Lost Sheep: The Story of Andrei Kostitsyn

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Andrei, since arriving to North America a few years ago, has felt like a "lost cause." Lots of people agree and as many don’t. Everybody has their own reason to determine the value of a player, talent, raw skills, size, grit, passion, dedication, pride in your game, contribution to the team and level of competitiveness.

But is he really a lost cause? Is he what all first round pick dread the most, a bust?

First, to give you an idea of what I call "passion and competitiveness," obviously, Ovechkin displays it every single time he hits the ice or you only need to look at a few successful fourth line players.

Now I’m not saying a player needs to throw himself on the boards or do the "sticks on fire" dance every time he scores. But passion can be felt and makes a difference in many many ways. Notably, in the dressing room and then on the ice.

Are you angry when the coach leaves you on the bench? Are you angry when missing an open net? Are you angry if you lose your spot on the top two lines? If yes, you’re on the right track. That means pride just stepped in…

Remember Steve Begin? He never has he had the hands to be a top line player. But he still made it to the NHL and had a good career thanks to the enormous quantity of competitiveness and hard work he displays every night.

Now I’m looking at Andrei Kostitsyn’s play and it seems emotionless, without passion and at this point, he is less valuable to the team than the likes of Glen Metropolit, Travis Moen, and even Kyle Chipchura, who was often tagged as a player who would never gain a regular role in the NHL.

Now, I’m not asking him to smile at cameras. He’s not comfortable with media, fine. Who cares! Markov is not comfortable either…but can anyone say he’s playing with no passion? Nobody would dare, he’s one of the best in the league.

To reach that plateau, you need to be competitive, have the desire to be the best and improve. Can anyone say he can feel that from Andrei K?

Andrei is struggling. He’s struggling to find his place on the team and to determine what type of player he really wants to become. I feel bad seeing him try desperately to finish his body checks and play physical.

Who asked him to be gritty? Jacques Martin? Certainly not, he’s been saying since the season started Andrei needs to shoot more. That’s the sign of a player who lost his game, see Maxim Afinogenov the last two years for another example.

What I call struggling, is a player who is not improving. Do you believe he'll ever be a player worth a 10th round selection? We don’t have the luxury in Montreal of having low draft picks who become stars. So when you pick a guy 10th overall, you expect some level of competitiveness, any level. It’s just not there now.

But now let’s just look at the other side of things. Is Andrei Kostitsyn given a fair shot? And what brought Montreal to draft him 10th overall?

Jacques Martin has tried to put Andrei K with the best forwards the team has to offer. He played first line minutes, had the best linemates possible and still, came out empty handed. But like a lot of journalists and critics, I feel Kostitsyn simply wants to be elsewhere.

Even though he’s not been productive, he’s kept his spot on the first two lines maybe 75 out of 82 games last year and for the first eight games while guys like Latendresse, D’Agostini and Pacioretty are waiting for their chance.

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