Below is an excerpt from HabProspects.com by montrealdan who writes about the progression of some the Canadiens prospects:
Perezhogin is currently on fire in the KHL scoring goals left and right, where he’s second overall in the league in goals scored, so hopefully for Valentenko things go well for him too. It’s unclear at this time what actually happened in regards to Valentenko signing in Russia, we may have to wait till next training camp to see if he will be back and if he will have any other Russian prospects with him, since Perezhogin, Emelin and Korneev’s contracts all expire at the end of this season with their respective KHL clubs.
Maxim Turnev opted not to make the jump overseas to North America, turning down a chance to play in the WHL for the Portland Winterhawks who selected him 3rd overall in the CHL Import Draft this past summer. The recently turned 18 year old is the youngest prospect in the Habs system, chose to try his luck in the KHL with Severstal, where he has had his ups and downs, appearing in only seven games so far this year, with two points seeing an average of 7:37 in ice time.
Perezhogin is an MVP candidate in the KHL. He just turned 25 a few months back. I could see the Habs offering him the money that has been spent on Alex Kovalev, who is 10 years older,next season. Or certainly the money that has been spent on Robert Lang who is nearly 15 years older.
Trunev’s numbers in the KHL may seem paltry, but the guy is barely 18. At the same age, (a bit older, actually), Perezhogin played only 3 games at the same level and had a single point. Andrei Kostitsyn at the same stage played 12 games and had only a single point. Trunev seems set to have a better post draft season than either of the two at this point.
I haven’t read the rest of the article, but from my perspective there is real concern about Hab’s top draft picks of the past 3 years. David Fischer has been really slow to develop, and the hardcore Gopher fans are very down on him. Ryan McDonagh has been far less than Trevor Timmons led us to believe, at this stage, and there are no signs that he is going to justify the hype or his draft position. Danny Kristo is the highest profile player in the USHL at the moment, but is off to a mediocre start and doesn’t look like much of a bargain even in the second round. On the other hand, the much ballyhooed (on Hab boards) Nicholas Deschamps has been even more brutal in the Q, so the mistake could have been worse.
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