Well, this is a fun way to kick the website off. Earlier in the day, it was reported by @Dima_Erykalov that Vladimir Tkachyov will be attending the New York Rangers’ development camp.

According to @Dima_Erykalov, 21 year old LW Vladimir Tkachyov (@hcadmiral, KHL) will attend #NYR development camp this summer. — Russian Prospects (@RUSProspects) April 29, 2017

For a team that has been trading away picks and prospects to try to make extended runs in the playoffs, signing talented free agents is probably the best and cheapest way to stay afloat for the future. The New York Rangers have been lucky as it is to sign prominent free agents like Kevin Hayes and Jimmy Vesey but constantly adding guys from the NCAA, Sweden, and Russia is just icing on the cake. So who is Tkachyov? He may be one of the more dynamic under the radar players not in the NHL right now and there is a lot to be excited about.

Let’s delve into some history about Vlad Tkachyov. If someone was to ask me to explain Tkachyov in one word I would request if I can explain him in two. Those words are Agile and Dynamic. Tkachyov is an undersized forward, very, very light but he skates with authority and gets into all the high danger scoring chances because he is so quick and strong on his skates. He can also absolutely shoot the puck making him both a danger from the slot and as a guy who can weave through the defense closer to the net. He may have some issues defensively but in his time with his numerous KHL teams, he has gotten older, more mature and more responsible. He by no means is a future Selke candidate but it isn’t as much of an issue as it was when he was playing in the QMJHL. Him improving on that end of the ice will make him even more of a target than he once was. Just because he went undrafted it doesn’t mean that he didn’t garner some interest. As a matter of fact, Tkachyov actually made the NHL as a 19-year-old with the Edmonton Oilers out of their development camp but he wasn’t able to sign a contract. During 3 preseason games with the lowly, pre-McDavid Oilers, Tkachyov recorded 3 assists and was a +3 rating gaining positive recognition from most of the higher up staff members. Oilers’ GM Craig MacTavish called him a dominant player and a few hours later signed Tkachyov to an ELC, with potentially an NHL roster spot as well. Unfortunately for the Oilers and Tkachyov, his contract was deemed invalid because prior to playing half the season in juniors he did play in Russia. That prevented him from being signed like a junior player (Philippe Meyers, PHI / Fortin, CHI) and forced him to re-enter the draft.

After that debacle, Tkachyov returned to Russia and bounced around the KHL and their minor league before finally settling with Admiral. Some people on twitter asked me why I think he bounced around so much in Russia and I would say it’s probably because at the time he was 5’7 and very light playing against grown men. It took him time to get out of weaving through juniors players and trying to conform his game to succeed at a pro level. That’s hard as it is for any skill player but one as diminutive as him I imagine it was even tougher. All of a sudden now, more mature, a bit taller and a bit heavier we see a player who was able to play well in the KHL and even at times utterly dominate. His point totals are incredible and I will get to them in a bit but we have to remember that Tkachyov didn’t exactly play on a powerhouse team but he was absolutely dominant, Panarin received a lot of buzz prior to signing with CHI but we have to remember he was playing on a powerhouse SKA team. I wonder if Tkachyov if he played on CSKA or SKA, would this news be a bigger deal?

So let’s take a look at some stats, shall we? With what is deemed 3rd or almost 2nd line ice time, Tkachyov was able to produce not only at first line levels, but absolutely elite levels in both Stats per games played AND Stats per Ice time. One thing that is definitely interesting when looking at his stat trends is his SH%. Of course, he was never going to keep shooting 40% but as his SH% started to regress to around 15%, Tkachyov was also shooting way more than he was at the beginning of the season. It is the SH/60 trend that makes me wary of the people that compare his game to a smaller Kovalchuk. I absolutely agree, his shot is similar as is the location he prefers to shoot it from but he actually reminds me way more of a right-handed Mats Zuccarello.

On the stat spread section, you may see a couple of stats that you never heard of. One is NHLe which uses a conversion factor from seeing how certain players in many leagues (in this case KHL) do in the NHL after their season in the KHL. This conversion factor is then applied to a player and we predict what said player MAY get in the NHL. For Vladimir Tkachyov, if all goes well he would be expected to have a 54 point season! That would be an absolutely incredible add but I am a bit wary of how high that may be. 54 Points are first line level, make no bones about it but at his age and size, I don’t really think he would produce at that pace right away even though the talent is prevalent. Similar to NHLe, I’ve been trying to come up with a similar stat called NHLeP/60 in which we can try to predict players P/60 if they were to come to the NHL. This stat is still being worked on as I would love to get more samples but currently, Tkachyov’s NHLeP/60 is 2.48! A 2.48 P/60 would be ranked 13th among NHL forwards this year ahead of guys like Nicklas Backstrom and that Patrick Kane guy. Once again this would be great but I have my reservations just because I don’t believe the Rangers can ever get THAT lucky. I will say this though, in the right situation and with linemates that help make room for him (Kreider), Tkachyov can be a serious threat on both the power play and even strength.

Why shouldn’t we be excited? Hey not every prospect works out, it takes a lot to be an NHL player but even if Tkachyov may not work out, as a Rangers fan, you have to be excited that the team is scoping out the entire world to potentially add some skilled prospects. Another thing that may require you to cool your horses is that he was extended by his KHL team and his contract actually end in the summer of 2018. Since there is no transfer agreement in place, the NYR cannot just sign him and let him play in the KHL, he either has to play out his contract or be bought out by his KHL team. However, let’s say Tkachyov really impresses in the development camp (he will), and the Rangers let him play in the pre-season, it would be an absolute shame that the Rangers can’t pay him under the table and help him buy himself out of the KHL contract so he can sign an NHL deal. That is just really unfortunate that it is so bad to do and against the rules and will never be done by an NHL team 😉