Why It Is Infinitely More Risky To Draft Americans Than Russians Nowadays

After years of negative talk surrounding Russian prospects it has actually been the Americans who have neem the ones that will never play for the team that drafted them, lets discuss why that is.

[@MasonG88]

What Cutter did to the Flyers was disgraceful (I’m a Flyers fan)

[@seancosgrove1]

He's just not into you dude.

[@AnaheimRob]

At least Cutter gave the team notice and was quiet about it. When Drysdale is healthy and plays a full season (this year probably) Philly fans probably won't think much more of it. He has the skillset to be an all star at some point. The Ducks had two highly touted, high profile college defensemen do the same thing the past ten years. It happens. As it stands we are looking forward to seeing what Gauthier is capable of and I am sure Philly fans can't wait to see what Michkov will do. Both could very well be Calder candidates. That would make things interesting!

[@mrbone009]

At least it opens a spot up for us to get another player. WILLIAM Gauthier is not the type of person you want to do business with

[@mrbone009]

I agree Drysdale is going to be a great hockey player

[@JSL0202]

Really lose respect for players who do this. You can say to negotiate with the bargaining power all you want. It’s a privilege to play in the best hockey league in the world, and these kids requesting trades before sitting up for one game is ridiculous. The reason the draft was implemented in the first place was to make a more competitive and fair league. Play in Europe if you want to cherry pick your team

[@linkolinguino]

Couldn't you argue that because players have earned the high draft stock and potential that they therefore have the privilege to choose their destination? Literally every athlete in every other sport but hockey does this, it's not a matter of ego but personal preference in location/market size as well as understanding the complicated depth chart of your team due to other nhl players who can't (or even refuse to) be waived/moved/have ice time taken away. It's athletes being smart about managing their career considering the franchises existed for decades and will continue to exist, while the average nhl career spans 8-10 years...

[@MikeBartner]

For an Adam Fox that ONLY wanted to play for the Rangers I agree, but I can see where McGroarty is coming from after seeing how they treated Perfetti and Ehlers. Depends on the situation, they're not all the same.

[@mil2172]

@@linkolinguino Players can choose where they want to go. But what they can't be doing is saying to the team they get drafted by that they want to play for them then in two years changing their minds. Cutter Gauthier is a good example. It's not that he didn't want to play in Philly that was the issue for me. He told Briere that he was built to be a Flyer at the draft interviews and that to me is the problem. Cutter perhaps changed his mind but it shows a lack of maturity on his part. If a prospect gives a heads-up to a team that they don't want to be drafted by them then it's the team's fault if they still draft the player regardless.

[@mcj44]

@@MikeBartner Agreed as a jets fan. This could get Chevy fired IMO

[@linkolinguino]

@@mil2172 I can understand what you're saying and somewhat agree too, but that's such an overgeneralized view on a 2 year process...a lot can (and has) changed in that amount of time. Reports said (without definitive proof going either way due to confidentiality) that there was a miscommunication in how Briere was going to deploy Gauthier and given he has proven to possess a high physical floor that can take him to the nhl as soon as next season, he and his camp were rightfully concerned. Mismanagement and improper deployment lead to these situations and it's not at the fault of the player but instead management. Him saying he's excited to be a flyer back in 2021 isn't proof of him being immature when he was held on the sidelines for the next 2 years and (rumoured) 1 more year of development, that's just mismanagement of a top tier prospect you're supposed to put faith and resources into...also blatanatly obvious they were trying to stretch his elc for as long as possible and that's grimey in my opinion. I understand your point though!

[@mosalad7176]

Americans seem to like it here in Vancouver 🤷‍♂️ I agree tho everyone is way too scared to draft Russians. Seems political

[@mikefisher4984]

Always an interesting watch, awesome video

[@wolfdreams1545]

Completely agree 100%. This is wild that this has completely flip-flopped. I feel like the guy who really kickstarted this was Adam Fox when he demanded a trade from the Calgary Flames. Also sorry for completely misunderstanding with that video on the draft comparables and my willful ignorance. I deleted the comment to remove that headache from you.

[@Dustyy_nhl]

nice vid, nice thumbnail, nice commentary. Very interesting that scouts and GMs still don't tend to draft russians as high even tho they very rarely get stuck there with the geopolitical stuff. I was mad the sharks didn't take Michkov last year and if the hawks don't take Dem or he falls to anyone past 3rd overall, that would be a crazy steal.

[@thebreakawayoperation]

I think a big part of it isn't the decisions of the players, but the uncertainty of the countries. Look at Ivan Fedotov, who was literally sent to Siberia when he wanted to head to play for the Flyers. There's no risk that an American prospect will be drafted into an ongoing war. Also, it's important to look at the percentages of players too. Americans might have more players requesting trades, but there's been over twice as many Americans as Russians drafted in the last 5 years (123 Russians vs 259 Americans). Of the players draft from each country in the last 5 years, 20% of American prospects have played at least 1 game in the NHL while 15% of Russian prospects have played at least 1 game in the NHL. When we compare these numbers to other countries, we find that, in the past 5 years, 17% of Swedish prospects have played in the NHL, 23% of Canadian prospects have played in the NHL, and 17% of Finnish prospects have played in the NHL. These make up the 5 nations where the vast majority of draft prospects are coming from. It seems like an overreaction to call it more risky to draft Americans than Russians based on a few players. (Data sourced from NHL Records and Elite Prospects)

[@paradox3244]

ivan fedotov was drafted in the 7th round in 2015 so even if the flyers missed out on signing him it wouldn't be that much of a loss since he was only a 7th round draft pick compared to someone like Cutter Gauthier who was a 6th overall draft pick who didnt end up signing with the flyers

[@marcussilva4011]

This was one example of dozens of Russians that didn’t run into that problem

[@Dustyy_nhl]

i'm so glad we signed will smith before all this stuff 😭 if he had wanted out i would have gone crazy 💀

[@heghinealeksanyan2862]

Brock Faber is another one, he by the way was offered a spot on the Kings going into the playoffs, he would have played NHL playoff hockey right from the get go, but he refused to sign with the Kings who then traded him for Fiala.

[@blackrocks8413]

Fedotov was drafted in 2015, just got here in 2024. Still risky

[@metcrix110]

This title is intriguing

[@MikeBartner]

Did ya agree with it after watching though?

[@metcrix110]

@@MikeBartner 100%

[@seancosgrove1]

Drafting a college player in the first round means you need to have a spot ready for them with the big club, and potentially might have to offer them a one way contract which is less attractive.

[@ivantot506]

The only difference between Gauthier and McGroarty situation is that the Jets are classy organization and didn't throw the guy under the bus

[@LukeRyanReese21]

The flyers are a class organization and have been since the 70s they handled the gauthier situation terribly but that doesn’t automatically make them a classless organization

[@MikeBartner]

Uhhhhhhh Gauthier ghosted them for months

[@sfara2845]

@@MikeBartneri don’t think this guy knows how it went down either, instead of of putting it out there before they got rid of them they waited til everything was all settled so that he didn’t get his career ruined, this guy just wants his comment to be liked

[@ivantot506]

@@MikeBartner and McGroartys agent refused to speak to Jets organisation. How is that different

[@ivantot506]

@@sfara2845 LOL

[@cbjm36]

USNTPD has coddled these players their entire young careers

[@tacocruiser4238]

Michkov didn't want to play for anyone except for the Flyers. There is a good reason why the Ducks, Blue Jackets and Sharks did not draft him.

[@seancosgrove1]

I imagine in the next labor negotiation, the NCAA issue is going to be addressed. Maybe give NCAA players less flexibility, but also as part of a compromise, maybe move back the UFA age from 27 (for most players) to 25 or 26.

[@MikeBartner]

Yes I think something will change but nothing too significant, an Adam Fox type is going to find a way to force his way to the team he wants. May help reduce the amount of McGroarty type of situations.

[@aidennormand5377]

Demidov should go 2, he is better than Lesh and the Hawks should not pass on him. Content is great man on all platforms you're up there with Shannon

[@Tangerine_6924]

The shitty thing is it’s not that he doesn’t like the city, it’s he’s scared for his development and I totally understand where he’s coming going from. He’s obviously NHL ready and I don’t get why the jets wouldn’t want a young top 9 players on an elc for 3 years. Like just say you will play him and get him signed. There’s no reason to favour players like mason appleton and Alex Iofallo over young guys like McGroarty. Chevy always talks about how good these young guys are but then the coaches clearly don’t see the same. Something needs to change

[@stefanpedias4511]

Yeah I always felt like this was the case. I'd have Americans as the most risky player to draft. I'd rather take anyone else as a small market team. Hopefully they figure out the ncaa issue

[@wond3rlove]

Demidov will not fall past 4. Cbus loves their Russians

[@MikeBartner]

New man in charge tho

[@chrisonydotcom2317]

They haven't had too much luck with them staying though!! LOL

[@jack9548]

That’s what I’ve been saying since last year, I don’t want the Flames to draft and American with their own first for the next 4-5ish years. Once this rebuild is over. It’s too risky imo. They all want out. I don’t mind it with later picks, but with our own firsts that will probably be in the top 10 for the next 3 seasons at least, it’s too risky to make those selections knowing they could straight up leave.

[@adamjanks4966]

Dam your right

[@MikeBartner]

Thank you Adam!

[@sewerrat9086]

I definitely agree college players can be a riskier route than Russians coming over from the KHL right now but I honestly feel like some of these guys are making decisions based on betting on themselves having an opportunity to make a career out of playing in the NHL. I don't even think it's entirely a market issue. Like if I were to be McGroarty's shoes and looking at that current Jets lineup and basing it on the seasons he's had like where would he fit in that lineup and be utilized properly? A lot of college guys who have been drafted by recent lottery teams have been coming over regularly enough where I feel like it's more of an issue with the mid to late round teams just having too many NHL regular players to give a proper shake for some of the college kids. I don't necessarily think this is a healthy thing either that guys who haven't played any games yet are having so much leverage and having high expectations of themselves are essentially holding the teams who have their rights hostage but I don't think this is entirely an American issue or a college issue either.

[@heathclark318]

Not sure if you have one or not but a discord would be kick ass. Just saying

[@heathclark318]

You think CHL don't have the same leverage? They don't have to sign those contracts or go to college themselves...

[@MikeBartner]

CHL guys can't go to college and also Canadians seem to always sign

[@heathclark318]

@MikeBartner so college kids can go to the CHL and not vice versa? As I know Tyler Boucher has gone from NoDak? To the 67's. Justin Ertel from Colgate? To the Battalion

[@lordrayden3045]

@@MikeBartner Why can’t Canadians for to college?

[@heathclark318]

@@lordrayden3045 Adam Fantilli did. Many others have. I am not clear on the rules here

[@lordrayden3045]

@@heathclark318 Yeah, if Canadians want the NCAA rules / benefit’s, go to college to play hockey

[@AstralScourge]

Michov is here!

[@MikeBartner]

Indeed!

[@flak_factory5022]

idk its seems like most Americans sign with there team than not signing like everyone has a risk and might be getting over blown like the Russian were

[@upscalestew7850]

Most Russians sign too

[@paradox3244]

We've seen players like Adam Fox and cutter Gauthier not signing for the teams that drafted them and forcing their way out whereas Russians sure tend to stay long but they always sign with the team that drafted them look at kaprizov spent 5 years in Russia came to the NHL 5 years after being drafted and immediately became a star

[@saltywingsandavsfan]

*college players

[@MikeBartner]

True just didn't want too long of a title lmfaooooo

[@saltywingsandavsfan]

@@MikeBartner ah fax

[@lordrayden3045]

Why wouldn’t he go back to college? If the NHL team thinks he’s not ready or may not be ready (refuse to sign him to a one way contract) then go back to college and get more experience.