Larry Brooks: Vitaly Kravtsov headed back to the KHL

[GeorgeKaplan]

His comments since he has left just do not scream to me someone who sees this as a temporary, "I'm going to go home for a bit and prove myself in another pro league before coming back and ripping up the AHL" kind of deal. It seems to me like someone who is just glad to get out of here, go home and put his whole experience here behind him. I hate the old tried and true boring hockey truisms and I love that European players are a little bit more comfortable being honest with the media but I think if his immediate goal was to come back and fight his way to the NHL then we would have heard him say something to that effect. If he has then I must have missed it.

There are always ways around contractual issues if the player wants it badly enough.

So you’re just looking for reasons to believe the worst possible scenario is the one that’s going to happen

 

[Kupo]

His comments since he has left just do not scream to me someone who sees this as a temporary

Which comments specifically leads you to believe this?

 

[nyr2k2]

His comments since he has left just do not scream to me someone who sees this as a temporary, "I'm going to go home for a bit and prove myself in another pro league before coming back and ripping up the AHL" kind of deal. It seems to me like someone who is just glad to get out of here, go home and put his whole experience here behind him. I hate the old tried and true boring hockey truisms and I love that European players are a little bit more comfortable being honest with the media but I think if his immediate goal was to come back and fight his way to the NHL then we would have heard him say something to that effect. If he has then I must have missed it.

There are always ways around contractual issues if the player wants it badly enough.

I mean it's totally possible he doesn't want to come back, you could be right. I guess my point was just that Fox and his situation bear such little similarity to Kravtsov and his situation, from a contractual standpoint. Yeah he could be traded or something, but the Rangers would have to be willing to sell for pennies on the dollar and some other team would have to want to acquire a guy who may not come over here. Just doesn't seem likely. It seems like if he wants to be traded he'd, at minimum, need to come back at the end of the year and spend some time in HFD. Show a willingness to play here.

Who knows, though.

 

[YoSoyLalo]

Just like how Adam Fox had to play another year in college or play for the Hurricanes right?

It's amazing how no matter the amount of times we have seen players find ways around their contractual obligations people still pretend like it's some sort of indentured servitude they have no way of ever working around.

There really are no words. Just wow. I think you’re just really, really salty and aren’t thinking about what you’re typing.

 

[Chaels Arms]

Because I cited an example of another player who once had a binary choice to make pursuant to his contract and ended up doing neither? I think you're being a tad overly dramatic. I've been much saltier than this before.

 

[redwhiteandblue]

Man they are really promoting the Hartford experiment in every interview about any guy. It’s obvious they’re sending a message to VK but also using this as an early opportunity developing the farm to set a standard.

 

[Brooklyn Ranger]

Man they are really promoting the Hartford experiment in every interview about any guy. It’s obvious they’re sending a message to VK but also using this as an early opportunity developing the farm to set a standard.

Or the organization is really excited to have a farm system that is actually producing results.

 

[kovazub94]

Another parallel to last season, after a difficult start Traktor fired a head coach. The difference this time is that the replacement did not come from within. Yurzinov jr. has had some prior success in the KHL. Hopefully the change works out for Kravtsov sake.

Vladimir Yurzinov jr is a son of Russian legendary coach, who to Russian hockey is close to what Tikhonov was to hockey in Soviet Union.

Jr’s recent successes include turning around bad start by Sibir in 17-18 and get that team into playoffs. Before that he was the first head coach of then Chinese newly “imported” team Kunlun that he was able to get into playoffs (something that Keenan couldn’t do afterwards). His teams typically have a good structure but their hockey performance is not boring.

 

[True Blue]

He's not coming back.

So you believe that he and his agent decided that being a millionaire in the best league in the world is not for him?

 

[Chaels Arms]

So you believe that he and his agent decided that being a millionaire in the best league in the world is not for him?

If that was his number one focus he'd still be in North America, no?

 

[Leetch3]

If that was his number one focus he'd still be in North America, no?

he gets paid $70k in the AHL so no

 

[Chaels Arms]

he gets paid $70k in the AHL so no

So you think packing up his bags and going back to the KHL was done because he thinks it's actually going to help him make the NHL?

 

[True Blue]

If that was his number one focus he'd still be in North America, no?

Not necessarily. The world is not black and white. There is a lot of grey.

 

[Vinny]

So you think packing up his bags and going back to the KHL was done because he thinks it's actually going to help him make the NHL?

yes, and he will. He does not like driving in a bus to games.

 

[Ola]

So you think packing up his bags and going back to the KHL was done because he thinks it's actually going to help him make the NHL?

Just for the record, I absolutely think this would more or less be the unanimous opinion in Europe.

Looking at a sample size of all kids traveling across the pond, it is hard to deny that players staying longer in Europe develop a lot better than those who go over early.

And there are certainly objective factors that explains why that is the case too. It’s extremely important years around 18-20. You can adopt and learn the small things when you are older, and many just seem to stop developing their skills when they go to NA early. You take attention from training to learning a new language, new way of living, new style of hockey, new size of the rink etc. And a player in the AHL will practice a lot less than players does in Europe. More games and more buss rides, at least comparing the SHL to the AHL the difference is huge.

Many SHLers will describe coming back from the AHL to the SHL as a downside being that there are so many practices, saying that sometimes in the AHL it felt like they just played games and travelled, didn’t have time to practice.

So to answer your question, yes lol. I definitely think that. There are of course rare exceptions, but the AHL has an awful track record of developing good NHLers when it comes to kids that spent a little longer time there.