Why Vitali Kravtsov playing in Russia is a good thing

Top New York Rangers prospect Vitali Kravtsov will be playing in the KHL in September

Before anyone has heart palpitations over the news, the fact that Vitali Kravtsov will be playing for Traktor in the KHL should be applauded by New York Rangers fans. It means he will get meaningful ice time starting next month and will be ready to join the Rangers when the NHL season is set to begin.

Larry Brooks of the New York Post broke the news via Twitter that the Rangers first round pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft will be playing for Traktor for the 2020-21 season.  Not only that, he will play for Anvar Gatiyatulin, the same coach he played for in his draft year.  Gatiyatulin is returning to Traktor after two years as an Assistant Coach with SKA St. Petersburg.

Brooks followed up with two additional tweets clarifying the transaction.  The first was that it was a collaboration between the Rangers and Kravtsov’s agent:  “Decision to assign Kravtsov to KHL a collaborative effort with his agent.”   Right after that came the important information: “Rangers have right to recall Kravtsov when NHL gets under way.”

What it means

This is a good move for Kravtsov and the Rangers.  Kravtsov gets to play for a coach who was instrumental in his development.   He gets paid by Traktor and that has to be more than the $70k minor league salary Kravtsov is making from the Rangers.    Most important, while the rest of the organization is waiting for the playoffs and postseason to end, Kravtsov will be playing meaningful minutes in the second best hockey league in the world.

The KHL season is set to start in less than two weeks with Traktor playing its first game on September 3 against Avtomobilist.  All KHL teams have already been in their pre-season playing games.   The KHL regular season is set to end on February 27, 2021, though the Rangers have the right to recall Kravtsov at any time.

Ranger fans have been waiting for Kravtsov to make his NHL debut since he was drafted ninth overall in 2018.  They were encouraged when he was picked to accompany the team to Toronto for their brief postseason appearance though he didn’t see any action.

Before that, this season was filled with drama for the young Russian.  First, he didn’t make the varsity in September, then he exercised his European Assignment Clause after a brief stay in Hartford. Once in Russia, he reportedly didn’t get along well with Traktor coach Peter Skudra and  was demoted from the KHL.  He eventually returned to Hartford where he finished the season and showed a lot of progress in his all around game. He is still very young and doesn’t turn 21 until December.

Playing the KHL, Kravtsov will have a head start on all other Ranger prospects.  When NHL training camps open on November 17 (tentative date), Kravtsov will have played in 27 regular season KHL games. If anything, it will be a reason that we will see Kravtsov in a Ranger uniform when the season starts in December.  The worst case is that he doesn’t do well in Russia and plays the entire season there.  The ball is completely in the Rangers’ court when it comes to where he will play.

This deal became inevitable when the AHL announced that they were going to push their season back to start on December 4.  That way, the AHL schedule would mirror the NHL schedule, but it also meant that nobody on the Rangers roster would be playing minor league hockey before the NHL season starts.

What Kravtsov is doing is the opposite of what consensus top pick  Alexis Lafreneiere is doing.  He has announced that he is passing on the opportunity to return to Rimouski and play in the QMJHL before the NHL season starts.

Playing in Europe is a very viable option for prospects who want to keep playing until the NHL is ready to restart. Lias Andersson is on loan to HV71 and Nils Lundkvist signed with Lulea, both in the Swedish Hockey League.  One wonders if defense prospect Yegor Rykov will return to Sochi where he played in 2018-19 or if goalie Adam Huska would play in the Slovakia.

As players and their agents do the math and look at salaries and opportunities, with the NHL season delayed by COVID-19, there should be more of these announcements coming.