Preds Sign Radulov

Story broke late this afternoon that the Preds have signed Russian forward Alexander Radulov, who we drafted with our first pick this year.

You may or may not remember this post I wrote about the preseason game I attended, in which I said the following about Radulov:

-Alexander Radulov. Man, oh, man. I don't know how the team sent this kid down, and did it right after this game in fact. This guy is a bona fide stud. Oh. My. Gosh. He made two in-game dekes the likes of which I've only seen Sakic or Foresberg make. On one, speeding toward the zone, three defenders converged on him at the blue line. He stopped completely on a dime, paused to watch the defenders crash into each other and the wall, and then side-stepped the whole mess, firing a pass to his line mate streaking toward the net.

He also scored the only Nashville goal in the exhibition shootout. And it was a doozy. I wish you could find it online and watch it. It was basically a triple deke to the back-hand...and by the time he shot it, there wasn't any chance for poor frozen-stiff Denis, who was promptly told by section 303 that it was "all his fault."

Now, I know Radulov (drafted in 2004) is young. Way young. Too young, in fact, to even play for the Admirals. They sent him to his junior team. And I understand that he probably has some work to do on rounding out his game, improving his defense and his communication with his teammates.

But this guy is going to be Kovulchuk Junior if I'm to go on what I saw. Huge, fast, super-skilled with the puck. I cannot wait for this kid to join the Preds. Problem is, right now...he's competing for a position we're already stocked at...wing. Too bad he's not a center. But maybe he'll make it next year.

In the article I linked in the first line of this post, they list his stats this year:

-leads the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League�s Quebec Remparts and ranks third in the league with 76 points (29g-47a) in 33 games this season.

That's really all I have. The article doesn't say what this signing means. But I can tell you that signing a player from the junior leagues is a necessary step before you can bring him up to the NHL level. Now, it's more likely that they signed him so they can send him to the Admirals. And they probably did that to fill a void left by certain players they have called up this year who may not be going back (Vern Fiddler...I'm looking in your direction...same with Smithson and Upshall).

Maybe they're just accelerating his development...putting him on the Admirals to speed up his learning curve.

But...Radulov is a stud. He's lighting it up, especially in the World Junior Championships. He has a lot to learn about defense, according to Preds coaches...and about the all-around game. But on offense...well, his offensive game is just about NHL-ready.

Whether it's this season, next season, or the next...Radulov WILL be a Predator, and he will be a star. I can't wait.