Alexander The Great?

As a Hab fan, you really have to dig to find a glimmer of hope in the mess that Bob Gainey has created over the past year in Montreal. He has ripped through the organization like a third world dictator fearing a coup. Purging top assistants, leaders and troops, without regard to friendship, loyalty, length of service, or even simple logic.

My glimmer of hope, (although admittedly it is largely hope and still a distant glimmer), lies with the drafting of big Russian kid Alexander Avtsin a couple of weeks back. He and fellow Russian Maxim Trunev, taken the previous year, may well be the team's two best amateur prospects at the moment.

For starters, Avtsin is a solid 6-2, 200 pounder according to the listings, having just turned 18. For all the gas that Gainey has vented over the past few years about getting a big forward, he has yet to bring in anyone who was an upgrade over Alex Kovalev in that department. Even Kovalev, at 6-1, 215 pounds, isn't huge, and often plays much smaller than that. Based on other Russian players who have been drafted in recent years, there is a good chance that Avtsin will top out at 6-4 and 225 pounds or so.

Secondly Alexander put up some serious numbers in the Russian 3 league last year. 54 goals, 56 assists, 130 penalty minutes, in 76 games. Kovalev at the same age in the same league had 16 goals, 13 assists, in 21 games, although he spent much of the season with the senior team where he had 5 points, I believe. The ratio is similar.

You have to take whatever Trevor Timmins says about his draft picks with a lot of salt, but he described Avtsin as a first round talent who dropped to the fourth round due to nationality, and I think Trev is getting a bit more cautious with his estimations these days. More significantly for me, the guys over at Russian Prospects seem very high on Avtsin. One of the writers who seems on top of all things regarding Russian hockey described him as the steal of the draft. They think he is like Evgeny Grachev with more of a physical side, and Grachev might have been the best player in the OHL last year.

The uncertainty remains regarding all Russian players, a lot will depend on the degree of success the new KHL is able to achieve. But Avtsin was here for the Combine, the Entry Draft, and is scheduled to participate in Habs development camp. He is saying all the right things, and Patrick Roy used one of his top Import Draft picks to secure his future services for the Quebec Remparts.