Official - Canucks Agree in Principle on Deal with Sergei Shirokov
Thought this was worthy of its on thread.
As per his interview last night on The Pipeline Show, Gillis was asked what efforts if any were being made to entice our Russian prospects like Sergei Shirokov, Kirill Koltsov and Ilya Kablukov to come over and play in North America. Gillis refused to name names, but he said of those three, the player they felt was the best was very close to signing and coming over to play in North America next year.
Also on a related note, Gillis and Co. are in discussions with 2008 draft pick Mats Froshaug to get him to come play in North America next year.
Sweet, here's hoping it's Shirokov, and I don't see him agreeing to come over here just to play in Manitoba...interesting.
Also hi to Kitimat! I'm a friend of the Wakita clan
No way! Everyone seems to know the Wakitas, classy bunch of people!
As far as my thoughts, I think the likliest scenario is Shirokov. Young potential top-six forward, and if I recall correctly, he stated on draft day that he would be willing to try out the AHL ranks to make it to the NHL.
That said, my honest hope is that it is Koltsov. The guy is a magician with the puck, has good speed and could easily quarterback a powerplay--something our defensive corps could definitely use.
I think Froshaug coming over to NA next year would be awesome too. Would give us a better opportunity to see how far along he is in his development. Hopefully this signals the start of more of our European prospects coming over to NA to get into the Canuck organization.
I really hope it's Koltsov too. I just want to see what this guy can do. It would be such a shame for him to never get a shot (even though that is mostly his own doing).
I really hope it's Koltsov too. I just want to see what this guy can do. It would be such a shame for him to never get a shot (even though that is mostly his own doing).
It's been a while since I saw him play in person at the prospect camps, but I just remember him dangling the hell out of a lot of people. The guy has incredible skills with the puck and I'd really love to see what he can do at the highest level.
Isn't Shirokov in the KHL league making millions of dollars ?
I would gather the state of the economy over there isn't that much different from here (ie., recession). Haven't researched it but I would guess that league isn't handing out those type of contracts as freely as they once did.
Isn't Shirokov in the KHL league making millions of dollars ? Why would he come he for less money and when theres a chance he could be in the AHL ?
His contract has expired and he is in search of a new one. The economic uncertainty facing the KHL could also be a big factor in his decision. It's for these reasons that I think Shirokov is the most likely of the three to be signed, as I do believe both Koltsov and Kablukov are under contract still.
I'm actually quite excited to see how Shirokov would look with the Sedins(if they're re-signed) since he plays a similar game to the twins and is an opportunistic player.
Anything we can do to bolster our prospect depth is an important step forward. We desperately need more skill in our prospect pipeline and it sounds like Shirokov has developed just fine playing against men in the KHL. He would be a player that could compliment our other skilled forwards nicely, like Prospal in TB or Vyborny in CBJ in their good days. He sounds like a good candidate to play with the twins.
I'm also excited about Shirokov possibly coming over.... the guy has been very productive in the KHL at a very young age... he's put up similar stats to guys like Yashin and Radulov, who have had offensive success in the NHL.
He could end up being a real steal for this team... at 23 now, and after leading his KHL team in scoring, I don't see him having to spend much time in the AHL either... if he's signed, he's likely to get a roster spot with the Canucks next year... not sure where he'd fit, but adding talent is never a bad thing.
I'm also excited about Shirokov possibly coming over.... the guy has been very productive in the KHL at a very young age... he's put up similar stats to guys like Yashin and Radulov, who have had offensive success in the NHL.
He could end up being a real steal for this team... at 23 now, and after leading his KHL team in scoring, I don't see him having to spend much time in the AHL either... if he's signed, he's likely to get a roster spot with the Canucks next year... not sure where he'd fit, but adding talent is never a bad thing.
During his May 31, 2009 State of the NHL address Bettman reiterated that the NHL will only allow players to sign who are free of contractual obligations with other leagues despite what the KHL did with Radulov.
Quote:
Then their response is they keep listing a variety of players at different times that they claim we signed inappropriately. And every time there’s been any sort of determination either by a judicial panel or the I.I.H.F. it’s been determined that we’ve never let a player be signed who wasn’t free to sign.
...
The conversation about Russia not wanting to lose its best players, I understand from a nationalistic standpoint where they’re coming from. But it’s not the real world anymore. We can’t keep players out who teams want to sign who are free to come and sign contracts.
During his May 31, 2009 State of the NHL address Bettman reiterated that the NHL will only allow players to sign who are free of contractual obligations with other leagues despite what the KHL did with Radulov.
I believe his contract expired this season and is now a FA... there were rumours about Ufa being interested in him (and a couple of his teammates from CSKA who are also FA).
I'm also excited about Shirokov possibly coming over.... the guy has been very productive in the KHL at a very young age... he's put up similar stats to guys like Yashin and Radulov, who have had offensive success in the NHL.
He could end up being a real steal for this team... at 23 now, and after leading his KHL team in scoring, I don't see him having to spend much time in the AHL either... if he's signed, he's likely to get a roster spot with the Canucks next year... not sure where he'd fit, but adding talent is never a bad thing.
Agree with all of this, its never a bad thing to add a 23 year old winger with offensive talent. I'm excited to get him over here and see him at camp.
On the russian press arisen the rumor that several players might move from CSKA Moscow to Salavat Yulaev Ufa. The players listed were: Konstantin Korneev (Montreal Canadiens), Denis Parshin (Colorado Avalanche), Sergei Shirokov (Vancouver Canucks), Oleg Saprykin (Ottawa Senators) and Denis Kulyash (Nashville Predators). Let's remember that CSKA just underwent to a lot of changes, having now a new president (Vyacheslav Fetisov) and a new head coach (Sergei Nemchinov)
If he was looking to move teams, I'm assuming he was an UFA.
