Wheat Kings select Russian defenceman
6/27/2007 at 4:52 PM
The CHL Import draft is going on today and I see the Wheat Kings just took Russian 1989 defenceman Nikolai Lukyanchikov. Even though we don't see many Russians in the WHL, it looks like this is a player with something to prove/gain by coming over to the play junior hockey in North America. He was ranked #28 in Europe in the mid-season Central Scouting rankings, then fell to #90 in the final rankings before going un-drafted.
I gleaned this off of a prospects site on the net:
"A very strong, balanced skating offensive defender. He can handle the puck well and has good offensive sense. Likes to shoot the puck and has a hard accurate point shot but also can pass with nice vision. Not overly physical but he does work hard and is very competitive. He will take a hit to make a play."
Here's a bit more information on Nikolai:
http://www.eurohockey.net/players/show_player.cgi?serial=101631
and
http://www.russianprospects.com/public/profile.php?player_id=598