Caps Draft More Russians! Part I: Evgeny “Kuzya” Kuznetsov

We feel pretty good about Evgeny Kuznetsov, the Capitals’ first-round draft pick. Why?
By 11 years ago
We feel pretty good about Evgeny Kuznetsov, the Capitals’ first-round draft pick. Why?
By 11 years ago
Readers, we politely remind you of our policy regarding hockey rumors from Russia: Lie down until it goes away.
The news out of Russia today has been dissonant. The KHL club Atlant, based in the Moscow region, updated its roster with one noteworthy addition. According to atlant-mo.ru, Atlant has signed three-time Calder Cup Champion Hershey Bear Chris Bourque to a two-year deal.
From the press release:
American forward Chris Bourque agreed on our offer and signed a contract with our club today. Terms of this agreement are intended for two years.
Later, in an interview with Tim Leone of The Patriot-News, the playoffs MVP said he hasn’t signed a contract yet: “It’s not official. . . I’m talking to them. But nothing official, that’s for sure.”
Has Atlant jumped the gun? Is Chris entertaining other offers? Or is he just waiting for the right time to let us down easy. If the news is true, we’ll be very bummed that Chris is leaving Hershey. On the other hand, that KHL contract probably comes with a car, a condo, and a handle of excellent vodka.
What do you make of the news?
By 11 years ago
Friday, June 4th the KHL held its second annual draft and Peter Bondra’s son David Bondra, was selected 21st overall by Metallurg Magnitogorsk (don’t confuse Magnitogorsk with Metallurg Novokuznetsk, where Dmitri Orlov plays). Bondra was available in last year’s draft but was never selected.
Bondra currently plays for the Washington Jr Nationals of the Atlantic Junior Hockey League (the 3rd level of US junior hockey). According to AJHL official site, current South Carolina Stingray Nikita Kashirsky (who’s also Ovi’s childhood friend) have played for the club. A few highlights of David’s season thus far include him being named an AJHL All-Star and netting a goal in the game. He finished 14th overall in scoring (22 G, 29 A in 40 GP) during the AJHL season and was named to the Slovakian U-18 National Team.
His father, the Capitals’ current franchise leader in points and goals, recently spoke about his son in an interview with the Russian newspaper «Sport Den Za Dnem» (Sports Daily):
By 11 years ago
Washington Capitals Defensive prospect Dmitri Orlov was named today the Russian Junior Hockey League’s best defenseman in April, while Maxim Kitsyn (who is eligible for the ’10 draft) was named the best forward. Per the translated MHL release by Fedor Fedin:
The Novokuznetsk Bears surprised both analysts and fans alike when they made it the MHL Finals. In the “Golden” series, Sergei Krasilnikov’s team was defeated by the Steel Foxes of Magnotogorsk – 1:3. However, the games of the final round got the biggest hullabaloo in Novokuznetsk for a very long time: spectators filled the Sports Hall completely.
18-year-old defensemam Dmitri Orlov, was one of the main heroes of the first Kharlamov Cup. He was named the best defenseman of the MHL semifinals and Finals. Orlov played securely on defense and was a force on offense during the playoffs: he scored 9 goals and earned 10 assists. In the points race he finished second. He lost by only one point to his teammate, forward Maxim Kitsyn.
The acting mayor of Novokuznetsk ,Valery Smolego, congratulated the Junior team. He said that “hockey should continue to develop in our town.” Players and coaches got credentials and bonuses. And now the team is on break. The Bears will start preparations for the new season on the 1st of July.
H/T to Dmitry Chesnokov for first alerting us via Twitter.
By 11 years ago
RMNB’s Fedor Fedin has followed Dmitri Orlov everywhere this year (including Siberia and even a Moscow Bathroom). Now that the Novokuznetsk Bears’ season has finally come to an end, Fedor’s here to provide a final review of the season-that-was for Orlov which includes some interesting quotes, statistics, photos and videos. Take it away, comrade!
First of all, we wanted to point you to the summary of Orlov’s KHL Regular season by Championat.ru:
By 11 years ago
Will Philly's signing of Sergey Bobrovsky eventually light a fire back into the Caps/Flyers Rivalry?
For the three of you who follow Minor League Russian Hockey, you’re already aware that Caps Defensive Prospect Dmitri Orlov has led the Novokuznetsk Bears – the minor league affiliate of the KHL’s Metallurg Novokuznetsk – to this year’s MHL Finals. But what some of you may not know, is that the starting goaltender of the team, Sergey Bobrovsky, is Semyon Varlamov’s biggest rival in Russia. And sources in Novokuznetsk tell RMNB that Bobrovsky – now free of his Russian Contract – will sign a free agent deal with the Philadelphia Flyers and will play there next year.
Though it has largely flown under the radar in America, the impact of this deal could be huge. We consider it a coup for the Flyers and it could impact the Capitals/Flyers rivalry in the Eastern Conference for many years to come. Bobrovsky, at 21, has been Metallurg Novokuznetsk’s number one goalie for the past three years, and has managed to put up extremely strong numbers this season despite the fact he has been keeping for the KHL’s worst team.
By 11 years ago
Everyone who follows the KHL knows that Vityaz Chekhov is the roughest team in the KHL. Former Hershey Bear Reid Simpson and Toronto Maple Leaf Nathan Perrott have played there. Former Washington Capitals Darcy Verot, Chris Simon and Brandon Sugden play there now. And for that Caps fan with an especially vivid memory, you may recall rumors during the past offeseason about Donald Brashear potentially signing with the club.
Well this season Vityaz participated in a superbrawl against Jaromir Jagr’s Avangard Omsk, where 840 PIM’s were awarded in this game. No, that’s not a typo. I’ll repeat, 840 PIM’s were awarded in that game. Somehow this talented group of testosterone-charged meatheads didn’t make the playoffs, so now it’s time to draw a proper conclusion. And their own Russian fans were kind enough to do it (with translated english captions). They created “cowards awards” for the worst teams and players in their opinion. Please watch the above video and find out who wins some tampons and the inglorious yellow underpants.
By 11 years ago
Much like in the NHL, the KHL has farm teams. And since Metallurg Novokuznetsk failed to make the KHL Playoffs, the team decided to option their finest young defensive prospect, Caps 2009 2nd Round Draft Pick Dmitri Orlov, down to the MHL’s Novokuznetsk Bears. (Bears? Are you SERIOUS?!) And for those who are confused, the MHL is Russian for Molodyozhnaya Hockeynaya Liga or the Junior Hockey League. It’s exactly like the AHL, the only difference being that the MHL is for younger players only.
Anyways, lucky for us, Fedor translated an exclusive interview between Andrey Osadchenko and Dmitri Orlov. Below the jump, Dmitri talks about being the highest scoring MHL Defenseman for the month of February, what it was like to miss the playoffs, and why he picked the number 9.
By 11 years ago
Anyways, below the fold is a huge table full of stats and information on all the Former Caps in the KHL.
By 11 years ago
Fedor Fedin lives in Moscow, Russia, and he’s a huge fan of the Washington Capitals. Personally, that’s awesome. I love it. But there’s one giant problem, from our collective perspective here in America, we assume that it’s easy following the team overseas. But the reality is, it’s quite the opposite. We asked Fedor to talk about some of his experiences and let us know what it’s really like. I hope this opens some eyes. Welp, take it away, buddy:
Some Americans think following the Capitals in Russia is easy. It actually is quite hard and you are made fun of quite a lot. Here are some of the problems:
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