Latest news with #Metallurg
New York Times
14-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Blackhawks prospect Roman Kantserov seeking to be consistently dominant
Roman Kantserov's game reached new heights in the KHL last season. Physically, he felt good. He was six months past his shoulder surgery. Mentally, he was confident. He had played in his first full KHL season the year before and played some of his best hockey during Metallurg's playoff run during the 2023-24 season. Young KHL players often have to claw for ice time, but Kantserov had proved himself and was getting as much as 21 minutes in some games. The trust was there in his second season. Advertisement Come mid-November, it all began clicking for the 20-year-old Kantserov. Between then and mid-January, he produced 11 goals, including his first KHL hat trick, and nine assists in 17 games. 'I began playing smarter, stronger,' Kantserov said in a recent interview with The Athletic during which he spoke English and Russian through interpreter Vika Bulakhava. 'I felt how I stayed stronger from the last year from my first year. It was very good. Three months, I played like my best, my prime form.' Kantserov was arguably the hottest player in the KHL. Ivan Demidov, the Montreal Canadiens' 2024 first-round pick, was receiving a lot of the hype, but it was Kantserov, a Blackhawks' 2023 second-round pick, who was producing the most consistently among the league's youngest players. Roman Kantserov scores his 10th goal in 10 games. — Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) January 11, 2025 But then Kantserov's game fell off. He still produced enough throughout the rest of the season to finish second in the league among under-22 players with a 0.81 points per game average (Detroit Red Wings prospect Dmitri Buchelnikov led at 0.83), but it wasn't nearly at the same pace. He finished the season with 13 goals and 25 assists in 47 games. As a KHL rookie, Kantserov's game got better with time. He was dominant in the playoffs that season. He was one of the main reasons why Metallurg won the Gagarin Cup in 2024. This past season, his game was descending once the playoffs arrived. He produced zero goals and two assists in six playoff games. Metallurg's hopes of repeating as champions ended in the first round. 'The last two months and the playoff was very terrible for me,' Kantserov said. 'I think I was just tired in this season in my last games. I think that I just didn't have enough preseason preparation for the season because of the (shoulder surgery). In the end, I felt I was already full.' Advertisement It's all why Kantserov was excited to get to work early this offseason. He got a taste of what he can really do in the KHL this past season. With the ability to train without the restraints put on him last offseason after his shoulder surgery, he's hopeful he can sustain that level. 'I think it's just all a work in progress,' Kantserov said. 'I just need more effort and time to stay consistent, so I can produce not just at the peak of the season but throughout the whole season.' Kantserov's goals next season are primarily about Metallurg as a team, but he has some personal ones, too. 'When I talk personally about myself, I was the top forward on the team (in points last season), and I'm hoping to, if not repeat, then exceed the results that I had this season,' he said. 'And that's really a goal of mine, just to prove that I'm the leader and I'm the person who the team could trust on that level. I'm just in my early twenties and I'm playing on that level and I want to continue to be the leader that I can be and take the game on myself.' The Blackhawks have to like the sound of that. Could Kantserov, who is entering the final year of his KHL contract, jump into the Blackhawks' lineup by the end of next season and have a similar impact as Demidov did for the Canadiens? Kantserov isn't getting ahead of himself. 'I cannot say that I am best friends with Ivan Demidov, but we are obviously good buddies, and when he had his first goal in NHL, I congratulated him with that,' Kantserov said. 'But each of us have our own road and I have my own, so there is no point of looking at someone else. I still have a year contract with my current team. I was drafted by the Blackhawks and we keep in touch, so I know what their expectations are from me. and what the team is looking forward to when I will be on the team. So, I don't think I need to rush and look at someone else. I have my own story to write here and that's the most important part.' The Blackhawks do keep in consistent communication with Kantserov. He went through video with Blackhawks player development coach Kendall Coyne Schofield after every 15 games last season. He also made the trip from Russia to last year's development camp in Chicago. He was excused from this year's camp because Metallurg was starting training camp soon and due to the length of travel required from Russia. Advertisement Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson said in June that he hopes to talk with Kantserov over the next year about Kantserov's future. All indications remain that Kanterov will sign an NHL contract after next season. 'He's had a great last couple of years, especially winning in the playoffs, coming into last season, having a great season,' Davidson said. 'He'll have another good development opportunity this year playing in a great league. It's kind of a conversation where we'll have that over the next calendar year and see where he's at and what his aspirations and desires are. But we're very optimistic about his future and his future with us.' Kantserov has plans for on and off the ice this coming season. For one, he wants to continue to improve his English. He's spent a lot of time watching movies in English on Netflix and watching hockey highlights on YouTube and feels like he can hear it well now. It's a matter of feeling like he can communicate just as well. As for on the ice, it's about taking that next step in his game. He doesn't care so much about the hype. It's about the results. 'For me, it doesn't matter,' Kantserov said. 'When you're young and you're drafted in the first round, top 10, of course, every manager believes in you, but it's not my job. I need every time to improve myself, improve my game. And for me, overrated, underrated, it doesn't matter. I need to just be playing my game.' If he can maintain the height of his play last season, his game should be just fine.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Here comes Danila Yurov: Russian phenom signs with Minnesota Wild
The Minnesota Wild announced the signing of top prospect Danila Yurov on Frida. It's a three-year, $2.855 million entry-level contract. Yurov was the the No. 24 overall pick by the Wild in the 2022 NHL draft, and he's been obliterating the competition in Russia ever since. The 21-year-old Russian center will join the team this fall after breaking records in the KHL. During the 2023-24 season, Yurov led Metallurg Magnitogorsk with 49 points (21 goals and 28 assists), which broke the KHL's all-time, under-21 scoring record. Overall, Yurov has 88 points (41 goals and 47 points) in 209 KHL regular season appearances. He helped Metallurg to the 2023-24 KHL title. The Athletic's Michael Russo reports that if Yurov doesn't make the Wild out of camp this fall, he has a European out clause in his contract. That would allow him to be loaned back to Metallurg instead of playing for the Iowa Wild in the AHL. Yurov had been seen as one of the organization's top prospects, behind only recently signed Zeev Beuium. According to The Athletic's Scott Wheeler, Yurov "plays hard and fast, he pushes tempo, he's a strong and balanced skater, he's an excellent give-and-go player who excels at playing in and out of space without the puck, his shot comes off his blade hard in motion (and has added some versatility/different weapons after it was more of a stand-up wrister earlier in his development), he's got pro size (6-foot-1 and about 180 pounds) and skill, he's diligent in all three zones and he's almost always in the right position or reading the play to get back into it (on offense or defense)." Yurov doesn't turn 22 years old until December.
New York Times
16-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Wild sign Danila Yurov, bringing top prospect from KHL to North America
The long-anticipated start to Danila Yurov's NHL career could be on the horizon after the talented Russian center signed his three-year, $2.855 million entry-level contract ($950,000 AAV) with the Minnesota Wild on Friday. If Yurov doesn't make the team out of camp in the fall, he has a European out clause that would allow him to be loaned back to his KHL team, Metallurg Magnitogorsk, rather than going to AHL Iowa. Advertisement The 2022 first-round pick will earn $950,000 per season ($855,000 in salary plus a $95,000 annual signing bonus) when he's in the NHL and has a chance to earn max 'A' bonuses for a forward. He can earn $250,000 for each bonus up to a maximum of $1 million if he achieves four of the following each season: 20 goals, 35 assists, 60 points, top six in total or average ice time among Wild forwards (minimum 42 games), top three in plus-minus among Wild forwards (minimum 42 games), 0.73 points per game (minimum 42 games), making the all-rookie team, being an All-Star selection or being the All-Star Game MVP. He also can earn up to $1 million if he achieves one of any 'B' bonus thresholds, according to league sources. They are finishing in the top-10 in the NHL in goals, assists and points per game (minimum 42 games), if he is named a first- or second-team All-Star or win the Hart, Selke, Rocket Richard or Conn Smythe trophies. This was a compromise from both sides as 2022 draft picks have the ability to receive up to $2.5 million in 'B' bonuses. Yurov, 21, who won a KHL championship in 2024, has 41 goals and 88 points in 209 career KHL games, including a team-leading 21 goals and 49 points in 62 games in 2023-24. That broke the KHL's all-time under-21 scoring record, previously held by Vladimir Tarasenko. Coming off shoulder surgery after that season and then suffering a late-season ankle surgery, Yurov's production slipped this past season, with 13 goals and 25 points in 46 games. Danila Yurov's Instagram so long to his KHL team: 'It's time to continue my journey.' — Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) April 22, 2025 The Athletic's Scott Wheeler ranked Yurov as the Wild's second-best prospect after Zeev Buium in his 2025 NHL prospect pool rankings, writing: 'For years, he was a rare winger who was capable of driving play, chances and results at both ends without necessarily looking like he was dominating out there. Last year, a move to center helped him really lean into that identity, and he looked like a natural down the middle outside of needing some expected work in the faceoff. He's a kid who has really impressed me almost every time I've watched him over the years, whether against his peers or in the KHL. Considering his ice time, he was actually quite productive between ages 17 and 19 in the KHL, as well, so it's not as though last year's breakout was a surprise. Advertisement 'If you were to fill up two buckets with his tools (one for the strengths, one for the weaknesses) and place them on a scale, the bucket with his strengths in it would be overflowing and the one with his weaknesses would be near empty. He plays hard and fast. He pushes tempo. He's a strong and balanced skater. He's an excellent give-and-go player who excels at playing in and out of space without the puck. His shot comes off his blade hard in motion (and has added some versatility/different weapons after it was more of a stand-up wrister earlier in his development). He's got pro size (6-foot-1 and about 180 pounds) and skill. He's diligent in all three zones. And he's almost always in the right position or reading the play to get back into it (on offense or defense).' The Wild hope to start Yurov at center next season, but if that's too much of a load off the hop, they can try him at wing. The big question is if Yurov's arrival makes Marco Rossi more expendable and the Wild look to trade their second-leading scorer from the 2024-25 regular season this offseason. There's a price point and max term the Wild seem to be willing to reach for Rossi, and the pending restricted free agent didn't accept a five-year, $25 million contract earlier this winter, according to league sources. Rossi's side countered with a shorter-term deal, but the Wild didn't accept that. Things have changed dramatically since. Rossi was disappointed by centering the fourth line during the final five games of the team's first-round loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. It's unclear if the five-year offer from the Wild is still on the table, and it's likely Rossi's camp will no longer accept a shorter-term bridge deal if there's a chance Rossi won't be in the top six over the term of the contract. Rossi is eligible to sign an offer sheet with another team starting July 1. He is not eligible for salary arbitration. Advertisement Asked last week if he could see trading Rossi around the draft, Wild president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Guerin said, 'I don't know. We'll see what happens. There's contract talks. There's player movement — not just for Marco; for anybody. I'm not going to try to predict the future where I see this, I see that. I have to go through the process and see where it goes.'
