The Philadelphia Flyers selected German Rubtsov with the 22nd overall pick in the 2016 NHL Entry draft. Rubtsov collected 12 goals and 26 points in 28 games played for team Russia’s MHL under-18 program in his draft year.
When the Flyers rookie development camp and training camp came rolling around, Rubtsov remained in Russia to honor his KHL contract with Vityaz Podolsk.
The problem for the 18 year old center was fitting into the second best league in the world. He collected zero points in 15 games in the KHL; played under 5 minutes a game; and never got off the fourth line.