Steals? Risks? Gambles? We won't know for some time whether the moves the New York Islanders made at the 2010 NHL Entry Draft will help or hurt the team, but we do know one thing for sure:
They lead the league in guys named "Kirill."
Two years after taking Kirill Petrov in the third round of the 2008 draft, the Isles went to Russia again in the third round and selected Kirill Kabanov in what could be the steal of the draft, considering Kabanov had been ranked as high as the top three in the draft class within the past year, and 15th at the midterm.
So what happened to the 17-year-old scorer? Rumors of drinking, getting dropped by the Russian national team—as well as his agent—problems with his team in Moncton, and an injured wrist conspired to sink his reputation as well as his draft standing. The Isles grabbed him at 65th overall, figuring they had to take a player with that kind of talent.
And he has talent, in spades. He also has moxie, as shown in his postdraft interview when he promised that he wouldn't let the Isles or their fans down. We'll see. The kid's 17. But the draft is a crapshoot, and you can't leave skills like Kabanov ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Michael Gasparino
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June 28th, 2010 by Michael Gasparino Leave a reply »
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