Timofei Tankeev

Timofei Tankeev - Erie Otters
6'2 185 lbs

The story goes something like this: When the Otters turn came up with the 29th pick in the Import Draft, Otters GM Sherry Bassin had 5 players on his list, and all 5 were available. But he had some friends and contacts, who happened to be NHL scouts, and they told him to pick Tankeev. And so he did.

Bassin heard about a highly skilled player with solid skating and puck-handling skills. Tankeev, 17, had 26 goals and 72 points in 45 games for the St. Louis Jr. Blues in the Central States Hockey League.

Tankeev led the Jr. Blues to the 2010 USA Hockey Tier III Junior A national championship in Boston against teams with 19-year-old and 20-year-old players in his first season in the United States.

He was selected in the third round of the Kontinental Hockey League Junior Draft earlier this summer but instead of signing, chose the OHL route. Like fellow Russians Alex Khokhlachev and Vladislav Namestnikov , he has no contractual obligations back in the motherland.

In recent years, the "Russian Factor" has led NHL teams to not use top picks to select Russians who have obligations back home. Could this next generation of Russian stars be sidestepping that notion by commiting to North American hockey and not signing in Russia? Certainly with these 3 Russians we have 3 stars who are going in with an "all or nothing" attitude to making the NHL.

Brady Austin

Brady Austin, Erie Otters

Austin is big, and he’s powerful. He stands 6’4” and weighs in at 225 pounds.

In 64 games for the Otters he recorded 5 goals and added 10 assists and was an impressive plus 5 on the Otters defence. His 24 penalty minutes may be an indication that he doesn’t use that size to his advantage, and 10 of those minutes were fighting majors. In the couple of games I’ve seen him play, he tried to use his stick as opposed to playing the man. He will need to learn to use his size to his advantage. He has all the tools to be a force physically on D.

His skating is just what you’d expect from a big defenseman. He’s not fast, and looks a little awkward at times. Will need to work on that as well has his physical play.

But Austin doesn’t come without potential. He is definitely a project with potential. He was picked 30th, in the second round, and that was probably due to teams not wanting to take a chance on him in the first round because of a lack of commitment from him that he would play in the OHL in 2009-10.

I don’t get to see a lot of the Otters, but I question whether Erie is the best place for his development. But his size is the thing that puts him on my watch list for 2010-11. If he improves on the things he needs to, he could be a force for the Otters.