Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Kirill Petrov
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The Islanders have been trying to coax Petrov into coming over to North America for the past couple of seasons, and now that they've succeeded on that front, it looks as though they plan to use him right away with the big club. He could be a candidate to play on the Isles' third line with Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolay Kulemin. A more formal plan for Petrov should be solidified in training camp, but the Islanders seem to have high expectations for their former third-round pick in 2008.
The Islanders have been infatuated with Petrov for what seems like forever and it's hard to understand why. He undeniably has talent, but while playing in the KHL the past three seasons (152 games), he has only produced 42 goals and 36 assists. Petrov looks like at this point that he will play once again this season in the KHL.
Petrov's contract with the KHL doesn't run out until after this season and there are rumors that the Islanders have guaranteed him a roster spot with the club should he report to North America afterwards. This is a questionable tactic by the Islanders as Petrov has yet to show why he deserves such special treatment, only scoring 49 points in 99 games in the KHL.
Petrov is a difficult player to figure out. He is extremely talented but has had maturity issues which have led some to wonder about his commitment to the game. After several offseasons of trying to get Petrov out of his KHL contract to play in North America, he voluntarily signed a one-year extentsion to stay in the KHL this season. That's the bad news; the good is that he also had multi-year offers on the table. The fact that he only signed a one-year deal could just mean that he wanted to stay close to home for one more season. Petrov posted 29 points in 53 games for his hometown club AK Bars Kazan last year.
Petrov has all the skills to be a top notch NHL forward, but a lack of maturity has kept him from obtaining such success. Petrov has yet to light it up offensively in the KHL but is under contract and will play their this season.
Petrov has all the physical tools to be a top player in the NHL. The mental aspect of his game can go AWOL at times and playing in his defensive end is not his biggest priority either. He is the type of player that could start immediately for the Isles however as he has about as much upside as anyone in the organization.
Drafted by the Islanders in the third round of the 2008 Entry Draft, Petrov is under contract with Ak Bars Kazan of the Russian Elite League for another three seasons. It will be extremely difficult for him to get out of his contract, so don't expect to see him for a couple of years.
Petrov has great offensive tools, but is under contract with AK Bars Kazan of the Russian League for another two seasons (thus why the Isles got him in the third round of the 2008 draft). Getting him to the states will be an issue for a while.
