This past summer the New York Rangers selected Russian right wing prospect Vitali Kravtsov with the 9th overall pick in the NHL draft. While there was some concern after the draft, Kravtsov is proving why he was the right choice
The Rangers have had a history of making questionable draft choices, ranging from Hugh Jessiman all the way to Dylan McIlrath. Most recently, the Rangers tossed the draft rankings in the trash, and picked Vitali Kravtsov over Oliver Wahlstrom with the ninth overall pick. After making similar unpopular choices in 2017, drafting both Lias Andersson and Filip Chytil, a fair amount of fans revolted on social media, including Twitter.
The history
The pick of Andersson shocked many, as he took a leap of about ten spots, according to original projections from Peter Harling of DobberProspects.com and Ryan Kennedy of TheHockeyNews.com. What was even more shocking was selecting Filip Chytil with the 21st overall pick. Projected at #54 via TheHockeyNews.com, Chytil climbed the mountain and ended up getting picked in the first round. This can be attributed to the fact that the Rangers wanted him and had no picks between the 21st overall pick and the 123rd pick (which was used to select defenseman Brandon Crawley).
The Rangers reached much less with the selection of Vitali Kravtsov in the 2018 draft, however, many Rangers fans had assumed that Oliver Wahlstrom was a lock for the team, and when the Rangers opted for the already professional Russian Kravtsov, questions were asked. Considering the pandemonium that ensued, one could have assumed that the Rangers had selected a player ranked at #120.
Kravtsov’s performance speaks for itself
Regardless of the uproar from the Rangers fans after the selection of Kravtsov, his performance this season in the Kontinental Hockey League has certainly given the Rangers front office a great point to argue. In his first 32 games following his draft selection, Kravtsov has scored 17 points, a total greater than other now-superstar Russian players like Vladimir Tarasenko and Evgeny Kuznetsov as shown by the Rangers Stats and Info twitter page.
Following Vitali Kravtsov’s game today, here is how he compares to several former KHL players who are currently in the NHL in two breakdowns: their first 32 KHL games in the season following their draft year and their first 92 career KHL games (regular season + playoffs) #NYR pic.twitter.com/lETtNg6zn6
— NY Rangers PR (@NYR_PR) December 4, 2018
At a modest 6’4″ Kravtsov plays with more of a skilled edge than a physical one, but he can do both.
Kravtsov’s perfomance has had a pretty solid bump this season, as mentioned prior, Kravtsov has produced 17 points in 33 games. Last season in 35 games in the KHL, Kravtsov produced only 7 points. This is without mentioning that he plays for a team that is an annual relegation contender in Traktor. As the teams leading scoring forward, Kravtsov could even be eligible to play for the Rangers as soon as late February, as his KHL contract is set to be terminate upon the completion of Traktor’s last game. One thing that could complicate matters is that if Kravtsov does play for the Rangers or Hartford this season, he will be eligible to be exposed in the next NHL expansion draft.
Without getting too excited for Kravtsov, it would be understandable to start to look forward to the young Russian forward making an appearing in New York, or even Hartford for now. His highly exciting, creative style of play is just begging for an American highlight reel.