Could The KHL Hold The Key To A Barons Playoff Appearance?

by Mr DeBakey on Mar 23, 2011 11:30 AM MDT

Photo by Artem Korzhimanov via Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons license

Regular commenter Mr. DeBakey believes that help for the Barons means temporary help for the Oilers must be addressed first.

When the latest spate of injuries struck the Oilers last week, I suggested the Oilers look to Europe for a couple of bodies to fill out the roster. This would allow most of the Barons to remain in Oklahoma City as they battle for a play-off position and a playoff appearance would be a boon to the young players in the organization as well as the Barons franchise.

The Oilers set a precedent a year ago when they signed Charles Linglet for the last couple of weeks of the season. Actually, Linglet is available again. He and fellow Gorkian Matt Ellison, a center, were both available after fine seasons in the KHL and their Torpedoes have been knocked out of the KHL playoffs. As usual, The Oilers ignored my suggestion. Its not fluke they're about to draft in the Top 10 for the 4th time in five years.

Be that as it may, when looking at the scoring leaders in the KHL, I noticed something interesting. Here are the Top 20 forwards showing club team, home country and sorted by PPG:

Player	Team	P/G	Home Country
Alexander Radulov	Ufa Salavat Yulayev	1.48	Russia
Patrick Thoresen	Ufa Salavat Yulayev	1.20	Norway
Roman Cervenka	Omsk Avangard	1.20	Czch Republic
Sergei Mozyakin	Mytishchi Atlant	1.13	Russia
Pavol Demitra	Yaroslavl Lokomotiv	1.13	Slovakia
Brandon Bochenski	Astana Barys	1.13	USA
Alexei Morozov	Kazan Ak-Bars	1.06	Russia
Jaromir Jagr	Omsk Avangard	1.04	Czch Republic
Josef Vasicek	Yaroslavl Lokomotiv	1.02	Slovakia
Lauris Darzins	Riga Dynamo	0.98	Latvia
Matt Ellison	Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo	0.94	Canada
Ryan Vesce	Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo	0.94	USA
Igor Grigorenko	Ufa Salavat Yulayev	0.91	Russia
Mattias Weinhandl	St. Petersburg SKA	0.91	Sweden
Petri Kontiola	Magnitogorsk Metallurg	0.87	Finland
Charles Linglet	Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo	0.85	Canada
Alexander Korolyuk	Yaroslavl Lokomotiv	0.83	Russia
Lukas Kaspar	Astana Barys	0.82	Czch Republic
Jan Marek	Multiple Teams	0.78	Czch Republic
Andrei Subbotin	Multiple Teams	0.78	Russia

There are only six Russians amongst the top scoring forwards in the KHL! Four Czechs, two Canadians, two Slovaks, two Americans and singletons from Norway, Sweden, Latvia and Finland make up the rest of the top 20.

Just missing the cut was another Czech, Center Jiri Novotny, selected 22nd overall in the 2001 draft. Lucas Kasper, 18th on this list, was also taken 22nd overall in 2004. Novotny, with 189 NHL games, would've been another good choice for the Oilers if Ellison was unavailable.

And if the Oilers were ever paying attention to me.

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Comments

The thing that makes me nervous about this list is Bochenski being so high on it. He’s got some talent, but can’t consistently put things together in the NHL. So, what does that say about differences in the game between the two leagues?

That said, the KHL should not be missed as a potential source of talent and maybe some of the other forwards could cut it in the NHL. And I would, if I were the Oilers, also look at the KHL for expereinced goaltending help if the determination is Khabby is done. A top 15 goalie list would certainly yeild some interesting candidates.

by gcw_rocks on Mar 22, 2011 6:21 AM MDT reply actions

A top 15 goalie list

I put together a list about two-thirds of the way through the KHL season.

I tried to update it recently. But the day I went in, Hockey DB was having some problems. I haven’t had a chance to look at it again.

Nevertheless, here is list of KHL goalies; all list at 6-feet or better, under age 30 who were stopping at least 91.5% of their shots, with age and Save %:

25 Konstantin Barulin 0.934
24 Karri Ramo 0.928
27 Michael Garnett 0.927
28 Erik Ersberg 0.927
29 Dimitrij Kotschnew 0.925
29 Stefan Liv 0.924
24 Jakub Stepanek 0.923
25 Chris Holt 0.922
23 Ivan Kasutin 0.915

Ramo, Garnet and Ersberg have all spent time in the NHL system.. This is Garnett’s second consecutive strong KHL season.

I saw Stepanek play in the Spengler Cup final for St Petersburg. He looked good, with excellent rebound control. He’s probably paid very well.

There’s no Bobrovsky here – both young and stopping everything, but still some decent options.

by Mr DeBakey on Mar 22, 2011 1:05 PM MDT up reply actions

Czechboy, who posts here sometimes, had some negative things to say about Stepanek over at Puck Worlds. He also recently knocked a puck into his own net and it probably cost SKA their series, but shit happens. Ramo would cost the Oilers, either a pick, prospect, or a player, as his NHL rights currently belong to Montreal. The guy who runs Habs Future is really high on him, but I believe he left Tampa Bay’s system for the KHL because he didn’t want to play in the A or be a backup and with Price doing so well and the Oilers lacking a true “sure thing”, I bet the Oilers could work something out with the Habs to bring him over and give him a shot.

by despisethesun on Mar 23, 2011 11:55 AM MDT up reply actions

That Spengler Cup might be the only time I’ve seen Stepanek not cost the game in the 3rd.lol Also, he was the starter because Nabokov left his contract. So he’s not highly paid at all… he was in the Czech league the season before and was signed as a backup in the KHL. He’s still very young and could come along but I put him much lower on the depth chart than the Czech coaches do. In fact, we have 2 more good goalies in the CHL now (Hozik and Matejovsky) who will probably surpass him in the next 2 years putting him around 6 or 7 in Czech goalies (for me). But, I REALLY hope I’m wrong and he continues to establish himself and gets a shot! In fact, I’d love to be wrong but I’d say Neuvirth, Pavelec and Salak are miles ahead… he’s nowhere near Vokoun and probably comparable or slightly worse than a 45 year old Hasek (mind you, 43 year old Hasek was considerably better).

Also, and I realize it was a generated list, Josef Vasicek is Czech and a key cog to the National Team as he is an excellent third line faceoff/grinder (euro style) kind of guy. He’s quick as hell. In general (for the first round Czechs that have failed) I’m finding that a Czech player must be a top 6 forward as there will always be cheaper (and tougher) options for third and fourth line players.

by Czechboy on Mar 23, 2011 12:05 PM MDT up reply actions

oh yeah...

and I think Kaspar and Cervenka will be in the NHL within the next 2 years… add Jakub Klepis and Mirsolav Blatak (an awesome defenceman) to that list. The rest will stay in the NHL and some of the aging NHL Czechs will continue down the road to the KHL as well…. the depletion continues!

by Czechboy on Mar 23, 2011 12:07 PM MDT up reply actions

A man sans frontiers

Vasicek not a Slovak?
Damn.

Born Sep 12 1980 — Havlickuv Brod, Slovakia

Apologies for the confusion

by Mr DeBakey on Mar 23, 2011 3:30 PM MDT up reply actions

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Va%C5%A1%C3%AD%C4%8Dek

He was born in Havlickuv Brod, Czechoslovakia… they used to be one country but seperated about 20 years ago. So when he was 10, he was a Czechoslovakian but now he is just a Czech.

http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/PPAb0pWWClg/Ice+Hockey+Day+10/z8hnhX5r88L/Josef+Vasicek

by Czechboy on Mar 23, 2011 7:19 PM MDT up reply actions

Here’s the top 20 for the full season from the KHL site:

Name %Sv GAA
Yeremeyev Vitaly 92.7 2.3
Ersberg Erik 92.6 2.12
Vehanen Petri 92.6 2.1
Barulin Konstantin 92.5 1.91
Ramo Karri 92.5 1.97
Holt Chris 92.4 2.47
Stepanek Jakub 92.3 2.05
Tellqvist Mikael 92.2 2.63
Kolesnik Vitaly 92.2 2.28
Mezin Andrei 92.2 2.11
Koval Vitaly 92.1 2.07
Gelashvili Georgy 92.1 2.52
Kotschnew Dimitrij 92 2.41
Biryukov Mikhail 91.8 2.26
Stana Rastislav 91.7 2.24
Vyukhin Alexander 91.6 2.65
Garnett Michael 91.6 2.24
Liv Stefan 91.6 2.21
Hasek Dominik 91.5 2.48
Proskuryakov Ilya 91.3 2.62

Seeing Tellqvist and Ersberg so high makes me wonder about the league though.

Also, I was a little surprised Koshechkin didn’t make top 20. He is huge (6’6") and his playoff save percentage is very high.

His KHL career summary:
Tournament / Team # GP W L SOP SOG GA Sv %Sv GAA G A SO PIM TOI
Regular season: 124 59 47 17 3208 247 2961 92.3 2.10 0 1 18 12 7054:05
Playoffs: 20 9 11 0 620 39 581 93.7 2.05 0 0 2 10 1141:00

by gcw_rocks on Mar 23, 2011 12:52 PM MDT up reply actions

Whoops, that didn’t come out well.

by gcw_rocks on Mar 23, 2011 12:53 PM MDT up reply actions

lol yeah….Ersberg and Tellquist are tearing the league apart. Wow….
Interesting to still see Hasek hanging in there. I heard he migt want to play another season

without honor, victory is hollow

by SumOil on Mar 23, 2011 7:57 PM MDT up reply actions

How many of these guys are actually free agents? I know that Radulov, for instance, signed a contract extension and thus wouldn’t be available to NHL teams.

The biggest fanana of the Havana Bananas.

by Scott Reynolds on Mar 23, 2011 12:18 PM MDT reply actions

I don’t know of a site.

But, Fin fans, according to a summer 2009 comment on HF Boards:
“Petri Kontiola signs 2 year deal to KHL with Metallurg Magnitogorsk.

Link in Finnish: http://www.iltasanomat.fi/urheilu/t/nhl/1690217

His words: “I made this decision because there didn´t seem to be interest in the NHL. Of course I could have waited longer for the NHL choices but I´m satisfied with my decision”"

So, he’s free for the taking this summer. He had 130 points in 147 AHL games, including 93 assists.

From Hockey’s Future:
Kontiola is a dangerous playmaker who utilizes his teammates very well, choosing to make the pass over the shot. He is still rather slight, and could stand to add some more muscle

Translated from Elite Prospects:
Kontiola is a great playmaker with a nice game inside. He can make sharp passes, but perhaps should shoot more. Moreover, a good skater and has good stick technique. Smart and entertaining players. Dare to keep the puck. Weaknesses include size.

by Mr DeBakey on Mar 25, 2011 3:18 PM MDT up reply actions

Then there’s always Robert Nilsson of Salavat at a stellar .675 PPG.

*ducks for cover

by David S on Mar 24, 2011 12:22 AM MDT reply actions

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