Russian Players In NHL

Alexander Ovechkin won the Valeri Kharlamov Trophy awarded by Sovietskiy Sport to the best Russian player in the NHL.

It's the fifth consecutive win for the Washington Capitals' superstar.

"I'm very happy to get the trophy named after Kharlamov for the fifth time. Deserved or not deserved, I've got it and I'm glad that the NHL guys voted for me. Now I've got to try to win it for the sixth time", said Ovechkin after the ceremony.

"It's great that Alexander won the award for the fifth time", added Ovechkin's mom Tatiana. "Valeri Kharlamov was a great player and it's great that Ovechkin won the trophy named after him. It's sad that Kharlamov's father passed away, we miss him."

Russian superstar Ilya Kovalchuk will be back with the New Jersey Devils as he will re-sign with the team. The contract's details will be released during a conference the team will host on Tuesday afternoon.

Kovalchuk is a recent addition by the Devils as they added him to their lineup during the 2010 NHL trade deadline. But the move didn't boost the Devils like expected as they were defeated by the Philadelphia Flyers during the playoffs' first round.

During this year's free agency Ilya Kovalchuk was reported to have refused offers from the Los Angeles Kings, the Atlanta Thrashers and SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL.

Evgeny Nabokov has signed a 4-year, $24-million contract with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL, as reported by the Russian newspaper Sovetsky Sport.

In the 10 seasons he played in California he recorded a 293-215-29 record, with a 2.39 goals against average. He also was awarded with the Calder Trophy of the top rookie of the year in 2001.

Sergei Gonchar signed a three year, $16.5 million contract with the Ottawa Senators of the NHL. The contract includes a No Movement Clause.

Gonchar, 36, played the latest five years with the Pittsburgh Penguins, winning the 2009 Stanley Cup. The veteran blue liner had 11 goals and 39 assists with Pittsburgh last season.

Recently Gonchar stated that he intends to play until the 2014 Winter Olympics that will be played in Sochi, Russia.

We'll see this fall if adding a world class, puck moving defenseman will increase the Sens' odds in sports betting places.

With the 65th overall pick, the New York Islanders picked Kirill Kabanov (View profile at RussianProspect.com). He's the fourth Russian player to get picked in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft round after Alexander Burmistrov, Vladimir Tarasenko and Evgeny Kuznetsov.

Kirill Kabanov, once thought to be one of the prime candidates for the 2010 Entry Draft #1 overall pick, has experienced a serious downhill fall after his departure to Canada this fall.

According to agent Ilya Moliver, Kabanov's problems are caused by his father.

With the 26th overall pick, the Washington Capitals picked wing Evgeny Kuznetsov (View profile at RussianProspect.com). He's the third player to get picked in the first round after Alexander Burmistrov and Vladimir Tarasenko.

Kuznetsov, 18, has recently signed a new 2 years deal with Traktor Chelyabinsk of the KHL, but most likely the Caps are willing to wait a bit so that he can develop at home.

Evgeny Kuznetsov had a very good rookie season with Traktor, with nine points in 35 games. He also scored once in the playoffs. He skated at both U20 and U18 WJC.

With the 16th overall pick the St. Louis Blues picked Vladimir Tarasenko (View profile at RussianProspect.com) during the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. Tarasenko was the second Russian player picked in the first round after Alexander Burmistrov, picked up by Atlanta with the 8th pick.

Tarasenko, 18, had two excellent seasons in the KHL. This year he scored 24 points with Sibir Novosibirsk.

Tarasenko has already announced that he's going to spend the 10-11 season back home in Russia, but it looks like the Blues weren't scared about this. Tarasenko is under contract until 2012.

The Atlanta Thrashers picked up Alexander Burmistrov (View profile at RussianProspect.com) with the 8th overall pick at the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

The center's selection was a bit of a surprize, but anyway the Thrashers decided to draft him most likely because of his skills set.

Burmistrov, 18, played with the Barrie Colts of the OHL this year, with 65 points during the regular season and 16 during the playoffs. Even if he joined the OHL on loan from Ak Bars Kazan, most likely Burmistrov will be back in North America for the next season.

Detroit Red Wings offered 23-years-old defenseman Evgeny Ryasensky a contract. As reported by Sovietskiy Sport, he will move to Detroit in September to skate at the Wings' training camp.

Ryasensky is a physical player who likes to hit and has decent offensive abilities. He was a key part of Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk's surprize run in the latest KHL playoffs, even if he didn't score any point.

Later after the season he skated with Team Russia at the Swedish Hockey Games, the last stage of the Euro Hockey Tour, in which he was named tournament's best defenseman, but he didn't make the cut for the 2010 WC in Germany.

Ryasensky: "I've talked with my North American agent and through him Detroit offered me to play for them. And so in September I'll go to the USA and report to the training camp. I think at the same time I'll sign a contract with the team. I think that in the NHL I can grew up to my hundred percent, because of the small ice and the constant physical play - this fits my game. I'm not afraid of spending a part of the season in the AHL."

Translation by RussianHockeyFans.com

After 10 years and 563 games Evgeny Nabokov is going to part ways with the San Jose Sharks. As Nabokov's contract will run out next week, the team's General Manager Doug Wilson stated that the Sharks will walk away from one of the team's cornerstones players.

Evgeny Nabokov will be the most interesting goalie in the summer's free agency. In the 10 seasons he played in California he recorded a 293-215-29 record, with a 2.39 goals against average. He also was awarded with the Calder Trophy of the top rookie of the year in 2001.

Nabokov was interested in signing a new contracts with the Sharks, but now he'll have to find himself a new team.

As the free agency will start on July 1st NHL betting will move from results to signings. As one of the top NHL goalies, many teams will try to secure Nabokov's sign, even if it's unlikely that he'll ink again a $6,000,000 contract. Other Russians available include Ilya Kovalchuk, Sergei Gonchar and Alexander Frolov.

24 years old Nikita Nikitin has been signed to an entry level contract by the St. Louis Blues, as reported by the team's official page.

Nikitin played his whole career with Avangard Omsk. Last season he scored four goals and 13 points in 43 regular season games. "His top feature is his excellent first pass. He can launch a forward one-on-one against the goalie directly from his own zone", Russian reporter Ilya Elchaninov based in Omsk said to RussianHockeyFans.com. "He's got a very strong shot, but he lacks accuracy."

Nikitin played with team Russia one of the stages for the Euro Hockey Tour, even if he couldn't score a single point in the three games he wore team Russia jersey. "He's a fairly fast skating and is very good on the corners", added Elchaninov. "The fact with him is that he's inconsistent. He can play a great game and then a bad one the day after. Sometimes he makes some positioning mistakes. He needs to be well mentored by his coach. When Avangard's coach was Sergei Gersonsky he was the best defenseman of the team, but when that coach stepped out, it was just not the same. He can play both defensive and offensive roles, even if he's better as stay at home blue liner. Nikitin has a big potential, but he needs to be motivated."

Nikitin has been signed by the Blues to a one year contract. He was drafted in the fifth round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.

SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL has offered Ilya Kovalchuk a $42M, 3-year contract (which makes its $14M per year), as reported by Russian newspaper Sport-Express.

In case Kovalchuk accepts the offer, he will also get a huge signing bonus.

SKA has long been trying to get Kovalchuk (we wrote about this in November, December and February).