strangers!

Was looking around if someone posted this, but it looks like not, so I'm gonna share and leave this here.

Was listening to Bob Hartley's interview on Elliotte Friedman podcast and the coach praised the guy a lot. At the 23rd minute mark there is a little bit about him, not much.

Link up there. Cheers.

 

[Scoresberg]

Hartley thinks Chistyakov could play in the NHL. Describes him as "A small Darius Kasparaitis"

 

[triggrman]

Hartley thinks Chistyakov could play in the NHL. Describes him as "A small Darius Kasparaitis"

so a cheap shot artist?

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

so a cheap shot artist?

I imagine he meant more in terms of being a surprisingly physical presence despite his size. Then SOP is to pick the most extreme example who happens to be of the same nationality. (Or in this case "close enough" since they don't think of Lithuania). But taking away the extreme side of it, I would be happier to compare him more to, say, Niklas Kronwall. A guy who is primarily a skill player, but also catches people offguard with some surprising hits.

 

[Legionnaire11]

Kronwall??? So, a cheap shot artist?

 

[Flgatorguy87]

I did not expect that, but I am excited to bring him over.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

I did not expect that, but I am excited to bring him over.

Hm, I was not sure that'd be the best thing for him, but then again, he was probably playing 4th pair minutes on a veteran team there some nights, and if he did the math and figured that wasn't likely to be much different for a 20-year old than a 19-year old on a championship team... ok, maybe it starts to make more sense.

Imagining our Preds-Ads D for next season...

Josi-Fabbro
Ekholm-Carrier
Harpur-Ellis
Benning

Davies (L) -Allard (R)
Farrance (L) -Chistyakov (L)
Del Gaizo (L) -Healey (L)
sign veteran RD (Lewington seemed totally fine to me)

... and if we can trade Ellis so much the better. I would not be against bringing Gudbranson back on a cheap 1-year deal to replace Ellis, or if Gudbranson is still going to be too expensive, perhaps another cheap patch UFA instead. Or maybe they can find a way to resurrect Borowiecki, but I mostly just keep assuming he gets dropped out of the picture.

It also feels to me like we're a little heavy on forwards so we may run a 14/7 split next year instead of 13/8... but keep the Milwaukee guys on speed dial, many of them should get NHL games over the course of the season.

 

[triggrman]

Carrier and Harpur won’t play in the AHL again. Davies might, Farrance will be up and down.

The AHL will have openings

 

[Flgatorguy87]

It's still early, but the scouts seems to have hit on a higher percentage of players in the last couple drafts/trades which has given a big shot of prospect depth to our pool. I still don't see many elite/high end players in the group i.e. top line/top pair, but I am not complaining based on my expectations 2 seasons ago.

I think Chistyakov getting heavy minutes in Milwaukee is a great option. KHL was fine but so is this, and selfishly I will be able to follow him much closer.

 

[Kat Predator]

Hm, I was not sure that'd be the best thing for him, but then again, he was probably playing 4th pair minutes on a veteran team there some nights, and if he did the math and figured that wasn't likely to be much different for a 20-year old than a 19-year old on a championship team... ok, maybe it starts to make more sense.

Imagining our Preds-Ads D for next season...

Josi-Fabbro
Ekholm-Carrier
Harpur-Ellis
Benning

Davies (L) -Allard (R)
Farrance (L) -Chistyakov (L)
Del Gaizo (L) -Healey (L)
sign veteran RD (Lewington seemed totally fine to me)

... and if we can trade Ellis so much the better. I would not be against bringing Gudbranson back on a cheap 1-year deal to replace Ellis, or if Gudbranson is still going to be too expensive, perhaps another cheap patch UFA instead. Or maybe they can find a way to resurrect Borowiecki, but I mostly just keep assuming he gets dropped out of the picture.

It also feels to me like we're a little heavy on forwards so we may run a 14/7 split next year instead of 13/8... but keep the Milwaukee guys on speed dial, many of them should get NHL games over the course of the season.

Yep. We have Prokop and Borowiecki still under contract next year (unless Seattle takes Boro).

There are some dark horses like Stastny and Veryomenko still out in the wild that might be signed as well.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

Yep. We have Prokop and Borowiecki still under contract next year (unless Seattle takes Boro).

There are some dark horses like Stastny and Veryomenko still out in the wild that might be signed as well.

I'm just assuming we punt Borowiecki off somewhere so he gets a fresh re-start elsewhere. Prokop will still be in junior. We certainly don't lack for a depth chart on D anymore.

 

[BigFatCat999]

If Ellis is 3rd pair, he's going to Seattle with Duchene.

 

[PredsV82]

If Ellis is 3rd pair, he's going to Seattle with Duchene.

Why would Seattle want a 3rd pair Dman on a 6 million dollar contract?

 

[BigFatCat999]

Why would Seattle want a 3rd pair Dman on a 6 million dollar contract?

We have this strawman topic all the time...

He's a 3rd pairing on the Preds. On Seattle he's a #1. Duchene is a spare part on the Preds. BUT The expansion draft will be very light on centers. VERY. Duchene will be seen as a commodity.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

We have this strawman topic all the time...

He's a 3rd pairing on the Preds. On Seattle he's a #1. Duchene is a spare part on the Preds. BUT The expansion draft will be very light on centers. VERY. Duchene will be seen as a commodity.

And really, Ellis isn't even 3rd pairing on the Predators. He's still 1st pairing here too. We just go about our wishful thinking anyway that they'd change up the mix on the defense pairs, but that has never yet actually transpired and possibly never will.

I can only pray that Seattle would see Duchene as a commodity, but no, they won't. Sadly. The Expansion Draft is not light on centers. It is just light on top-6 offensive players in general. But Duchene isn't one of those anymore. Heck, he's not even really a center either. And for the same production as a bottom-6 player, he carries an $8M cap hit. That's the unfortunate reality. We're just going to have to wait until next year to see if we can resuscitate any commodity value in Duchene. And that's fine. We've heard that story before (Turris), but maybe this time it'll work out. Nothing for it but to just wait and see.

 

[BigFatCat999]

Now back to topic. Is this kid good enough?

 

[Kat Predator]

Semyon Chistyakov: Undersized but Not Understated

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

Now back to topic. Is this kid good enough?

He was good enough to play in the KHL as teenager, he'll be good enough to play for Milwaukee next season. And after that... who knows, we'll just have to wait and see.

 

[herzausstein]

If we can trade Ellis to Seattle for "Future Considerations" and they take Duchene in the expansion draft, I'll consider that a good trade. Ellis would be their #1 D and Duchene would be their #1C and we'd be free of one albatross of a contract and Ellis would get to shine again. Ellis is still a #1D, we just have younger faster players that can fill the gap until they grow into #1D material.

 

[Armourboy]

I've never viewed Ellis as a 1D, he just happened to get to ride with Josi because Ekholm and Subban played well together. Since Ekholm can play with anyone they just leave Ellis where he is.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

I've never viewed Ellis as a 1D, he just happened to get to ride with Josi because Ekholm and Subban played well together. Since Ekholm can play with anyone they just leave Ellis where he is.

Right, the difference between "1st pair D" and "#1D" is not all that subtle. I've always figured we've actually somewhat underutilized Ellis as an offensive player, but in my mind he fits that genre, like Tyson Barrie or a few other smaller PMD-style defensemen in the league, and you can call them "1st pair D". But ideally you want to pair them with a bigger defensive partner who minds his defensive responsibilities well in order to get the most out of them. We don't really do that. We just give Ellis a free ride with Josi because we haven't really had anybody else that fits and our 3rd pair has been a wasteland.

I'll be surprised if the Preds move on from this plan in my lifetime... with the number of years both Josi and Ellis are signed for, it won't surprise me if this never changes. 5 years from now I'm gonna be whining about it just the same way I was a few years ago.