Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff touched upon the preseason performances of Red Wings prospects and 2022 draft picks Marco Kasper, Anton Johansson and Dmitri Buchelnikov today (and I happened to talk about Kasper and Buchelnikov yesterday).
To me, the most interesting situation involves Buchelnikov, who’s making a very hard push to skip the MHL, the Russian version of Major Junior Hockey, in attempt to make SKA St. Petersburg’s KHL roster as an 18-year-old:
In an article on KHL.ru, KHL TV commentator Anton Vasyatin was touting Red Wings draft pick Dmitri Buchelnikov (52nd overall, 2022) as a contender for the Alexei Cherepanov Prize as the KHL’s top rookie performer.
Describing Buchelnikov as a “fast, nimble forward,” Vasyatin is also noting that it will be a challenge for Buchelnikov to crack the SKA St. Petersburg lineup.
The fact that he shoots right, a rare quality among Russian players, could help him earn the opportunity. Though he’s been skating on the fourth line in preseason, Buchelnikov is producing on the SKA power play.
“His main advantage is his shot,” Vasytin noted of Buchelnikov. “Even in the most difficult situations in terms of receiving the puck, Buchelnikov manages to handle it without problems and shoot it very sharply and accurately.”
The article which Duff references is on the KHL’s Russian-language website, and Anton Vasyatin is asked to compile a list of players who might compete for the above-mentioned Cherepanov Prize. Buchelnikov is listed 6th out of 10 players that Vasyatin names. Here’s a rough translation of what he says:
Dmitri Buchelnikov (2003) – forward, SKA: For Buchelnikov, like [top 2023 draft prospect Matvei] Michkov, it won’t be easy to earn a permanent spot on SKA this season. But it seems that this summer, the forward did absolutely everything not only to earn an application, but also to play even on the power play and give results. A very fast, nimble forward, also with a right shot (the Army team only has two such forwards, in addition to Dmitri).
His main advantage is his shot. even in the most difficult situations in terms of receiving the puck, Buchelnikov manages to handle it without problems, and shoot it very sharply and accurately. Last season, the MHL player scored 41 goals in the regular season, as well as 9 in the playoffs, where he could have scored more often, but a serious injury in the semifinals intervened. This summer we’ve already seen his bright performance on the Russian Under-25 team at the tournament in Sochi. At the Puchkov tournament now with SKA, the forward is just as productive, and with modest playing time (fourth line plus power play). Buchelnikov’s passion for the game is at its best.
That’s fairly high praise for an 18-year-old selected 52nd overall by the Wings this past July. I would normally be a little more skeptical of his performance over the course of a game or two as the KHL’s preseason is a fricking month long, with “tournaments” and “Cups” chopping up the preseason into shorter segments.
The theory remains that Buchelnikov will end up with SKA-1946, the MHL (junior team) for the Sports Club of the Army, if not on SKA’s VHL team (the AHL of the Russian leagues), but Vasyatin is right–Buchelnikov’s been lighting up the scoresheet with goals, regardless of whether he was playing with that stacked “Under-25 team” in Sochi or playing more realistic minutes on SKA’s fourth line.
What’s going to happen with him? The KHL isn’t necessarily a meritocracy, so I’m guessing that it will be a matter of course and a matter of tradition that Buchelnikov starts playing junior hockey this year, but he may earn a call-up or two if SKA, which is usually a stacked team as the biggest KHL market (SKA is owned by the Russian oil and natural gas giant Gazprom).
We’ll see what the fall brings, because the KHL’s regular season begins promptly on September 1st, and SKA begins their campaign against Salavat Yulaev on Saturday, September 3rd.
