Well, Gusev is small, but I wouldn't say the same about Kucherov. He is 6'0 now.
W Nikita Kucherov (2011, 58th overall, Tampa Bay)
- Thread starter MrGeno101
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Well, Gusev is small, but I wouldn't say the same about Kucherov. He is 6'0 now.
Hockey's changed in the last 5 years and so did the size requirements.
It's not as attractive these days to be 6-2 200lbs at the age of 18. This means that the player will likely round off at 6-3 220-230lbs. Unless he is a very powerful skater and has extremely soft hands (which is very rare, think Nash) he'll have a harder time standing out in a faster more mobile game nowadays.
That's why guys like Kucherov, who will probably round off at 6' 180-190 is able to be very mobile on the ice and it pays off. No more of the hooking era where fast players could be slowed down with a can opener or just a hook. RNH is another proof of how skill is more important than size nowadays.
Another interesting point about last years WJC, part of the reason Canada struggled in the 3rd period is because their size wore them down quicker than it did for the Russians, who were significantly lighter and more mobile. Of course it's just part of the reason..
It's not as attractive these days to be 6-2 200lbs at the age of 18. This means that the player will likely round off at 6-3 220-230lbs. Unless he is a very powerful skater and has extremely soft hands (which is very rare, think Nash) he'll have a harder time standing out in a faster more mobile game nowadays.
That's why guys like Kucherov, who will probably round off at 6' 180-190 is able to be very mobile on the ice and it pays off. No more of the hooking era where fast players could be slowed down with a can opener or just a hook. RNH is another proof of how skill is more important than size nowadays.
Another interesting point about last years WJC, part of the reason Canada struggled in the 3rd period is because their size wore them down quicker than it did for the Russians, who were significantly lighter and more mobile. Of course it's just part of the reason..
kiluj
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I agree with you. He is younger, less TOI, etc. That's don't mean he's bad. That's mean he's unproven in a long run. All these international tournaments are usually very short (6-7 games). And I find it strange that such unproven guy as Grigorenko is going to be top-5, and such guy as Gusev, dynamic player with excellent hands and skating, play-offs top scorer, who carried his team on the shoulders to Harlamov Cup, was not even drafted??? That's just... strange.
As for Gusev's small size - well, Datsyuk and St. Louis are small too.
true, but Kucherov's 1e year in the KHL he was over a point per game asswell, better then Grigorenko last year
I guess that Kucherov's 2nd round draft is good for russian hockey. No point for him to go to the NHL and play with 3-4 liners. Perhaps if he'll become a star in the KHL, he'll get what he deserves there. Right now he's just another 2nd rounder for NA...
Brave Sir Robin
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- Jul 7, 2011
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Getting drafted in the second round is not the end of the world, nor does it mean that he's relegated to the bottom 6 for all eternity. Even 1st round picks often start out in the bottom 6.
Sure, if Kucherov comes over he'll probably end up on the 3rd line for his first season. However, if he's successful, he'll probably get promoted to top 6 position.
chasespace
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Tampa has Marty St. Louis and we signed Tyler Johnson(5'9"). I think he'll be fine in Tampa.
chasespace
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Kucherov getting drafted in the second round is a steal. Tampa has already said they expect great things from him so I doubt he'll sit on the 3/4 lines unless he doesn't transition like Filatov.
cska78
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why didn't Tampa use one of the late picks to grab Gusev is beyond me, they could have carried' Tampa's offense for a long time together.
I watched the preseason games for CSKA and once again - luv the kid (Gusev). Kucherov showed himself like quite a finisher, should have had a hatty though.
As for Grigorenko he's an elite talent, I see him picking the steam up towards the 2nd half of the CHL season. Kamaev is also really good.
The thing about Gusev is that he is not just small, but actually petite. Very impressive, no doubt- but the best way to find him on the ice is to look for a kid looking like player.
I mean, he is smaller than Burmistrov, Khokhlachev and so on. It's tough to imagine him playing among men from NHL in the next few years. It's just not possible to effectively put on that much weight without loosing something. I can see the concern NHL scouts have.
We'll see how his game translates to KHL this year.
cska78
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have you ever seen them play? are you aware that kids out of Russia who can easily go 2nd-3rd round go undrafted due to "russian factor" and the ones that should be drafted in the first round end up being drafted in the 2nd-3rd?
cska78
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Coco the Monkey*
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I'm talking about the dude who went undrafted. Kucherov is another story. I don't need to see Gusev play to know he's not an NHL prospect (at the moment) if he goes undrafted. You remind me of the Ben Conz lovers.
To say that Gusev, an undrafted small player, would have carried the Lightning for years, is just about the funniest/most biased thing I've read on these boards.
There's clearly a reason why teams go 6 rounds without drafting this guy, no matter how good he is in the MHL.
newham89
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I know! Right? Imagine a small undrafted player ever carrying the lightning's offence! Crazy to think about...
chasespace
Registered User
Did you mean?
No, he means the other small undrafted player that carried the Lightnings offence, Paul Szczechura
Also, is Gusev related to former Lightning player Sergei Gusev?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxMuvcvyF6M
Gusev's highligh reel is more impressive (To me) than Kucherov's. And the goals he scored were extremely important to the championship team. Including a nice one in the final game. Yes, I know he is older.
He reminds me a lot of Samsonov in his prime. Very shifty, quick, agile, soft hands player.
Gusev's highligh reel is more impressive (To me) than Kucherov's. And the goals he scored were extremely important to the championship team. Including a nice one in the final game. Yes, I know he is older.
He reminds me a lot of Samsonov in his prime. Very shifty, quick, agile, soft hands player.
kiluj
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while I agree that any of the 3 aforementioned have profitied from playing on the same line, I'm pretty sure none of them is a sheer product of the others.
what they have in common IMO is, that they all are smart players, who know how to use talented teammates effectively.... something that was significant for russian (sovjet) hockey in the 80s, and got totally lost over time, and ended in recent past with highlight-reel players, unable to properly adjust to line mates like Ovechkin, Zherdev or Kovalchuck (who improved a lot over the last 2 years though in that departement in my opinion).
I'm more than glad to see this change of trend again.
Btw, what I've noticed over the last 2 years , anybody playing alongside Gusev really profitied statwise, (Namestnikov, Barbashev, Prohorkin (look at his pointdrop after being moved from Gusev's line last year), Kucherov or Grigorenko). and this fact is one of the biggest compliments for a player.
a tiny, fast and shifty guy with golden hands and vision and a big heart.... I can see were the comparsions to St.Louis come from...
what they have in common IMO is, that they all are smart players, who know how to use talented teammates effectively.... something that was significant for russian (sovjet) hockey in the 80s, and got totally lost over time, and ended in recent past with highlight-reel players, unable to properly adjust to line mates like Ovechkin, Zherdev or Kovalchuck (who improved a lot over the last 2 years though in that departement in my opinion).
I'm more than glad to see this change of trend again.
Btw, what I've noticed over the last 2 years , anybody playing alongside Gusev really profitied statwise, (Namestnikov, Barbashev, Prohorkin (look at his pointdrop after being moved from Gusev's line last year), Kucherov or Grigorenko). and this fact is one of the biggest compliments for a player.
a tiny, fast and shifty guy with golden hands and vision and a big heart.... I can see were the comparsions to St.Louis come from...
Peter25
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