It’s time to pour cold water on a recurring rumor surrounding the future of Rangers prospect Vitali Kravtsov.
It would make zero sense for the Rangers to trade a high-potential prospect in Kravtsov before giving him a serious audition to prove his fit alongside a roster that’s nearing a transition from rebuilding to contending. It makes even less sense to trade such a valuable commodity to a division rival in Pittsburgh.
The last thing that Rangers general manager Jeff Gorton wants to do is supply the Penguins with an up-and-coming scoring wing who can help ease the offensive burden shared by Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin as they enter their mid-thirties.
On top of all this, the Penguins simply don’t have the assets needed to acquire a prospect of Kravtsov’s caliber. The Penguins’ prospect pool is slim and the cap-strapped Rangers would require young, cost-effective talent(s) that can accelerate the shift toward contention. When you search the Penguins’ organizational depth chart, there’s a genuine lack of players who fit that description, both at the NHL level and within their youth ranks.
While every player has their price, there’s too many holes in this rumor for it to have any substance. At age 20, Kravtsov has already scored more KHL goals prior to his 21st birthday than Artemi Panarin, netting 23 goals through 124 KHL games played. That’s one goal better than Panarin at the same stage of his career, and Kravtsov has between now and his 21st birthday on Dec. 23 to add to that total.
A quick stick tap to Hockey Stat Miner, a valuable follow for any Rangers fan. As you can see below, Kravtsov is among an impressive group of historical KHL goal-getters of the same age bracket.
Kravtsov is putting up similar numbers to a young Panarin. That alone in itself is eye-opening. It would be foolish to give up on a prospect who is performing this well in a prestigious league largely made up of former NHLers and NHL-bound youths. Panarin, Malkin, Alex Ovechkin, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Evgeny Kuznetsov all cut their teeth in Russia’s top division before starring in the NHL.
Now that trade rumors are out of the way – a realistic plan for Kravtsov is to give him every chance to prove himself at the NHL level once he’s ready. Remember, the Rangers demonstrated patience with Pavel Buchnevich when he was young and learning on the fly. Buchnevich’s points per game jumped significantly from season three to season four, from 0.59 to 0.68.
Understandably, it’s easy for fans to get carried away with a prospect’s highs and lows on the journey to becoming a reliable NHLer. Kravtsov’s peaks and valleys are no different than most comparables at his age. As for the big picture, his overall trajectory suggests that he’s more likely to thrive than he is to fizzle once he reaches the NHL.
Follow Sean Hartnett on Twitter: @HartnettHockey
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