Grachev Season Stats - 60GP 40G 40A 80P +48Rewind to the 2nd day of the NHL draft last year. The Rangers picked another defenseman in the first round and picked a Center out of high school with their 2nd pick (Derek Stepan, which is looking like a pretty solid pick, but thats for another post.) When their turn came up in the third round, the Rangers selected this massive Russian machine.
Evgeny "Battleship" Grachev is listed at 6'3", 212 pounds (which is probably closer to 6'4" and 220 now) gave the Rangers a much needed potential top six forward with size. International Scouting Services had him ranked as a late first rounder in their final pre draft rankings but the shaky Russian transfer agreement caused him to drop in the draft. Well that and no one really got a good look at him while he was playing in Russia, even the Rangers front office didn't expect him to explode on the scene like he did.
Grachev made it known that he was going to be in North America this year prior to the draft (he was drafted by the Brampton Battalion of the OHL in the Import Draft) so credit the Rangers on doing their homework to make sure that he was 100% committed to making the move to North America. Grachev got off to a slow start in the OHL, notching just two assists in his first five games but with the adjustment with moving to a new country and new style of play, that was to be expected and its pretty impressive that he adjusted as quick as he did. Grachev produced at a 1.41 point a game pace this season despite the slow start, and got progressively better as the season went on. Infact if you adjust his stats minus his first five games and replace those five games with the rate he produced for the rest of the season they would look like this...
60 GP 43G 42A 85P +54
85 points would have him tied for 9th in OHL scoring, 43 goals tied for 4th, and +54 tied for first - not bad for a first year player. Since returning from the WJC's, where he had a very good showing, he has been producing at a 52 goal, 97 point pace, which would have placed him 2nd in goals scored and 2nd in points, behind soon to be top pick John Tavares.
As I mentioned before, the Scouts must have not gotten a good look at Grachev before the draft because the scouting reports said that he needed to work on his accelration - that could not be further from the truth. He is faster going north-south than anyone in the OHL and his fellow countryman and top 5 pick in last years draft, Nikita Filatov. I'm not saying he is a better skater than Filatov, hes not - Filatov is a stop-on-a-dime and go skater. Hes shifiter and makes sharp turns better (which is why Grachev, who was listed as a Center when he was drafted has been shifted to LW and will play the wing in the NHL) but Grachevs straight away speed would put him near the top of the NHL's elite (Think Jeff Carter skating wise, whether or not he matches his production in the NHL remains to be seen.) There is no doubt that if Grachev had played for Brampton last year, he would have been a top 15 pick in the draft, perhaps even cracking the top 10 -
Despite being Russian, his game suits the North American style MUCH better since he is not an East-West player. His explosive straight away speed makes him a tremendous threat on the PK, where he has picked off a pass and just blazed past defenders en route to scoring a goal where he makes the goalie look silly. Grachev has played the point on the PP which shows a big vote of confidence from his head coach about his defensive abilities. Here is a guy who will get a ton of minutes at the next level since he can be used on the PP, PK, Even Strength (he led his team in ES points this year) and he was always the third shooter in shootouts too. Perhaps his most impressive stat is that he was picked as one of the three stars of the game 25 times out of the 60 games he played, thats 42% of the time.
The biggest worry about Grachev is that he is so big and fast that he may struggle a bit once he starts playing against players who are bigger and faster than his peers in the OHL but that shouldn't be too big of a worry because he is going to get bigger and faster too. It's tough to imagine this but Grachev is still growing into his body and isn't close to filled out. He should play at 6'5" 230-235 when its all said and done and with his speed, that is going to be awfully tough to handle. Seriously, Power Skating and Weight training should be at the top of his to do list when the offseason comes.
Aside from the stats, Evgeny is known to have a solid work ethic, is very coachable and is really passionate about the game. He was interviewed after a game earlier this year while Brampton was in the midst of a record setting winning streak and when the interviewer said that they were playing really well Grachev responded with "We're not playing as good as Windsor", who finished the season as the best team in the OHL by a pretty wide margin. Teammates Cody Hodgson (10th overall, 2008) and Matt Duchene (2009 draft eligible, top 5 pick) have raved about his attitude and how likeable and funny he is, which can be seen here.
With the OHL playoffs starting this Friday, It will be interesting to see how Grachev performs on a bigger stage before making the jump to either the AHL or possibly even the NHL next year. A big showing in the playoffs would go a long way in solidifying Grachevs spot as one of the top 20 prospects in hockey, likely moving him up even higher on the list, making scouts regret that they let him drop into the third round of the draft just a year ago more than they already do.
