Down the street from where Detroit’s Russian Five took the NHL by storm in the 1990s, defenseman Nikita Zaitsev sat down for dinner with his agent and explained that his pain of being passed over in the draft three times was gone.
Just four months into his rookie year with Toronto, Zaitsev realized not being drafted was the best thing to happen to him. Chicago’s Artemi Panarin told agent Dan Millstein the same thing as he earned rookie of the year honors with 77 points last season.
Zaitsev and Panarin are on the leading edge of a generation of Russian stars coming to North America from the Kontinental Hockey League in their 20s and making an immediate impact.