I’m very cautious regarding posting preseason or pre-tournament prospect results. Red Wings prospect Red Savage scored 3 goals in 2 exhibition games for Team USA prior to the Tuesday start of the 2022 World Junior Championship, Carter Mazur scored a goal, and I just didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.
I’m even more hesitant to post the following because it’s the Sochi Open, where HK Sochi and a couple other KHL teams are basically set up to showcase the Russian national “Under-25 team,” which is a not-so-subtle reminder that the Russians consider every KHL player under 25 property of their rights-holders, regardless of whether they’re signed to contracts for their upcoming seasons.
Anyway, Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff duly noted that Red Wings 2022 draft pick Dmitri Buchelnikov is starring at the tournament, and I’m hesitant to post the 5’10,” 163-pound forward’s exploits because it’s taking place at a tournament designed to showcase the Russian National Team, but hey, it’s out there:
More than a few eyebrows were raising suspiciously when the Detroit Red Wings were claiming Russian forward Dmitri Buchelnikov with the 52nd overall selection of the 2022 NHL entry draft.
Many of those same eyebrows were probably arching upward again on Sunday. Watching highlights from Sunday’s action at the Sochi Open KHL preseason tournamment, Buchelnikov was on fire.
Playing for the Russian Under-25 national team, Buchelnikov delivered a pair of goals and was dishing out an equal number of assists in a 6-1 rout of the host team from Sochi.
At midseason, Buchelnikov was sitting with a rating of No. 47 among European draft-eligible players according to NHL Central Scouting. However, by the end of the season, there was uncertainty regarding Russian players due to the country’s war with Ukraine. Subsequently, the outcome saw Buchelnikov dropping right out of the rankings.
That didn’t stop the Red Wings from calling Buchelnikov’s name early on draft day.
“These are 17, 18, 19 year old kids that love to play hockey,” Red Wings director of amateur scouting Kris Draper explained. “That’s something we have to keep in mind. In the end, they just want to play hockey like any kid in North America or Sweden or Finland or wherever it might be. That’s how we evaluated the Russian players this year.”
I’ll let you head over to Detroit Hockey Now for the rest, but I will say that the fact that Buchelnikov’s posted 5 points in 4 games is impressive, even if it’s a pre-preseason set of exhibition games.
Also in the FYI Department, the aforementioned Carter Mazur and Red Savage made Team USA’s final World Junior roster.
