In this interview with Olga Alexandrova, appeared on the official Dynamo Moscow's site, Avtsin explained why he decided to remain in Russia for this season, discussed his own current season's performances and he also told how he met his girlfriend Milana.

RussianHockeyFans.com offers you a translation.

Alexander, are there other athletes in your family?
Avtsin: "Yes, my mother is a runner. She used to be a distance runner as she competed in 800 and 1500 meters. My mom really wanted that I became a sportsman and she was happy to bring me every day to the practices."

And how did you transfer from Vympel to CSKA?
Avtsin: "I knew a coach who worked in CSKA with 1989-born guys. I am 1991. When he started training the guys of my birth year I've asked him if it was possible to move into his team. He said that I would have to undergo a try-out. This is how I went into CSKA's first practice and never came back to Vympel."

And you liked it there since the start?
Avtsin: "Yeah, since the start!" (smiles)

And how did you turn out in Dynamo?
Avtsin: "I played four seasons with CSKA. The first years were pretty good, but  the last one not quite. I was already playing for the Moscow selects and there I befriended many guys from Dynamo. They started asking me to join the team. Then Dynamo's head coach Ramil Valiulin approached me and said 'Come on Sasha, join us. I'll put you in the first line.' The season was over and I, without hesitation, moved to Dynamo."

Do you still have friends in CSKA?
Avtsin: "Almost all the guys from my birth year, just like me, parted with the Red Army. Now, of course, I've good ties with them, but nowadays most of my friends are my Dynamo team mates."

The next step was playing for Dynamo-2.
Avtsin: "Yes. I managed to score two goals in my first game with Dynamo's farm team. I was so happy. We arrived to the farm club close to the season's end, we played a total of five matches. It was me, Nikita Dvurechensky, Pavel Zotov and Oleg Li. The following year wasn't so good for us, except for Pavel Zotov, who played very well. But the season after this one was simply great."

The one in which you scored more than 100 points?
Avtsin: "Yeah, that one. But many other players had an excellent season, not only me. Especially Zotov, Dvurechensky and [Roman] Vasiliev. We all play together now."

After such a great season you were drafted by the Montreal Canadiens and you decided to report to their training camp, in which you played very well. Why did you decide to remain in Russia, despite they offered you to stay in Canada?
Avtsin: "We thought a lot if it would have been better to remain in Canada or not. We weigh the pros and cons with my mama and my agent. But then we decided that there was no need to hurry. Giving that I have the chance to play in the KHL, playing in the North American junior leagues makes no sense to me. And now I don't regret a single bit of that decision."

Do you want to come back there?
Avtsin: "I don't want to guess the future, but playing in the NHL is my dream since the childhood."

And for which team did you want to play?
Avtsin: "When I was a little boy here they would talk only about the 'Russian five' in Detroit. I made no difference, everyone was cheering for Detroit. I had myself a cap and a jersey of that team. Now I can't really pick one of the teams in the league."

Russian press loves you! You are only 18, but you had more interviews than a lot of other KHL players. Doesn't this great attention tire you?
Avtsin: "I never said even only once that I like the press' attention. But I'm always willing to talk. Well, sometimes I don't really want, for example if I am in bad mood because of a bad game. You get out of the locker rooms and they put a microphone in your face and daze you with cameras' flash. I don't know how can one appreciate all this… But, of course, I understand that this is part of my job and I try to act in a professional way."

Did the 'press training sessions' in Montreal help you on this matter?
Avtsin: "Yes, in Canada there was a good preparation. They showed us some video clips about the correct way to talk and to act. It was very interesting. But on the other hand in our team there is a player, Alexei Zhitnik, which doesn't need any course to teach him how to give an interview. He's a true professional."

Zhitnik isn't a true professional only while giving interviews. Nowadays in Dynamo there are many other great players. Do you try to 'steal' something from your team mates?
Avtsin: "I pay a lot of attention my partners' play. I try watching their dekes, their shots and their performances. You can learn a lot from them even during the practices."

Do you ask your more expert team mates for advices in the locker room?
Avtsin: "Of course, they always help me, no one never denies anything. Zhitnik himself, during the games' breaks, often suggests us what we should do and how to do it."

Maybe in Dynamo's junior team they ask you for suggestions?
Avtsin: "No, in our junior team it's not like that. We are peers, everyone talks with different people. If you want to, you can advise something yourself, hardly you will have something to ask though."

In which team do you feel more confident, in the KHL one or in the MHL one?
Avtsin: "For now in the MHL one. I am a leader there, in the important moments of the game they are going to ice me. In the KHL I play in the fourth line, whose main aim is to give some rest to the top-6."

And what about the game-winning goal you scored against SKA?
Avtsin: "I was lucky. Vadim Epanchintsev gave me a great pass, I only had to tap the puck in."

But there was also the game against Neftekhimik, in which you scored your first KHL goal and got the man of the match honors.
Avtsin: "I'll never forget the emotions after the first KHL goal. That was fantastic! It was like being in the fog...everyone was running toward me, but I was running away. Only later I understood that it should have been better to celebrate with my team mates. "

How much important was that goal for you?
Avtsin: "Without any doubt for any young player it's really important. When you score you are really happy but, more importantly, they are going to trust you more, to give you more ice time. With such conditions any player starts playing with more confidence."

Are you superstitious?
Avtsin: "Generally speaking, I don't believe too much in omens. But almost all hockey players pay attention to such things, like the side on which they put the jersey. I am no exception. I always put on my equipment starting from the left side. The skate, the guard, the glove. Always the left side first."

Can you tell us about some funny sportsman's superstition?
Avtsin: "Frankly speaking, there are many of them. Many find funny my own superstition: I want anyone to stay off my stick prior the game. I prepare it, I set it up and then no one else has to get any close to it."

Your girlfriend has a beautiful name, Milana. Can you tell us about the first time you met her?
Avtsin: "We met not in a ordinary way. I was flying to the draft with my agent. In the Boeing my seat was the second in a row of four armchairs, and in the same row was sitting an attractive girl. When I was going to get on my armchair, she approached me and said, in English: 'Is this your seat?' I replied 'Yes' (in English - ASR) and got to my seat. My agent was behind me. When the plane started to gain altitude, I turned toward her and asked something in Russian, and she instantly reacted: 'And so you are Russian'. So we begun a conversation and with her that long flight didn't look that long. So I found out that Milana was born in Riga and her parents live in Canada. She was flying to them. The next time we met we were already in Montreal. During the draft (training camp perhaps? - ASR) she attended all my games and we walked through the city in all the free evenings. Milana showed me all the places of interest of the city."

How do you communicate now? She lives in Latvia, you in Moscow...
Avtsin: "Milana tries to visit me as often as possible. But of course, most of times we correspond through the internet or Skype. It's much more interesting that way!" (smiles)

How did you start playing hockey?

Grigorenko: "My parents brought me there. We were still living in Khabarovsk, I was five. At the beginning I didn't want to play, but then I liked it and I made my way into it."

Why did your parents choose hockey?
Grigorenko: "Frankly speaking, I don't know. Maybe because of my brother, he played hockey too."

Earlier you said that at the beginning you didn't want to play. Why?
Grigorenko: "Probably I was just a little kid back there (smiles). At the beginning I wasn't good and I think that's why I didn't like it."

When did you realize that hockey is "your" kind of sport?
Grigorenko: "I think I fully understood it when we moved to Moscow. I understood that hockey would be my profession."

Why did you start playing for CSKA when you moved to Moscow?
Grigorenko: "Simple because my brother played there too. (smiles) It was comfortable to go there together, and our apartment was near too. And so we decided to play for CSKA."

You are a center forward. Have you never thought about changing position?
Grigorenko: "No. I like playing on the center. You are always in the middle of the game. You have to work on both attack and defense. And I love that."

But you never thought about becoming a goalie?
Grigorenko: "No. I always preferred opposition's creases (laughs)"

You played a number of time in national teams with guys older than you. Do you remember the first time they called you?
Grigorenko: "Yes, of course. It was last year, before Christmas. They invited me to a tournament in Czech Republic. We can say that all went good for me there since the beginning. I scored a goal during my first shift."

How did you know that you were invited to the national team?
Grigorenko: "CSKA coach came and said that me and other guys were invited to the national team and the training camp was going to start a week later."

Let's talk about the latest events. You're just back from Timmins, where you played the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge. How did you like the tournament?
Grigorenko: "I really liked playing there. Only one thing was different, the ice surface. And thus some games were needed to adapt. Later we played not bad, but we could have done better."

What was the hardest thing for you in the little ice surfaces?
Grigorenko: "On the North American rinks there is less room, there is little time to think and you have to decide very quickly what to do. This is the main difference, I didn't notice other ones."

Judging by your words it looks like you aren't too happy about the team's results in the tournament.
Grigorenko: "What can I say? We weren't there for such a result. We aimed for a medal, but we couldn't get that."

But this result was one of the best of the latest editions of this tournament.
Grigorenko: "Yes, we know that the latest team that got to the semifinals was the 83 one, with Kovalchuk. This was 10 years ago. It's good that we got to the semifinals, but a fourth place... it's really different from what we expected."

What the team lacked during the bronze medal game? The morale or something else?
Grigorenko: "Probably it was a matter of morale. But most importantly, we spent a lot during the semifinals against Ontario. We had not enough freshness to win the third place game."

Before the tournament you lost the exhibition match against team Ontario 9-1. What was the problem?
Grigorenko: "We have just landed, we had no time to acclimatise. Moreover, the game was at 3AM Moscow time. We weren't ready to play and that's why we had such a defeat."

Such a result didn't play a role over your morale?
Grigorenko: "No. That defeat didn't mean much to us. In the following match we skated past Team Oceanic 6-2. You see that it had no impact over our morale."

Team USA was the tournament's champion. How did you like their team in the match you played against them?
Grigorenko: "I don't know. In that match we were even up 1-0 after the first period. They have a good team, but I think that we could have won that match. There were some not needed penalties, the ref helped them in some moments."

Many say that the team accumulated too many not needed penalties. Why was it like that?
Grigorenko: "The fact is that in Russia they don't penalize you for most of these actions. Here the refs were strict. If you hooked a bit your opponent, then it was a penalty. In Russia there is a bit more loyal treatment. We can say that we weren't ready for this."

This summer you played in the Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament, playing against players 1992 born. You were the youngest player there. Was there some bullying from the older guys?
Grigorenko: "No, of course. (smiles) Only that at the beginning it wasn't really comfortable. The team mates were good, they helped and supported me. And I scored there too, in both exhibition and official matches. And then we lost the final match."

You played in different national teams, with different team mates and different coaches. Was the atmosphere different?
Grigorenko: "I wouldn't say that the atmosphere was really different. It was great in both teams. All the guys from the 92 and from the 93 teams are great, they all supported me and gave good advices. There was really nothing wrong."

Do you have a hockey dream?
Grigorenko: "Sure I have. I would really like to be called to the Russian national team. And win the Olympics and the World Championships. (smiles)"

Have you already collected any trophy?
Grigorenko: "Yes, I won the Russian championship with the Moscow selects. That's all for now. It's not a lot for now, but I hope that more will follow."

And what about your near perspectives? Don't you dream about the NHL?
Grigorenko: "I haven't really thought about the NHL yet. My main thought for now is to get into a MHL team and then to the KHL. I'm thinking about this only."

In what KHL team would you like to play?
Grigorenko: "I don't really know. I consider CSKA Moscow as my mother club. They grew me up as player and so I'd really like to play there, it would be a reward for my mother team. We'll see."

Do you have a non hockey dream?
Grigorenko: "Not yet, I didn't think about this yet. (smiles)"

How do you spend your free time?
Grigorenko: "More then everything I try to rest and thus I spend most of my free time at home. But well, of course I do also such things like meeting friends, going to the cinema. Nothing special."

With friends from the team or with "non hockey" friends?
Grigorenko: "Usually with my team mates."

We can consider you a professional player. Is it hard to deal with people outside of the sport industry?
Grigorenko: "No, absolutely not. Such a communication is perfectly normal. There are other things than hockey to speak about. "

And what are your interests besides hockey?
Grigorenko: "Hard question… probably, like all the guys, I like football, computers. (smiles)"

"I took the right decision" - he said in an interview with allhockey.ru after the match. "I am happy for my first game here, but the first thing I am happy for is my team's victory" - added Nikita. He also got man of the match honors, and he felt it was "pleasant. I scored and successfully played my first game – I'm very happy".

He scored his first goal with CSKA jersey at the 43th minute's mark, and he described his goal like that: "Monya gave me an excellent pass. I got it, worked the puck. No one checked me and thus I shot. Good that it hit the net." He also assisted Monya's goal fifteen minutes later and successfully passed the puck to Denis Kulyash for CSKA's first goal of the match on the second period. But he wasn't happy only for his performance. He was also pleased that "everyone wanted to win, there was a big drive. We did feel the match. Even on the bench we were supporting each other for the whole match. We worked to win the match. Traktor is a very aggressive and tough team. That and the fact that they scored first complicated things for us. I liked Traktor and it was truly a not easy game for us."

Filatov's new game has also been all about new team and line mates. They were the aforementioned Dmitry Monya and veteran Albert Leschev. It was - he said - "Super. It was simply a pleasure to play with him. Albert Leschev is twice as old as me and I remember that when I was a child I used to go seeing him playing. He's a master, playing with him is easy and pleasant. I trained with him for half a hour yesterday and now we played a good match. The guy does know hockey."

No regrets to be back - he also stated. "I've never thought about regrets. I was sure that all would be good. I took the right decision."

Filatov's next game will be played on Monday against a much tougher opponent, Metallurg Magnitogorsk, the former club of Pittsburgh Penguin Evgeny Malkin and Toronto Maple Leaf Nikolai Kulemin.

The U20 National Junior Team will host a 4 Nations Tournament in St. Petersburg from November 5th to 8th. This is the players' list:

Goalkeepers
Alexander Pechursky (Pittsburgh Penguins), Metallurg Magnitogorsk
Alexander Zalivin, Dynamo Moscow
Alexei Trifonov, CSK VVS Samara

Defensemen
Pavel Lukin, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
Nikita Pivtsakin, Avangard Omsk
Georgi Kostev, Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk
Alexander Tarasov, HC MVD
Igor Gorokhov, Amur Khabarovsk
Evgeny Eremenko, Kristall Saratov
Georgi Berdyukov, SKA St. Petersburg
Dmitri Orlov (Washington Capitals), Metallurg Novokuznetsk
Egor Martynov, Mechel Chelyabinsk

Forwards
Vyacheslav Kulemin, CSKA Moscow
Vladimir Tarasenko, Sibir Novosibirsk
Maxim Kitsyn, Metallurg Novokuznetsk
Petr Khokhryakov, Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk
Georgy Guryanov, CSKA Moscow
Evgeny Timkin, Avangard Omsk
Sergei Ostapchuk, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
Evgeny Kuznetsov, Traktor Chelyabinsk
Denis Golubev, Ak Bars Kazan
Sergei Plotnikov, Amur Khabarovsk
Pavel Dedunov, Amur Khabarovsk
Anton Burdasov, Traktor Chelyabinsk
Maxim Karpov, Mechel Chelyabinsk
Kirill Petrov (New York Islanders), Ak Bars Kazan

The Under 18 team is busy in Canada, with the World Junior A Challenge. Team Russia has already got a bye for the Friday's semifinals. This is the roster:

Goalkeepers
Sergei Kostenko, Metallurg Novokuznetsk
Kirill Brashkin, Lada Togliatti
Pavel Suchkov, CSKA Moscow

Defensemen
Yan Krasovsky, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
Alexei Marchenko, CSKA Moscow
Ivan Gavrilenko, Metallurg Magnitogorsk
Viktor Antipin, Metallurg Magnitogorsk
Maxim Tomkin, Lada Togliatti
Efim Gurkin, Salavat Yulaev Ufa
Artur Amirov, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
Vitaly Zotov, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
Zakhar Arzamastsev, Metallurg Novokuznetsk
Ildar Isangulov, Salavat Yulaev Ufa

Forwards
Vladislav Namestnikov, Khimik Voskresensk
Vladislav Kartaev, Salavat Yulaev Ufa
Nail Yakupov, Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk (1993)
Gleb Zyryanov, Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod
Roman Lyubimov, CSKA Moscow
Daniil Apalkov, Metallurg Magnitogorsk
Pavel Kulikov, Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk
Ignat Zemchenko, Severstal Cherepovets
Semen Zerebtsov, Avangard Omsk
Ivan Krasnov, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
Sergei Barbashev, CSKA Moscow
Nikita Gusev, CSKA Moscow
Nikita Lukin, Lada Togliatti
Emil Galimov, Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk
Alexander Kuznetsov, CSKA Moscow

Team Russia Under 17 will skate in the 4 Nations Tournament in Slovakia with this roster:

Goalkeepers
Andrei Makarov, Lada Togliatti
Maksim Alyapkin, Vityaz Chekhov
Vladimir Kramar, Avangard Omsk

Defensemen
Gennadi Sabinin, Vityaz Chekhov
Aleksei Vasilievski, Salavat Yulaev Ufa
Konstantin Vorshev, Vityaz Chekhov
Anton Savelev, Ak Bars Kazan
Albert Yarullin, Ak Bars Kazan
Vitaly Demakov, Traktor Chelyabinsk
Mikhail Naumenkov, CSKA Moscow
Andrei Kondrashev, CSKA Moscow
Oleg Manastyrli, Dinamo Moscow
Nikita Nesterov, Traktor Chelyabinsk

Forwards
Aleksandr Khokhlachev, Spartak Moscow
Anton Zlobin, Spartak Moscow
Maksim Kazakov, Avangard Omsk
Sergei Abramov, Molot-Prikamie Perm
Anton Ivanyuzhenkov, Vityaz Chekhov (1994)
Nikolai Prokhorkin, Vityaz Chekhov
Aleksei Shamin, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
Anton Chechulin, CSKA Moscow
Aleksandr Kuvaev, Vityaz Chekhov
Vladislav Vorobiev, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
Sergei Shmelev, Ak Bars Kazan
Mikhail Grigorenko, CSKA Moscow (1994)
Egor Omelyanenko, Spartak Moscow
Dmitri Arkhipov, Ak Bars Kazan

Last, but not the least, the 1994 guys will make their debuct with two friendly matches in Hungary followed by two other friendlies in Slovakia. This is how the roster appears:

Goalkeepers
Vasili Demchenko, Traktor
Pavel Khomchenko, Lokomotiv
Andrei Vasilevski, Salavat Yulaev

Defensemen
Aleksandr Sorokin, Lada
Artem Chistyakov, Traktor
Daniil Mamaev, Metallurg Mg
Aleksei Bereglazov, Metallurg Mg
Sergei Semenov, Spartak
Ruslan Ibatullin, Salavat Yulaev
Stanislav Petrov, Traktor
Nikolai Kordyukov, Traktor
Filipp Pangelov, Salavat Yulaev

Forwards
Anton Slelyshev, Dizel
Dmitri Vorobiev, Spartak
Dmitri Uvarov, Spartak
Viktor Komarov, Tratkor
Sergei Kuptsov, Traktor
Denis Kamaev, CSKA
Bogdan Yakimov, Neftekhimik
Daniil Andreev, Traktor
Vyacheslav Osnovin, Traktor
Aleksei Filippov, Traktor
Daniil Zharkov, Lokomotiv
Aleksei Byvaltsev, Metallurg Mg
Arseni Khatsei, Spartak
Vladimir Filatov, Gazovik
Vadim Khlopotov, Lokomotiv

In the 10/10 match between Sibir Novosibirsk and Avangard Omsk, played in the Omsk Arena, Vladimir Tarasenko has played a very good match. He played an excellent first period, in which he even scored a goal, then he has been a little quieter in the second and third stanzas because of the different style of his team. After a shoot after just one minute while being resilient to a defenseman's attempt to stop him, he scored the go-ahead goal for Sibir two minutes later: with a burning acceleration in the neutral zone he went on unchallenged and with a well-timed top shelf snap shot he put the puck in the back of the net defended by Karri Ramo. Even if this was the highlight of the game for him, he attempted more always playing the puck, trying to search holes in the opposition. He looked improved in the physical game, even if the big ones still outmuscle him with ease, especially along the boards. Another area in which he has to work on is the defense. He tries hard and uses his good skating to get back in the zone trying to help out, but he has to be more consistent in that even if sometimes he's able to win some puck because of his good timing and commitment. He has been on ice for a couple of Avangard's goals, but he wasn't the responsible. In the second and third period – as said – he has been a little less valuable. Sibir switched to a more direct, defense-first style of play, letting little room to the creative forwards. On top of that, he doesn't play in four on four or penalty killings, and Sibir had little powerplay time throughout the whole game. His game overall was very good, but generally speaking he has to find a little more confidence and play more the puck, maybe using more his passing play. He's a second line left winger and he has to act more like one. He's able to do it very well with juniors, has to reach an upper level to do it with the main team too.

Remaining within the Canadiens' system, Alexander Avtsin has been called to the Russian U20 National team for the ADT Challenge in Canada to be played from November 15th to 27th just as usual in various CHL venues. It will be a good chance to see some of Russia's top talents on a Canadian ice and probably we'll see also some of the Russians playing in the juniors like Alexander Burmistrov or Ivan Telegin. Avtsin has been playing mostly with MHK Dinamo of the MHL, but he also played a bunch of games with the big boys in the KHL, without getting on the scoresheet. Habs' Konstantin Korneev is also having a very good season so far, with seven points in eleven games, but at this point it's hard to think that he'll ever cross the pond.

Korneev's team mate, Maxim Goncharov (Phoenix Coyotes), is doing well too with three points in nine games and tons of good defensive plays. Another prospect who got some attention lately is Panthers' draftee Sergei Gaiduchenko. As Lokomotiv Yaroslavl's first goalie Georgi Gelashvili got a hand injury, Gaiduchenko had to step up and play and he did fairly well, with 90.8 of svs pct and a GAA of 2.84. The tall goalie is now awaited to get another chance, especially if Gelashvili won't play successfully in his return.

Washington Caps' prospect Dmitri Orlov has scored a great goal in one of the first matches of the season with a spectacular coast-to-coast, but then he has been silent even if he averages an interesting 16 minutes of average icetime. He more than doubled his average time on ice since last year and his development is going on. Certainly good news for the Caps' organization and fans. Oilers' past draftee Alexander Bumagin, who changed team this summer moving to Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk, has been a bit unconsistent - just as usual - and has now 4 points in twelve games. He has to raise the level of his performances!

For this week is all. If you're interested in more players follow www.russianprospects.com or my blog at http://russianjuniorleague.blogspot.com Got any question? I'll be pleased to reply you, just contact me at ale.hockey.fan(at)gmail.com

Further Russian players have been demoted. Goalkeeper Anton Khudobin (Minnesota Wild) will thus spend his third straight season in North America despite not getting any chance to showcase his talent in the NHL. Last year Khudobin played 17 matches for the Houston Aeros in the AHL. Also Andrei Plekhanov (Columbus Blue Jackets) will play his third North American season in the AHL as he has just been sent down to the Syracuse Crunch. After a good rookie season, Plekhanov suffered from a sophomore slump that limited him to 2 goals in the 08-09 season and thus he has to rebound back this year. Differently from the aforementioned players, Ilya Zubov (Ottawa Senators) did play in the NHL last year (10 games), without impressing too much with only two points. While he has proven himself in the AHL, he needs to further polish his game in order to get more chances in the NHL, where he needs to play in a scoring line to be effective, but is yet to demonstrate that he's good enough for that.

Another couple of players have been demoted recently: Sergei Korostin (Dallas Stars) and Viktor Tikhonov (Phoenix Coyotes). If Korostin's demotion doesn't arrive with surprise, after all the young forward hasn't showed much so far at pro level, Tikhonov's is definitely more surprising as the Riga, Latvia native had a decent rookie season in the NHL, scoring eight goals and eight assists in 61 games, showing flashes of excellent technique and poised play.

A bunch of other players are still AHL bound, but the most intriguing situation is in New York, where Artem Anisimov (New York Rangers) and Evgeny Grachev (New York Rangers) are both having very good seasons which makes hard for their NHL team deciding who give a roster spot to. But it's part of the game and surely the Rangers are surely happy to have some abundance in the forward position.

Alessandro will bring his years of expertise to cover Russia born players and prospects in our SYP Insider Blog section.  Alessandro is a highly respected writer who also contributes to McKeen's Hockey and RussianProspects.com and has his own outstanding blog at RussianJuniorLeague.blogspot.com.

According to his agent, Kabanov wishes to come to Canada to play for the Moncton Wildcats who drafted him 7th overall in the 2009 CHL Import Draft.  Salavat believes they own Kabanov's rights and it remains to be seen if the IIHF will have to step in and make a ruling on the matter.

The implications to Kabanov obviously come into play because if he is forced to play in Russia for another year it would almost certainly affect his draft position next summer.  What team in their right mind would take a Russian 1st overall if that player may or may not manage to cross the ocean anytime soon?  Probably none. 

Conversely, if Kabanov does come to Canada, he will have a chance to showcase his talents in the North American game and have a legitimate chance at being slected first overall.

Kabanov has a world of talent.  At 6-3 and a lanky 185 pounds, he has elite vision and has been compared to Alex Ovechkin -- although I think it's obvious to suggest that is an unfair statement. 

Regardless, Kabanov is a phenom who's future, like so many other young Russian players, hangs in the balance of a dispute that could be rectified if the NHL and KHL could ever come to a transfer agreement.

Wouldn't that be nice.