Time to Draft a Russian?

Trivia time. Who was the last Russian to play on the Calgary Flames?

Did you guys Kristian Huselius? Maybe if his last name was Huselikov. No, it was non other than Oleg Saprykin, an integral part on the 2004 Stanley Cup run. That was 7 years ago. There hasn't been a single Russian on the Flames since.

Now, nobody cares about 2011 draft because all the prospects are supposed to suck. However, check out Nail Yakupov. Not only does he have a first name just begging to be clicheified "Tough as Nails" "Nailed him good" "I wish he'd Nail me"

Check out his scouting report :

http://www.russianprospect.com/nail-yakupov

Doesn't play D? Meh.

He finished 4th in OHL scoring with 101 points as a rookie (although he is 17). Let's put this into perspective

Yakupov: 65 GP/ 49 G/ 52 A/ 101 Pts (1st year, 17 years old)
Johnny T: 56 GP / 58 G/ 46 A / 104 pts (4th year, 18 years old)
Steve Stamkos: 61 GP/ 58 G / 47 A / 105 pts (2nd year, 17 years old)
Faylor Hall: 57 GP / 40 G / 66 A / 106 points (3rd year, 17 years old)

Since Nail's has a late birthday, he is not eligible to be drafted this year (kind of like the Johnny T situation a while back - although Johnny T had that prodigy year where he scored 65 goals and 134 points when he was 16)

As you can see, his rookie year (when he was the same age as all the other 1st overalls) was tremendous and he will definitely be going in the top of the 2012 entry draft. The only question is ... will the Flames be bad enough to get him?

-Hal