If you own Kuznetsov, are you concerned?
 

So last night, a buddy of mine in one of my pools (the one in my sig actually) shoots me an email and ask me if I would be interested in acquiring Kuznetsov. My initial reaction was, hmm interesting. Then my gears got working and I post this question to you reader...

How confident are any of you that Kuznetsov will ever report to the NHL? I look at all the Russian NHL players who recently had to leave the KHL to return to their NHL clubs after the lockout ended. How many of them really wanted to come back? Its obvious that Kovalchuk wanted to stay and continue to play back in the Mother Land. Visnovsky is still there (although I believe he will eventually land in NY before long). I had even read that Russian President, Vladimir Putin was getting involved in trying to keep these Russian stars home and play in the KHL (The rumor I had read was he had offered OV, Malkin, Datsyuk, and Kovalchuk $30M each to stay and play in the KHL).

So this brings me back to Kuznetsov. He has no NHL contract, so he has no obligation to ever go there and play. He is Washington property, but that's about it. If the KHL is throwing big money at several NHL stars, do you think they won't do the same with Kuznetsov? He will obviously make more money in the KHL as he will have to start out on a rookie salary for his first NHL contract. Do you think, that after watching some of his his Russian heroes struggle to leave the KHL and go to the NHL, he may have more to think about now when his current KHL contract expires? There are rumors that Kuznetsov was upset that he wasn't invited to the Capitals development camp back in July.

So I go back to my title question, if you are a current Kuznetsov owner, how confident are you that he will come to the NHL. I am not questioning his skill level, just his head. For the record, I declined my buddies trade proposal. I am not overly confident we will see Kuznetsov in the NHL any time soon.

If he does come, we wont see him for 3 years. I think I remember reading he signed a 2 year contract in the KHL.

So, with all things being equal, can you wait 3 years to see him produce? Can you sit on him?

I acquired him before he signed that 2 year deal in the KHL. I was disapointed that he signed over there but the guys is still young. I believe he still has 1 year left on his contract after this one. I think he crosses the pond after his contract his up. Maybe I'm just trying to make myself feel better for that trade.

You kind of missed the point of my question. Basically, with all that we have seen in the past couple weeks, with the Russian NHL players considering staying to play in the KHL, and the KHL willing to throw big money at these players, how confident that Kuznetsov will even come to the NHL. Lets be honest, he is if not their biggest, then certainly one of their biggest assets in the league right now. What do you think they will throw at him to keep him there.

That is my real question. Do you really think he will come to the NHL after all that we have seen over the past couple weeks.

I think after he's achieved as much as he can in Russia and made some good money, he may want to test the waters in the NHL. So I think he will eventually come, but for how long? Who knows.

I don't think he's coming over. He's already making good coin in Russia. After this contract they'll throw even more money at him. So if his current contract makes an NHL entry level contract look like a joke, how puny will it look compared to Kuz's next KHL contract offer? He's already a rock star there, he already got married there and therefore has a lot of social roots planted already.

There's a reason I got rid of most Russians on my team. The KHL is just too big of a threat with them these days.

I agree with this. Eventually, he's gonna want to prove he can be as good as he is now in a better league. Personally, I give him another shot and after that I'll try to trade him or I'll drop him if need be.

After all the talk on these boards pumping Kuz at the best thing going outside the NHL I'd just like to bring some attention to the KHL playoff stats. I understand it's a small sample size but.....

9 points in 19 games, minus 2, sixth in scoring on his own team.

To top it off, his stats this year showd no progression from last year.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm only stat hunting here so maybe there's a good explanation for what I'm seeing but the numbers don't scream of a player who's just bursting to take the NHL by storm. Not saying he's not a very talented player here but I'm not convinced he deserves the hype he gets at times.

If you're looking for a Russian prospect who I think could take the NHL by storm check out what his draft eligible teammate is doing in the playoffs Nischushkin has 8 points in 19 games and is a plus 5. Amazing numbers for a kid in the playoffs of a mens league! Give me Nischushkin over Kuz every day of the week.

I'm not worried. He's going to be a real good player.

http://www.russianmachineneverbreaks...ochi-olympics/

I would never say NEVER, but I'm not too confident in him coming over any time soon. If I owned him and someone offered a non-russian prospect a tad below him, I'd probably take it.