Minnesota Wild: Russian prospects hope to spark offensive revolution

The Minnesota Wild could be set to undergo a Russian revolution in the next few years, with a strong quartet of Russian prospects that they’ll be hoping can all graduate to the NHL level.

Russian-born players are always interesting prospects, especially with the advent of the KHL; a league in their home country that doesn’t require learning a new language or facing the challenges of moving across the Atlantic. The Minnesota Wild knowingly took the risk on some of their prospects.

As we see with Alexander Ovechkin, Pavel Datsyuk and Alex Kovalchuk; the true elite Russian players generally choose to at least give the NHL a shot.

It is obviously though, with a degree of apprehension, that you use a draft pick on a Russian player, as there is far less guarantee than, say, an NCAA or OHL prospect of being willing to re-locate for a shot in the NHL.

The Minnesota Wild will be hoping that they get firm guarantees from their quartet; one is already playing in Canada, one in America, the other two – General Manager, Paul Fenton has personally been in contact with.

Since the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, the Minnesota Wild have picked up a Russian prospect almost every single year, meaning they now have four guys in their system, all developing and hopefully pushing ahead on their development into NHL players.

Some of those players are tied to KHL contracts, which mean that their development is occuring overseas and that the Wild are somewhat limited in when they can bring them on-board. Others are much more local and thus far easier to keep a close watch on.

Leading that pack, in terms of being ready to step onto the main roster is Dmitiri Sokolov, who currently plys his trade with the Minnesota Wild’s minor league affiliate, the Iowa Wild.

Does amazing talent trump poor fitness?

That is the question you inevitably have to ask when it comes to Dmitiri Sokolov.

His fitness was likely the reason he was still on the draft table in the seventh round of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. The Minnesota Wild eventually picked him at 196th overall, despite him putting up 52 points in 68 games for the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves in his draft year.

On the opening day of training camp this year, we once again saw him struggle mightily with Bruce Boudreau’s infamous conditioning test.

Rightfully, you have to question if he can cut it at a truly elite level if he can’t fix his fitness issues up. If, however, the twenty year-old can knuckle down, get working out and sort that problem out, the Minnesota Wild possibly have a seventh round steal on their hands.

After being drafted, he returned to major junior hockey, scoring 48 goals and 72 points in 64 games for the Sudbury Wolves in the 2016-17 season and then having a 50 goal year, totalling 96 points in 64 games split between the Sudbury Wolves and Barrie Colts the season after.

It’s not like he’s lacking talent, either as a goal-scorer or play-maker; he just seems to have a knack for reading the game and being one step ahead of the play.

Since joining up with the Iowa Wild at the start of this season, Sokolov isn’t seemingly having too much trouble adapting to the professional level.

With nine AHL games under his belt, he’s managed to score two goals and tally seven assists and is certainly showing some good signs of becoming a more mature hockey player.

He still has his frailties defensively and to be honest, he may never fix these. However, provided he resolves the fitness issue, this may not be an issue. Offense can sometimes be the best form of defense, after all.

Everyone’s talking about Kirill Kaprizov

Kirill Kaprizov is the Russian drafted longest ago by the Minnesota Wild. Picked up in the fifth round of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft at 135th overall; Wild fans have been waiting quite some time now to see him in their team’s colours.

It isn’t set to happen for at least a season or two more though, with his contract with CSKA Moscow in the KHL still ongoing for the next eighteen months and seemingly not having an ‘out’ clause.

The excitement around the player is quite reasonable as since the 2016-17 season, he’s been able to put up consistent years of around 40 points in a league that compares quite well to the NHL.

This year for CSKA Moscow, he sits at 10 goals and 7 assists, totalling his 17 points in 24 games and has just been named to the KHL All-Star Team.

Kaprizov is the atypical Russian forward; amazing hands and great vision for the game, that and a penchant for slick goals.

Whilst this season’s numbers seem a little slow by comparison to his previous years, it’s clear that the scoring touch is still there for Kaprizov and what’s more, the Minnesota Wild are very much determined to bring him over from Russia.

The delay in him moving over to play for the Minnesota Wild could be seen, maybe, as a good thing. Look at how it panned out with Artemi Panarin, different scenario of course, but he too spent a large chunk of his early professional career playing in the KHL and did just fine upon making it to the NHL eventually.

Patience will be key here, that and ongoing communication. Which it seems that General Manager, Paul Fenton fully understands and is willing to put into practice, in return for eventually getting a Russian ace on his Minnesota Wild roster.

More time in juniors will be key for Khovanov

Alexander Khovanov is the second most likely to graduate to the Minnesota Wild if you base that idea solely on the fact he already plays in Canada, thus isn’t tied to any sort of KHL contract.

Realistically, he moved over to Canada most likely to improve his chances of making the NHL and when the Minnesota Wild picked him in the 3rd round (86th overall) in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, they brought that potential goal one step closer to reality.

Khovanov, like many Russian-born players, possesses a silky pair of mitts, game smarts and an accurate shot.

He showed up impressively in the Traverse City Prospects tournament representing the Minnesota Wild and has already made a decent showing playing for Team Russia in the CIBC Canada Russia Series recently.

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Those outings, coupled with another year in major junior hockey with the Moncton Wildcats are only going to help his game.

He is reportedly looking faster this year and the highlights I saw of the Canada Russia Series showed that he certainly has decent hockey intelligence.

Last year’s 29 games with the Moncton Wildcats resulted in 28 points. This year so far, he’s doing slightly better with 24 points from 21 games in the QMJHL.

In regards to his development curve, we’re talking about a player that isn’t yet nineteen, whereas some of his fellow Russian, hopefully future Minnesota Wild teammates, are already in their early twenties.

He has plenty of time to add a bit more bulk to a frame that isn’t yet ready, I don’t think, for a role as a center in a professional league.

As long as he continues to put in the effort and continues to tally points with the Wildcats, he’ll gain the confidence that he needs to graduate to the next level and be able to perform just as well.

The future is red for the Minnesota Wild; there’s a Russian revolution on its’ way! If these players pan out anywhere near how good they’re expected, that’s the future core of the forward group right there.

Statistics courtesy of Elite Prospects.