About a month ago, it was reported that Russian forward Alexander Khokhlachev, whose rights belong to the Boston Bruins, was considering leaving his OHL team, the Windsor Spitfires, to play in Russia's KHL. Earlier this week, the Spitfires officially announced that Khokhlachev would indeed be leaving the OHL to play for the KHL's Spartak, the team owned by his father.
Today at Bruins Development Camp, it was announced that the team had agreed to a contract with Khokhlachev that would allow him to return to Russia for a season while the Bruins retain his NHL rights. The contract will be signed on Sunday. Khokhlachev will play one full season for Spartak and will begin his contract upon returning to North America.
Khokhlachev was widely regarded as one of the most talented players in the 2011 Entry Draft. This past season for the Spitfires, the young center played 56 games and tallied 25 goals and 44 assists for a total of 69 points. He's very gifted offensively. He has soft hands, finishing touch, dynamic skating ability, above average playmaking skills, is a creative offensive force, physical despite his size, and is very dangerous if he's given room. Like any player though, he has his flaws. He needs to work on his defensive responsibility (especially if he wants to play in Claude Julien's system), needs to be stronger on the back-check, needs to add strength, and must be better in front of the net. After watching him play the past two days at Development Camp, I've come away very impressed with the young Russian thus far. I see a lot of talent in the kid, and really hope that it is able to translate to the NHL.
On a more humorous note, Khokhlachev did add that Spartak has an American goalie and a Canadian defenseman, so his English won't get rusty as they will be sure to keep him fresh.
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