The New York Rangers drafted forward Vitali Kravtsov with the ninth overall pick last summer, his KHL team, Traktor Chelyabinsk was eliminated from the playoffs on Monday. When will he jump to North America?
For all of the armchair general managers on the internet who boldly claim they could run their favorite team better than the real-life executive because they understand player evaluation better, can they juggle all of the various contract rules that govern the future of the NHL? When it comes to Vitali Kravtsov’s status, there are a lot of moving parts and factors to consider.
One of the tricky parts of being a team executive is handling player rights while said player is currently playing overseas. Teams in the KHL are known for their chicanery especially if the particular player has made their intentions to leave for North America known. In the case of Vitali Kravtsov, his immediate future is up to him.
Following Traktor Chelyabinsk’s elimination from the KHL playoffs, it was assumed that Kravtsov would come to North America and play at some level within the New York Ranger organization. However, different stipulations associated with both the Seattle expansion draft and entry-level contract status would be impacted by said decision.
First, there is the matter of whether Kravtsov’s contract expired after his team was eliminated or at the end of the league year. Then, there are the expansion draft implications which are far more serious.
Seattle expansion
After the surprising success of the Vegas Golden Knights due to other team’s poor protection decisions, the Florida Panthers giving Vegas Reilly Smith as an incentive to select Jonathan Marchessault in the draft comes to mind. Simply put, the other executives around the league are going to be more on top of the situation than last time around.
When it comes to roster protections and the Rangers, the most important thing when it comes to Kravtsov is entry-level contract status. Whenever he comes to North America, the clock will start on this first NHL contract. If he were to sign it before the start of the next league year, it would burn a year off of the contract right away because he’s already 19-years-old.
Based on the Vegas expansion rules, which are supposed to be the same when Seattle picks in the summer of 2021, players that are in the first or second year of their entry-level deals are exempt, but those in their third year are not.
So, if Kravtsov were to have a year burned off of his entry-level contract right now, the Rangers would be forced to protect the Russian in the expansion draft. This would take away a potentially needed protection from another player.
Teams are allowed to protect seven forwards, three defenseman and one goaltender or eight skaters and a goaltender. Based on the Rangers current contract situation, the team would need to protect Lias Andersson, Filip Chytil and Brett Howden if all three forwards are still with the team at that point.
That’d be four forwards needing to be protected from the jump and limit the team’s flexibility to maneuver come expansion time. Don’t forget the fact that players with no-movement clauses must be protected under the Vegas rules, so any potential free agent New York signs in the next two years would likely need protection as well.
There is a chance that the Rangers could get Kravtsov to sign an amateur tryout contract which would allow him to play with the Hartford Wolfpack without burning a year off of the future entry-level contract. However, this would be totally up to the player whether he’d be willing to jump right back into hockey after a long season as a 19-year-old.
Those eager for Kravtsov’s NHL debut will likely have to wait until October and with good reason. It’s worth taking the extra precautions to be better situated when the expansion draft comes around.