Nikita Gusev: Panarin 2.0?

[Jouko-Pouko]

He was unlikely to buy out the last year of his contract in the first place (the Lightning can't buy it out, only he can with his own $ and he would have to sign an ELC in the NHL), but the Olympics decision I imagine would have shut the door on any lingering hope. 2018-19 is the year that you'd be hoping for at this point.

Exactly. His chances of coming over dropped from 5% to 1%, so if you were holding out hope in the first place, then that's on you. But I'm actually starting to think he might wait until 2019-2020 because he'd be UFA at that point and could sign a real NHL contract instead of having to sign an ELC for $925k. If SKA offers him for example $4M and Tampa can only offer $925k, he might stay in Russia for one more year.

The players who were more affected by NHL's Olympic decision were Shipachyov and Dadonov. I think their chances of coming over were more than 50% before but after the decision it dropped to maybe 10%. Most likely those three will continue playing together on the same line and win another KHL Championship with SKA.

[Jouko-Pouko]

What's interesting about Gusev though is that he's now played two Euro Hockey Tour games (today and on Thursday) on a line with Namestnikov and Kucherov even when Shipachyov who has been linemate throughout the season is also playing on the team. My best guess is that this is Kucherov demanding to get to play with Gusev and maybe trying to convince him to play with them in the NHL. Kucherov is the only superstar on that Russian team, so he definitely can make that kind of demand and get his way. I don't really understand how those three would have been put together otherwise.

In one recent interview, Kucherov said that he had told Yzerman to get Gusev to Tampa to help their team. Kucherov could be the wild card in this whole Gusev situation.

[rataylor22]

Kucherov is the Kane-like wild card in this. He could be the entire reason Gusev comes, and he could boost his point potential by 10-20 points when he does come.

[kovalchuk17]

taking a flyer on gusev late in the draft would be fine in any league. TB has so many good wing options, cant rely on him playing with kucherov and he may/may not even get a shot. hes going to need top pp time to get to 60 points though so im not particularly optimistic.

panarin was given a shot and ran with it, pretty impressive to say the least. i highly doubt anyone drafted panarin high that year. he just as easily couldve struggled and went back to russia.

[rataylor22]

taking a flyer on gusev late in the draft would be fine in any league. TB has so many good wing options, cant rely on him playing with kucherov and he may/may not even get a shot. hes going to need top pp time to get to 60 points though so im not particularly optimistic.

panarin was given a shot and ran with it, pretty impressive to say the least. i highly doubt anyone drafted panarin high that year. he just as easily couldve struggled and went back to russia.

Completely agree with all of this. Panarin was my last round draft pick that year. In most leagues, I'd only be interested in Gusev in the final rounds of the draft, and only if he was given pretty substantial usage in the pre-season (like Panarin was)

[Jouko-Pouko]

taking a flyer on gusev late in the draft would be fine in any league. TB has so many good wing options, cant rely on him playing with kucherov and he may/may not even get a shot. hes going to need top pp time to get to 60 points though so im not particularly optimistic.

panarin was given a shot and ran with it, pretty impressive to say the least. i highly doubt anyone drafted panarin high that year. he just as easily couldve struggled and went back to russia.

Panarin definitely could have struggled and went back to Russia. It's not easy adjusting from the big rink size to the smaller rink size, especially for a smaller skill player like him. Many of them have failed in the past, which is why even I couldn't draft him high enough even though I was a huge fan of him before he played a single game in the NHL - I knew that it doesn't always work perfectly when players move from European leagues to the NHL.

But Panarin was always more skilled than Gusev, so even if Gusev is given similar great opportunity, don't expect similar results.

[Dobber]

Next Panarin? Yes.

Will play with Tampa's version of Patrick Kane? No.

So will the end result mean a Panarin-type season? Nope.


But...if he can stick in the NHL for a couple of years and earn his way onto a line with his buddy Kucherov, then 'eventually' I could see something pretty prolific like what we've seen with Panarin. But I think he'll lean on the skills of his linemates a lot more than Panarin does.

[Schneider]

I could show a 3-4 game stretch of just about any player in the league where they either looked like a superstar or an AHLer. Sample size alert. That's not nearly enough to judge a player on. I'll stick with Juoko's scouting report.

You're right, but lets not pretend that what one person sees is equal to another. That's why some scouts get it right while others get it wrong. Call me a rando, call me a liar, whatever you want, but I know what I'm doing when it comes to hockey. My fantasy hockey record reflects that. I'm here to share some hockey wisdom, not to get an ego boost. I rarely post as is.

As for Gusev, I don't think he's nearly as good as Panarin. Period. Obviously the comparison is there simply because of circumstance. Gusev has a wide skating stance, which is awkward and not ideal. His lateral agility is also not as good as Panarin, nor is his hands. His overall top speed is good, but not elite level. His release is a little on the slow side because he likes to load up on his stick.

I never had an issue with people saying that Gusev is not as good as Panarin. I had an issue with Gusev being compared to Zuccarello. The biggest issue with Zuccarello is that he's an average skater for a guy his size. Terrific hockey sense and vision, big motor, but the fact that he's small, combined with the fact that he doesn't have a very good shot and his average skating makes Zuccarello's production an understandable outcome. Maybe Gusev tops out at Zuccarello production (~60pts), but the comparison still makes little sense. Call him a 60pt player if that's what you mean. Gusev has better individual skills than Zuccarello, but I don't think he has the hockey IQ or motor that Zuc has. Zuccarello also gets great deployment for a player of his production level, which is not something anyone can guarantee for Gusev. 3rd line Gusev won't stick in the NHL like other busts in the past.

[LookoutBergman]

Now that Shipachyov has made the leap... do Gusev's odds of coming over change?

[rataylor22]

Now that Shipachyov has made the leap... do Gusev's odds of coming over change?

I'd say no. Vegas was able to offer a deal and an opportunity that would have been hard to come by from any other team. Gusev doesn't have that luxury.

[kovalchuk17]

I'd say no. Vegas was able to offer a deal and an opportunity that would have been hard to come by from any other team. Gusev doesn't have that luxury.

I hear playing in Florida during the winter is a bit nicer than Russia. Also, his best friend also plays in Tampa Bay. In your mid-20s that doesnt seem so bad to me haha

I also wonder if both Ship and Kovy leave, would Gusev stay with that kind of talent drain. That's not even counting Dadonov who may leave too.

[vandalay]

Again. Gusev has a contract for next season, with a team that has big dollars and won't let him out of the contract. Gusev would have to buy out the last year of his contract with his own money and all he could make in the NHL is ELC money, which might even be less than he is making next season with SKA. It's incredibly unlikely that he would make such a crazy financial decision. 2018-19 is best case scenario. If he waits one more year after that he can become a UFA and pick up a big contract rather than an ELC.

[rataylor22]

I hear playing in Florida during the winter is a bit nicer than Russia. Also, his best friend also plays in Tampa Bay. In your mid-20s that doesnt seem so bad to me haha

I also wonder if both Ship and Kovy leave, would Gusev stay with that kind of talent drain. That's not even counting Dadonov who may leave too.

Sure it is. But being nice to play in Florida doesn't relate to Shipachyov leaving. One could see a talent drain, someone else could see an opportunity to be the man.

Shipachyov leaving doesn't change the weather in Florida.

[poolsharks]

What's interesting about Gusev though is that he's now played two Euro Hockey Tour games (today and on Thursday) on a line with Namestnikov and Kucherov even when Shipachyov who has been linemate throughout the season is also playing on the team. My best guess is that this is Kucherov demanding to get to play with Gusev and maybe trying to convince him to play with them in the NHL. Kucherov is the only superstar on that Russian team, so he definitely can make that kind of demand and get his way. I don't really understand how those three would have been put together otherwise.

In one recent interview, Kucherov said that he had told Yzerman to get Gusev to Tampa to help their team. Kucherov could be the wild card in this whole Gusev situation.

Anyone know if Kucherov and Gusev are gay ? That could influence the situation .

Seriously , I own Gusev and Kaprizov . I'll sit on the two of them for 1-2 years and see what happens .

[LookoutBergman]

not looking good...

http://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/hoc...north-america/