We know that Minnesota Wild General Manager was in Russia recently; we know that he attended games and we recently heard rumours suggesting teams may be in for a guy by the name of Konstantin Okulov.
It’s fair to say that the Minnesota Wild came to mind when I saw Elliotte Friedman mentioning Konstantin Okulov in his latest ’31 Thoughts’ column.
"‘… others were watching undrafted forward Konstantin Okulov. Now 23, he can’t come over until summer 2020, but can score.’ – Elliotte Friedman (31 Thoughts)"
His exact words don’t give anything away in regards to teams, but you’ve got to assume that Paul Fenton was watching, given the Russian revolution the team may be set to undergo.
What makes it more intriguing is that he plays for the same KHL team as Kirill Kaprizov, who we know Fenton was there to see. He would’ve had to have at least had a look at Konstantin Okulov by virtue of watching CSKA Moscow play.
What we can gather on Okulov is that he is a goal-scorer first; in most of his professional seasons, he had ended up with a higher tally of goals than assists.
At 23 years old, he’s not a young un-drafted prospect anymore but rather a player that would be easy enough to claim in free agency because his rights aren’t held by anyone.
That is, of course, if you’re willing to wait out his KHL contract expiry in 2020.
Depending what the financial numbers would be on a one-year ‘prove yourself’ deal, and selling Konstantin Okulov on the vision of fielding multiple Russian-born players in the Minnesota Wild line-up; I think there’d be a chance of at least a cheap year out of him.
If you could bring him over at under $1 million and he can prove his goal-scoring in the NHL; this year’s KHL totals of 9 goals and 5 assists in 21 games suggest there might be something, though compared to an elite-level Russian like Artemi Panarin, he is still lacking.
For comparison’s sake, Artemi Panarin’s last year in the KHL saw him net 26 goals and 36 assists for 62 points in 54 games.
Is there a chance he’s a hidden gem? Sure.
Is there a chance he’s potentially a Russian flop? Sure.
Is it worth taking a risk, given the wealth of Russian talent that could be moving into the Minnesota Wild line-up when he’s available? You tell me.