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| Emil Malysjev elected to leave the Blades to play closer to home. |
That makes his departure from the team tough to see. After
going unselected in the NHL Entry Draft that was held June 21 and 22 in Vancouver,
B.C., Malysjev informed the Blades he was staying in his home country of Sweden
to pursue career opportunities in the game there.
As a result, he wouldn’t be returning for an 18-year-old sophomore
campaign in the WHL.
Malysjev had informed the Blades brass for a lengthy stretch
after the team’s playoff run came to an end what his thought process was. The
club started preparing for the fact the Malysjev wouldn’t be back.
That included selecting two defencemen from the Czech
Republic in the CHL Import Draft held via conference call on Thursday in 19-year-old Libor Zabransky and Radek
Kucerik, who will turn 18-years-old in December.
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| Emil Malysjev was solid in his own zone. |
In Malysjev’s case, the Blades did what was best for the
player. He felt more comfortable staying home, and the team showed
understanding and let him do what he thought was best for him.
The majority of the players in the WHL are teenagers, and
when all is said and done, about 90 per cent of them won’t skate in an NHL
regular season game as a player.
All players coming into the WHL will wrestle with the fact
that one day they will no longer be active players in the game at a competitive
level including the ones that go on to have NHL careers.
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| Emil Malysjev improved steadily throughout the 2018-19 season. |
For imports like Malysjev, you have to add in the fact he
left his home country and family and friends behind to cross an ocean to play
hockey in a new country and a new city. Import players have to work through
learning and adjusting to a new culture and often a new language on top of
figuring out what their new team expects from them.
Malysjev was taking on all of that as a 17-year-old, but he
did have an advantage in the fact he could speak English fluently.
The blue-liner, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 190 pounds,
was succeeding on all fronts.
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| Emil Malysjev could potentially make noise on the international stage. |
Malysjev skated in all 10 of the Blades post-season games
scoring a goal and posting an even-rating.
He was rated 192nd among North American skaters
in the final NHL Central Scouting rankings.
With Davidson and fellow overage defenceman Brandon
Schuldhaus exhausting their major junior eligibility at the conclusion of the
Blades run in the WHL playoffs, Malysjev was initially pegged at being a key
returnee for the team.
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| Emil Malysjev was solid in his one full season with the Blades. |
With the improvement Malysjev showed last season, one had to
wonder how much he would have improved had played with the Blades as an
18-year-old or even as a 19-year-old.
Still, Malysjev might still find his way to the NHL or even
a lengthy professional career playing in Sweden or somewhere in Europe. Some of
the Blades might cross paths with Malysjev on the international stage.
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him possibly skating with
Sweden’s world junior team some day.
Malysjev is doing what his best for him. As a teenager, he is
still growing on many levels, and now he will continue that growth near the
support system of his family and friends.
The Blades helped him take a big leap forward in the game
during his season in Saskatoon. Now, they are helping him by letting him go
home, which is what he had his heart set on doing.
Raiders’ Kelly receives sweet Senators award
again
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| Parker Kelly was a repeat award winner at Senators development camp. |
On Friday,
the Prince Albert Raiders power forward was presented the Jonathan Pitre
Memorial Trophy as the hardest working player at the Senators development camp
for a second straight year.
The
Camrose, Alta., product was a co-winner of the inaugural edition of the award
last year with Brady Tkachuk.
The award
is named after Jonathan Pitre, who was also known as the “Butterfly Boy.” Pitre
passed away in April of 2018 from recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa,
which is a rare genetic mutation that causes the skin to blister and fall off
at the slightest touch.
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| Parker Kelly (#27) played a key part helping the Raiders win the WHL title. |
Last
season, Kelly had a big campaign for the Raiders setting career highs in goals
(35), assists (32) and points (67) in 64 regular season games. He posted a
plus-42 rating in the plus-minus department, which was also a career high.
Kelly
helped the Raiders win the WHL championship posting eight goals, nine assists
and a plus-19 rating appearing in all of the team’s 23 games in the WHL
playoffs.
 |
| Parker Kelly lifts the Ed Chynoweth Cup. |
If you have any
comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them
to stankssports@gmail.com.
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