They say to follow the examples of your leaders. But for Alexander Radulov, it’s not quite that cut and dry. Those developing in the footsteps of the forward should tread carefully as he possesses an at times dangerously contradicting set of attributes.

Alexander Radulov exemplifies the “Russian It Factor;” he has provided every team he has been on with both good and bad attributes to not only his game but off the ice. Dallas Stars’ head coach Jim Montgomery, more so than most of Radulov’s previous coaches, it seems, is making an example of the Russian star for those both currently playing with him and those set to come after him.

There’s no question that Radulov is an offensive powerhouse. For the past three years, he has been a perennial scorer and one of the Stars’ top acquisitions in recent years.

Last season, Radulov finished the year third in points on the team with 72 on 45 assists and 27 goals. This season, Radulov is second on the team in points, 51, and currently leads the team in assists, 34.

In his first year alone, the forward quickly became a fan favorite in Dallas and helped give Dallas a top line with Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn that can go unmatched. Unfortunately, we don’t get to see that line shine as the Stars’ depth scoring is troublesome enough that both Ken Hitchcock and now Jim Montgomery had to split the three up in hopes of distributing the scoring.

That has yet to work out as the top three still are heavily relied on, no matter what lines they’re distributed to. Some combinations have yielded more profitable returns, but at the end of the day, the three players attribute for roughly 34% of Dallas’ points.

Radulov, in particular, creates chances offensively with not only his vision and great puck skills, but with his size and strength, he is hard to get off of the puck. Radulov completes his all-around offensive game with speed and an ability to finish with the puck whether its on the forehand or backhand.

His scoring is highlighted even more by his intensity for the game that can be seen in every goal celebration. And thus Radulov is an unmatched fiery personality on the ice.

You can follow what he does to help the team out in both zones as well as in transition, as seen by his always positive plus/minus rating every year. Radulov does some great things on the ice and in practice in lighting a fire in this team that needs to be mimicked.

Where Radulov gets derailed, and many knew of this before his time in Dallas and even his return to the NHL in 2016, is that Radulov at times seems to want to do his own thing.

I mean just look at his NHL debut when Radulov played two seasons with the Nashville Predators and had a year left on his contract only to sign with the KHL. The Predators welcomed him back in 2011-12 for the forward to play in nine regular season games and eight postseason games with a slap on the wrist for a violation of team rules.

Alexander has largely kept clean rapport with the Stars up until this season, which has now seen two acts of discipline to the forward.

The first was back on January 17 when the Stars played the Los Angeles Kings. Radulov had talked back to Montgomery, and thus the head coach benched the 32-year-old for the remainder of the game.

Much has gone quiet since the incident, but the controversy was stirred back up a bit when Radulov was benched during Tuesday night’s game against the New York Rangers due to being late for morning practice. The team elected to instead dress Jamie Oleksiak as a seventh defenseman in his place.

Almost every time something like this happens, Radulov comments with an ‘I’ve learned my lesson’ or that ‘the coach did what’s best for the team.’ Which holds true up until the next incident occurs or really until the next time it happens all over again.

With Radulov’s fiery personality comes him losing his temper very quickly. That frustration has manifested into a second among the team 46 penalty minutes and can be spotted when he refuses to vacate the ice on a proper shift time and remains stubbornly in the play; he holds the longest shift times among forwards on the team, averaging 47 seconds per shift. Surely it also has something to do with when Radulov abandons the perceived plan and ad-libs more than most would like to see. For a productive player, that’s sometimes the Jekyll & Hyde actions teams have to leverage a high-stakes balancing act with.

I’m not saying that Radulov hasn’t matured since leaving the NHL and coming back, because I believe he has, but we shouldn’t be surprised with Radulov’s persona. This is what comes with the 60+ point scorer, the guy who brings intensity every shift, fire, grit, and passion with every goal celebration.

Although, this is where Jim Montgomery has had to step in this season and put his foot in the ground. Montgomery won’t let any player be above the rest or choose to do his own thing when it’s a team effort that’s required going into the final stretch of the season.

Montgomery is using this to set an example to the rest of the team that no matter how big of a name you are, selfish actions won’t be tolerated.

It’s about holding players like Radulov accountable when they want to stray away from the gameplan because now, more than ever, Montgomery needs players to hunker into his system and his gameplan.

It’s about taking a guy like Radulov and picking him apart to show what to follow and what to tread away from.

Stick to producing out on the ice and showing grit and passion, everyone is for that, but move away from this idea that it’s okay to do what you want when you want. Stray away from these silly penalties and losing your temper only for it to cost the team.

Radulov has been known to be selfish at times throughout his tenure, but this must be deterred from for not only him but the rest of the organization. Even more so amid a run of the schedule that may make or break the Stars’ season yet again.

I commend Montgomery for trying to change this culture, but will it get through to Radulov?