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Wings Nation First Round Targets: Klim Kostin

Photo credit: hockeyprospect.com

By Nick Seguin

Jun 7, 2017, 08:30 EDTUpdated: Jun 5, 2017, 20:52 EDT

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From Penza, Russia, Klim Kostin is a big winger who is an excellent skater and top notch shot. At only 18 years old, he is 6’3” and 196 lbs. He can easily push his way past defensemen, either cutting to the net or going to the outside. He’s seen himself fall in the rankings as he suffered a season-ending injury in January, but Kostin is one of the top wingers available at this year’s NHL Entry Draft.

NHL CS RANKINGS

Projected to go 1st among European Skaters.

THE STATS

(Stats courtesy of EliteProspects)

Kostin has excelled at all levels of Russian hockey. In 2016, he was the first overall selection at the CHL Import Draft, but he opted to stay home in Russia for a chance to play in the KHL. Dynamo had his rights and he made eight regular season appearances for them, recording no points and 27 penalty minutes. Kostin ran into some bad luck this year as he had a season-ending shoulder injury in January. At this point he had only played nine games for Dynamo’s VHL team and scored one goal.

At the international level, Kostin has captained three Russian teams over the last two years. At this year’s Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament, Kostin put up seven points in five games and led the Russians to a bronze medal.

THE EYE TEST

Goran Stubb, NHL Director of European Scouting, had this to say about Kostin on NHL.com:

“KOSTIN IS A BIG, STRONG, MOBILE POWER FORWARD WHO PLAYS A PHYSICAL GAME. HE IS A STRONG SKATER WITH GOOD SPEED, VERY GOOD HOCKEY SENSE AND IS AN EXCELLENT COMPETITOR.”

DOES HE FIT IN WITH THE RED WINGS?

I don’t like this pick for the Red Wings for a few reasons. First, he’s not the best backchecker and can get lazy on the ice. This is a problem because of how weak Detroit’s defensive core is. Every player needs to get back to help keep pucks out of the net. Second, while Kostin has top-6 potential, he’s got a lot of players to outperform in order to get there and, with the current state of Red Wing contracts, this doesn’t feel likely. Finally, Kostin is neither a top-line centre nor a right-handed defenseman, Detroit’s two biggest needs. If he falls to nine, I’d consider a trade if another team really wants him or pass on him altogether.