Montreal—The Buffalo Sabres grabbed rugged winger Zach Kassian with the 13th pick in the 2009 Entry Draft and the Florida Panthers selected Dmitry Kulikov with the very next selection.
The two selections filled needs on each team’s respective roster as the Sabres needed some jam to compete and the Panthers are staring at the departure of top defenseman Jay Bouwmeester to free agency.
While Kulikov is Russian-bred, and due to a lack of an agreement between Canada and Russia concerning contracts and the emergence of the KHL, many believe Russian players have too many options and shy away from them. Kulikov has maintained his desire to play in the NHL and came to Canada to play in Junior Hockey last season.
Kulikov had an outstanding year and won many awards for his play including 2008-09 Defensive Rookie of the Year, the Rookie of the Year, the Best Professional Prospect and Defenseman of the Year after leading all QMJHL defensemen in scoring.
“In his first year (in the QMJHL) he’s been an all-around good player. He’s a great skater; he can carry the puck and shoot the puck well. He’s strong too, he can take big hits and they don’t seem to bother him. What we saw this year is likely what we are going to see from Kulikov in the future; he’s going to play the same way in the NHL,” said Central Scouting’s Chris Bordelau. “He knows when to join the rush, he plays defense first, but recognizes the holes. He can shoot the puck well on the powerplay and I wouldn’t be surprised if he played in the NHL next year.”
There is nothing foreign about Kassian who drew favorable comparisons to Boston winger Milan Lucic for his goal-scoring and fighting abilities during the draft process.
“Kassian is one of the toughest guys in the OHL and probably the entire draft. Last season as an under-ager there were overage guys in the league who would not take him on,” said Central Scouting’s Chris Edward. “He has not fought much this season (because) he has not had to. He is at his best when he is playing physical and tough along the boards. He protects the puck very well and fights through checks. He has very good play-making and puck-handling abilities.”
If there is a knock on Kassian’s game it is his skating, but it is something the winger thinks he has covered albeit in an interesting way.
“I started out in the figure skating club. Actually I did a couple routines as the Mickey Mouse guy,” said Kassian. “I got to wear the big ears and the little costume. That was fun at the time. It obviously helped my hockey game because with the new rules in the NHL you need to be able to skate, for sure. I believe it’s helped.”
PHN analysis; what isn’t there to like about both of these selections? Each fill a need and the scouts think they were amongst the top 15 players available this year.
