Rory Boylen at The Hockey News says Artem Anisimov's highlight-reel goals this pre-season have set the tone for a run at rookie of the year honors...When I was doing my due diligence for a “Fab Freshman” article for our annual Poolbook in the summer, I grabbed the opinions of a couple NHL scouts on which players they thought would impress the most in their inaugural run through The Circuit. Names on the list included Tavares, Nikita Filatov, Cody Hodgson, Matt Gilroy, Colin Wilson and more, but when the name Artem Anisimov came up, there was an underlining pause.
The Rangers prospect is the guy to watch out for.
“Honestly, I think he’s the best of the ones you’ve named so far,” said one scout.
...the Russian rookie has definitely displayed the talent level that made him the Rangers #1 prospect, however, there have been games this preseason where he's been completely invisible. So I'm not so sure I'm ready to hand him the Calder yet.
...having said that I do expect Anisimov to have a solid year and blossom into one of the Rangers top players for years to come.
2 comments:
For a young player, occasional invisibility isn't necessarily a bad thing as long as he's not a liability during those stretches. Quite a few great players displayed this tendency to be quiet for stretches, like Sergei Fedorov for instance. He was like a shark, quietly stalking, waiting for the moment to strike. Anisimov seems smart in his zone and quietly patient in the offensive zone. That could work well with the a lot of the more in-your-face forwards the Rangers are amassing.
I hear you James and I didn't mean to hate on Anisimov but sometimes I get nervous with European players because they are notorious for taking games off.
I'm not saying that's going to happen with Anisimov, but I worry about calling him one of the best rookies in the league before the regular season starts.
Post a Comment