I don’t like the narratives used around Russian hockey players – lazy being a big one – because for every Nikita Filatov, there’s an Evgeni Malkin. For every Alexander Radulov, there’s a Pavel Datsyuk. Simply put, Russia has produced some of the best hockey players of this generation, and of generations past.
They aren’t helping their own cause, though. Almost half the players that were invited to their summer orientation camp came from the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), the Russian professional hockey league that boasts former NHLers like Ilya Kovalchuk and Radulov. They left off NHLers like rookie Nikita Kucherov, goalie Anton Khudobin, defenseman Dmitry Kulikov and future star Valeri Nichushkin.
It appears the mantra will be, “we will take the very best NHL players, but if we feel that two players between the KHL and NHL are anywhere close, we will be taking the KHL player.” I’m not here to tell the Russians how they should select their team, but I would try to put aside nationalistic pride in favor of better hockey players. It’s their choice.
It shouldn’t be set aside the intense pride these players and coaches feel for their homeland. For one example, Evgeny Kuznetsov, a Washington first round draft pick in 2010, elected to stay in Russia so that he could be better scouted by coach Zinetula Bilyaletdinov. Whether this pays off for him or not remains to be seen, but it’s one example of how some Russian players view the honor that comes with wearing their national colors at the Olympics.
It’s for this precise reason that it’s difficult to really project the men’s Russian Olympic hockey roster. Are they really going to take half their players from the KHL, as has been bandied about from time to time and seems likely judging by their orientation camp, or are they going to bring their absolute best 25 players. It remains to be seen. Here’s what they have.
Goaltending
It would seem that the starting goalie’s job goes to Semyon Varlamov of Colorado. It’s not like he would be a bad selection. Varlamov’s .928 save percentage this year is tied for third among all NHL goalies with at least 30 games played this year, and tied for seventh overall among all qualified goalies. Of course, his NHL career his marred with inconsistency in previous years, but his worst month this year saw a .915 save percentage.
His only challenge will come from Sergei Bobrovsky, the reigning Vezina Trophy winner from 2013. Bobrovsky has battled injuries this year and hasn’t played in a month, which makes me think he won’t get the starting job.
Personally, I’ve always liked Varlamov but he’s seemed to lack focus during games in seasons past. That hasn’t been a problem this year. Just watch him for a game; he is tracking every puck, keeping his movements compact and is searching for long shots around players. It’s always a good sign when a goalie is looking for the puck, rather than hoping it will hit him.
After those two, to quote a WWE Superstar, it doesn’t matter who the third goalie is (ad infinitum for every other Olympic hockey team of note).
Defensemen
Assuming health for all these players, which is no given for Sergei Gonchar given his recent concussion issues, I would say the Russian defense will be anchored by foursome of Gonchar, Andrei Markov, Slava Voynov and Anton Volchenkov.
Voynov might come as a bit of a surprise, but this is a very good young offensive defenseman. Even though his underlying stats are a bit underwhelming, he’s playing against second line competition in the Western Conference, a tough bid for any young defenseman. Since the start of the lockout-shortened season, only 27 defensemen in the NHL have put up at least 40 points, and Voynov is one of them.
After those top four, it’s really tough to tell. I’ve always liked Nikita Nikitin, but he seems a bit of a redundant player for them and he’s not put up great underlying numbers; they are similar to Voynov’s this year, while playing against third line competition from the East — a bit of a difference.
If I’m looking at defensemen from the KHL, Evgeny Medvedev would seem to fit on this team. Medvedev plays for Ak-Bars Kazan, one of the top teams this year in the Russian super-league. He’s also been better than a half point/game over the last few years, and he logs big minutes for that team. Remember, there will be several KHL players on this team, Medvedev would seem to fit. Denis Denisov is also a possibility, but he doesn’t have the near well-rounded game that Medvedev does (on paper, at least).
I would also say that Columbus’ Fedor Tyutin, if he wasn’t on the team before this year, has probably played his way on the team with his play in the first half of the NHL season.
Forwards
There are a handful of forwards that are automatic locks for this team: Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Pavel Datsyuk, Ilya Kovalchuk (KHL), Alexander Radulov (KHL) and Alex Semin are going to be on this team. That’s a pretty deadly top six.
After those guys, it gets a bit more murky.
It seems pretty likely that St. Louis Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko gets on the team. He’s not having an eye-popping offensive year, but his possession numbers are strong playing against tough competition, the type of player this Russian team needs.
It’s quite uncertain where Nail Yakupov would fit. If you haven’t noticed, he’s not exactly flourishing as a bottom six player in Edmonton this year, and that’s likely where he would fit on this team. Whether the Russian coaches are want to have that on their team, who knows. Conversely to Yakupov, Artem Anisimov seems to likely have played his way on this team, if he wasn’t already, putting up 19 points so far this year playing against second line competition.
Viktor Tikhonov is a teammate of Kovalchuk’s at SKA St. Petersburg and has 15 goals in 40 games this year. If you want to breed familiarity between players that play in different leagues, having a few players who play together on the same team can help. This could get Tikhonov, Medvedev and this next guy on the Russian squad.
Alexei Tereshchenko is a name you might not immediately recognize, but he’s a teammate of Medvedev’s in Ak-Bars Kazan and has played for Russia at several levels before: World Junior, World Championships and he was even an extra at the 2010 Olympics. He’s not having an exceptional year this year in the KHL (21 points in 34 games), but he has experience and could sneak on the final 25-man roster.
Two final KHL players that we will probably see on this roster are former NHL/AHLer Alexander Perezhogin and Alexander Popov. As I noted, sometimes you want teammates on the team (when you don’t have better choices), and Perezhogin and Popov both play for Avangard Omsk. Popov is a playmaker while Perezhogin is a goal scorer, so it’s a depth line that could cause problems for other teams because of their chemistry.
It’s tough to exactly pinpoint who will be on this team after the top 15 players because of the KHL factor – also, I will admit I’m not exactly watching KHL highlights every night. However, there are some combinations, namely Popov/Perezhogin, that may be an issue to defend for the opposition and the Russians are certainly one of the favorites heading into Sochi.
