COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Columbus Blue Jackets are coming off an impressive season making back-to-back Stanley Cup Playoff appearances, losing to eventual Stanley Cup winners, the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals.
They have built themselves into Stanley Cup contenders adding significant parts to their defense such as Seth Jones and Zach Werenski.
The Jacket’s problems come with offensive part of the game. They have made some impressive picks over the last couple of years; Werenski and Pierre Luc Dubois come to mind. This year one of the top prospects comes from Russia. His name is Vitali Kravtsov . The 18-year old Traktor Chelyabinsk sniper that the Columbus Blue Jackets need in their line up.
Coming in at 6’2, 185 lbs, right wing, Kravtsov is undersized. What he lacks in size, he makes up for it in speed and skill. Although Kravtsov didn’t display much during this year’s regular season going 35 games, four goals, three assists, he shined in the playoffs scoring six goals, five assists and 11 points in 16 games.
He made history becoming the youngest player at 17 to score a goal in the Gagarin Cup, the KHL equivalent of the NHL’s Stanley Cup Finals formerly held by the Washington Capitals Evgeni Kusnetsov. Kravtsov demonstrated that he can score goals at a high level of play. A quick release, good hands, great skating ability, and a lot of hockey sense. Elite Prospects states
“…displays excellent speed on the rush and in zone entry, but could backcheck quicker. Plays well in his own end and takes away lanes. Very good hands and awareness. Kravtsov has the potential to develop into a staple top six forward that can produce at the next level.”
Kravtsov’s problems come on defense as he is not a two way player. He still needs to be quicker on the backcheck and make use of his speed to set up the attack with his linemates to become an all around threat in the NHL.
Regardless of his weaknesses, Tim McKinnon of The Hockey Writers had mentioned that Hockey Prospect had him ranked at 24th as of his writing on May 6th. As of June 7th, Kravstov has rocketed to 6th.
Although Kravtsov has a lot of potential, he is not NHL ready. He will have to spend a few years in the KHL to develop. Regardless of an abysmal regular season, he shined for Traktor Chelyabinsk in the playoffs.
The key word in any draft is “potential”. All of the players that enter the draft have potential. Potential is nothing more than a possibility. Possibilities are unknown factors withresults in the future. The question is not whether Kravtsov has potential, the question is what will he do on the future?
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