Russian invasion!

Out with the old - Zherdev, Fedorov

In with the new - Tyutin, Filatov, Mayorov, Plekhanov

For those that may have been worried that the Jackets were about to lose their Russian flavor, fret not as the Jackets will have plenty of new faces from the motherland.

The guy who is making noise right now surprisingly is the 19 year old 2007 4th round pick Maxim Mayorov - from the Dispatch:

"Maxim has NHL skill all over the place," Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock said. "I didn't know anything about him, but …"

"It's been really good for us to have him in this setting, to see how he plays against and interacts with players his own age," general manager Scott Howson said. "I saw him play in Russia last year, but the competition was not very good.

"What we're seeing here this week is a player with really good hands and a really strong skater. It's been really good."

Quite a heap of praise for the kid. It sounds like he'll have a place on the Crunch's roster next season and with the way injuries hit the Jackets I woulnd't be surprised if he gets a cup of coffee next year on the big club.

First thing's first though -- this kid needs to adjust to the North American game and make sure he plays at a high level without the puck as much as he does with it.

Of course we also have the highly touted recently drafted 6th overall forward Nikita Filatov. There is some scuttlebutt going around that the Russian Fedoration is giving Filatov some trouble regarding his status to play in North America. All indications from the Jackets is that Nikita has submitted all the proper paperwork and should be free to sign a contract with the Jackets sometime this week and should be stateside by August 1st.
Getting this kid over though may not be the lock we all hoped for when the Jackets drafted him. According to this article K.H.L. (Continental Hockey League) cheif Alexander Medvedev wants the Jackets to compensate his league $500,000 for the rights to bring Filatov over.

I can tell you right now that ain't happening. I fully expect this kid to still come over and *probably* play in the AHL and then see some time with the big club once injuries hit. He may have to sacrafice international play for a couple of years but eventually all will be forgiven and forgotten.

In fact judging from Howson's comments last night on the radio I think the Jackets may announce that he's been signed as early as today.

I know as a fan I'm really excited to see what this kid brings to the table in training camp. He's seems about as committed to play in North America as you can be and I truly hope he's Z without the baggage. If so we could truly have something special here.

Kid looks good in that jersey though eh?

Another Russian prospect who is in town and just signed a two-way contract is Andrei Plekhanov. Plekhanov is a 6'1" 187 pound d-man who spent 40 games with the Syracuse Crunch last season in his first season in North America and is said to have a powerful NHL caliber shot. He notched 9g and 16a in those games. As I've mentioned before the question with him is his hockey sense and ability to read the game at a fast pace. By signing him to a 2 year deal the Jackets are certainly going to find out.

Finally we have the Russian defensemen acquired in the Zherdev trade which is the 24 year old Fedor Tyutin. Tyutin is a hulking 6'3" 210 pounder who has 3 full NHL seasons under his belt. Tyutin is a bruising NHL defensemen who can log key in minutes in every situation. He is said to have some untapped offensive potention and has notched 25, 14 and 20 points in those 3 seasons.

I think Tyutin is going to be a huge acquisition for us. He is going to really get a chance to take his game to the next level and become a go to guy for this organizaiton. I'm super excited to see this guy in action in a CBJ sweater.

As far as the departed - well we all know the Zherdev story and he just did not fit in the long term plans of the organization.

Fedorov never really fit in either and of course was moved last year in a trade at the deadline. In fact yesterday it was announced that he signed a 1 year deal with Washington for 4 mil. Ouch - good luck with that Capitals. It will be very interesting to follow if you can keep up the level of play he gave them down the stretch after the deal for a full season.

So there you have it. The two headed Russian monster has quickly been replaced by the four headed monster and you know what they say -- four heads are better than one (not really -- I just made it up).

If you can make it down its the final day of the prospect camp. There will be a scrimmage which may even involve Derick Brassard. I'll have a full report later on for those that could not attend.

Update: Well wouldn't you know that as soon as I publish this post the announcement comes that Filatov has been signed. Thanks for the heads up Erik!

-LTL