Article: Marat Khusnutdinov Is An Explosive Skater Who Plays A 200-Foot Game

[Justin Hein]

View full article

[Imyourhuckleberry]

Sounds like a solid upgrade for the soon to be traded, in all likelihood, Duhaime.

[Dean]

Patty Kane said some interesting stuff about Conner bedard . Kane was saying his teammates used to chirp him for having a silver spoon because he was 1st overall. His reponse. I just worked harder than you. That it’s not all god  given skill but work also. He said he respected how hard Conner has worked to get where he is and that his work ethic is special. Like a Crosby , mcdavid , McKinnon etc . They just have an unrelentingly work ethic to be the best.  The wild don’t have anyone close to that and it shows . They don’t seem to care about anything. Ek and Faber always bring it but that’s it . The wild need a superstar with that special work ethic to drive this team. I love kappy but he doesn’t have it . There are no leaders on this team that care about winning and losing . 
      I hope Marat does well. I hope he’s got drive in him and doesn’t let this country club get to him. . 

[MacGyver]

So 49 games 6 goals 14 assists for 20 points, 43 penalty minutes and a -12 on KHL ice this year. The closest he's ever been to a point per game player is 38 points in 63 games.  For a center I'm not sure I feel the hype. We will see how it translates to smaller ice with bigger, better and faster players. This has a Mikael Grandlund feel.

Edited March 2 by MacGyver

[Citizen Strife]

Granlund got to 70 pts once, so if that's Khustnutdinov's ceiling, that's still pretty dang good.  The bar is quite low.  Hartman at 33 points, Johansson at 27 points (somehow), and Gaudreau at 11 points (EWW).  Even 45-50 from Khustnutdinov as a 3rd liner would go a long way to getting depth scoring.

[Fezig]

He looks promising for sure. I've been waiving the white flag for a month, now. While I always enjoy a nice win, this team doesn't have the talent to make it past the first round of the playoffs. They are 0-3 against a fringe team in Nashville! How will they do anything when it matters? Taking a chance in the lottery is the only thing that can truly improve this team. The possibility of Celebrini in a couple of years paired with the end of the Suter/Parise cap hit could change things around in a big way.

[mnfaninnc]

One thing this team lacks is speed. If we've got a speedy player in Dino, who's great on his edges, this should add something we don't have. He is tenacious which should put a different kind of pressure on defenders, maybe even something they're not used to. 

I do wonder what kind of a shot this kid has. Can he get rid of it in a hurry, is it a laser, is it more like Granny's shot? I think he'll add to our PP2 unit, and hopefully open up some opportunities for other players. 

I'm hoping he'll show up around 185, and he probably needs to climb to 195-200 lbs. People chuckle over these estimates, but you've got to have that strength in this league and on the smaller ice surface. If you have the strength/weight to compete, and turn larger Ds legs into pretzels with edge work, the smaller player can be a nightmare to play against. 

Facts are, all of our smaller players need to work harder on strength/weight and edge work this offseason. Maybe we don't have the biggest squad, but we can counter that with speed, specifically in the east-west direction. And we need a plan to get to the middle of the ice. 

If you contrast these past 2 seasons with the 1 before when we had Fiala, there is a huge difference in the style. These past 2 seasons we've been a perimeter team, but the season before, we challenged the middle pretty regularly. We need to get back to that style as a team and with guys like Zuccarello, Johansson, Gaudreau, Lettieri, Lucchini, I simply don't see it. Even our bigger guys tend to go down the boards. 

I can tell what doesn't work, a combination of stick check flybys and perimeter play where you don't win races to the puck or physical battles. The battle cry of play harder just doesn't get it done. We need a better strategy, and need to force the middle. Will 1 guy change that? maybe not, but we've also got Firstov and Yurov who could help later. Firstov could be available in a couple of weeks unless they knock off SKA.

[Pewterschmidt]

16 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

He is tenacious which should put a different kind of pressure on defenders,

On what are you basing this?

i hope you’re right because he’ll need this quality to stay in top six, because he’s not built for bottom six.  If k-nut arrives and demonstrates he’s got some dog in him he’ll win me over regardless of his initial production.  If he arrives and looks like ‘22/23 Rossi my response will be: ok, who’s next

[mnfaninnc]

3 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

On what are you basing this?

i hope you’re right because he’ll need this quality to stay in top six, because he’s not built for bottom six.  If k-nut arrives and demonstrates he’s got some dog in him he’ll win me over regardless of his initial production.  If he arrives and looks like ‘22/23 Rossi my response will be: ok, who’s next

A previous article on here described him as tenacious. He is an expert at stealing pucks coming back. He's not a big body checker but puts a lot of pressure on other players by coming up on them pretty fast and stripping them. 

To more appropriately answer your question, yes, I do believe he's got some junk yard dog in him.

Edited March 2 by mnfaninnc

[Pewterschmidt]

21 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

stick check flybys

My minds eye instantly saw nojo, one hand on his stick, half the shaft covered in tape, with that koho knock off helmet and his oversized breezers.  My nojo hate might be affecting other parts of my life.  

[mnfaninnc]

Just now, Pewterschmidt said:

My minds eye instantly saw nojo, one hand on his stick, half the shaft covered in tape, with that koho knock off helmet and his oversized breezers.  My nojo hate might be affecting other parts of my life.  

Doesn't he seem like the kind of guy who would wear the old Jofa helmets? For a guy over 200 lbs. he sure gets knocked around easily, and you tap him and he's on the ice.

[Pewterschmidt]

1 minute ago, mnfaninnc said:

do believe he's got some junk yard dog in him

If he’s an effective forechecker, I’m a fan from day 1

[mnfaninnc]

Just now, Pewterschmidt said:

If he’s an effective forechecker, I’m a fan from day 1

It'll be in a different way. Don't expect punishment in the corners, expect stripping from behind and then headed in the other direction. Think sneaky!

[Pewterschmidt]

3 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

Jofa

Yes, Jofa not Koho.  lol'ing.  Finally nojo brought some good into my life 

[Pewterschmidt]

3 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

stripping from behind and then headed in the other direction. Think sneaky!

That's what she said

[MacGyver]

6 hours ago, Citizen Strife said:

Granlund got to 70 pts once, so if that's Khustnutdinov's ceiling, that's still pretty dang good.  The bar is quite low.  Hartman at 33 points, Johansson at 27 points (somehow), and Gaudreau at 11 points (EWW).  Even 45-50 from Khustnutdinov as a 3rd liner would go a long way to getting depth scoring.

 Yes the bar is quite low and to be better than what we have would be a welcome improvement. But I wouldn't expect it right away. Seems his strength is speed but that gets nullified by a smaller rink with bigger players who are nearly as fast in a lot of cases. The cultural challenges of moving to a new country can be a daunting adjustment. 

One thing this franchise has taught me after following them for 40 plus years is to curb my enthusiasm despite media hype.

[Patrick]

On 3/2/2024 at 6:04 AM, MacGyver said:

So 49 games 6 goals 14 assists for 20 points, 43 penalty minutes and a -12 on KHL ice this year. The closest he's ever been to a point per game player is 38 points in 63 games.  For a center I'm not sure I feel the hype. We will see how it translates to smaller ice with bigger, better and faster players. This has a Mikael Grandlund feel.

He did that as a 19 year old playing against men. Granlund is also a pretty good hockey player. Every prospect isn't going to be McDavid.😂

[MacGyver]

4 hours ago, Patrick said:

He did that as a 19 year old playing against men. Granlund is also a pretty good hockey player. Every prospect isn't going to be McDavid.😂

Oh I'm well aware of that but many of them are hyped like they are going to be by both the media and many fans. I've seen many saviors of this franchise come and go without much saving taking place. 

[Pewterschmidt]

31 minutes ago, MacGyver said:

Oh I'm well aware of that but many of them are hyped like they are going to be by both the media and many fans. I've seen many saviors of this franchise come and go without much saving taking place. 

it was only 6 months ago when Beckman and Walker were going to get us past the 1st round of the playoffs.  Hope springs eternal.  Hope is great, but results in the NHL (or AHL if your <21) are what count.  Not the Swedish no-check beer spritzer league.  KHL is better yes, but 36 year old cup of coffee vodka in his water bottle Russian isn't much better than the Euro rink rat all-stars.  The Euro leagues are going to be clamoring for NoJo-fa once he's finally run out of the NHL

Edited March 4 by Pewterschmidt

[Pewterschmidt]

Zuccy out last night due to personal matter.  Might Zuccy be on the trading block???

[Up North Guy]

31 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Zuccy out last night due to personal matter.  Might Zuccy be on the trading block???

Nope. Russo says it was a personal matter and has been taken care of.

[Justin Hein]

On 3/1/2024 at 7:11 PM, Dean said:

Patty Kane said some interesting stuff about Conner bedard . Kane was saying his teammates used to chirp him for having a silver spoon because he was 1st overall. His reponse. I just worked harder than you. That it’s not all god  given skill but work also. He said he respected how hard Conner has worked to get where he is and that his work ethic is special. Like a Crosby , mcdavid , McKinnon etc . They just have an unrelentingly work ethic to be the best.  The wild don’t have anyone close to that and it shows . They don’t seem to care about anything. Ek and Faber always bring it but that’s it . The wild need a superstar with that special work ethic to drive this team. I love kappy but he doesn’t have it . There are no leaders on this team that care about winning and losing . 
      I hope Marat does well. I hope he’s got drive in him and doesn’t let this country club get to him. . 

Wild fans hate the Minnesota Wild

[Justin Hein]

On 3/2/2024 at 9:53 AM, mnfaninnc said:

One thing this team lacks is speed. If we've got a speedy player in Dino, who's great on his edges, this should add something we don't have. He is tenacious which should put a different kind of pressure on defenders, maybe even something they're not used to. 

I do wonder what kind of a shot this kid has. Can he get rid of it in a hurry, is it a laser, is it more like Granny's shot? I think he'll add to our PP2 unit, and hopefully open up some opportunities for other players. 

I'm hoping he'll show up around 185, and he probably needs to climb to 195-200 lbs. People chuckle over these estimates, but you've got to have that strength in this league and on the smaller ice surface. If you have the strength/weight to compete, and turn larger Ds legs into pretzels with edge work, the smaller player can be a nightmare to play against. 

Facts are, all of our smaller players need to work harder on strength/weight and edge work this offseason. Maybe we don't have the biggest squad, but we can counter that with speed, specifically in the east-west direction. And we need a plan to get to the middle of the ice. 

If you contrast these past 2 seasons with the 1 before when we had Fiala, there is a huge difference in the style. These past 2 seasons we've been a perimeter team, but the season before, we challenged the middle pretty regularly. We need to get back to that style as a team and with guys like Zuccarello, Johansson, Gaudreau, Lettieri, Lucchini, I simply don't see it. Even our bigger guys tend to go down the boards. 

I can tell what doesn't work, a combination of stick check flybys and perimeter play where you don't win races to the puck or physical battles. The battle cry of play harder just doesn't get it done. We need a better strategy, and need to force the middle. Will 1 guy change that? maybe not, but we've also got Firstov and Yurov who could help later. Firstov could be available in a couple of weeks unless they knock off SKA.

From the tape I saw as well as Scott Wheeler's prospect profile, he's more of a playmaker and less of a shooter. But, he gets to the net so he still scores. 

[FredJohnson]

Any Nutdi news?