After trading back once again from pick 140 with Colorado, the Devils picked Rusakovich with the 149th pick. I like the idea of sliding back a few spots to pick up some more lottery tickets (also picking up pick 222), it is something that has reaped rewards for Carolina and it seems Sunny has a similar mindset.
As is tradition, every team generally takes at least one goalie, and the Devils chose ours with their 5th round pick. He was the 13th ranked EU goalie in this year’s draft by NHL Central Scouting.
He’s a 6’4″ Belarussian who has been playing in the MHL (Russian Juniors) for Dinamo-Shinnik Bobrusyk and has also regularly represented Belarus internationally. He had a .913 sv pct and 1.94 GAA in 20 games this past season, but looks like he had a rough outing in his one playoff game, but looks like he dominated once going to the U18 league.
Goalies are always tricky to project, but there really isn’t a better place to take a flyer than a Russia and in particular Belarus. With what limited information there is on him it sounds like he has a good developmental runway with the proper path and coaching. He is currently slated to return to his MHL team in 26-27.
in his highlight package he looks to have good mobility and really good puck tracking, and excellent hair:
Also, just absolute fire music on this too. Outstanding work by Gold Star.
I do like the idea of Sunny tapping into the Russian market a little more, a lot of Russians tend to get overlooked and or passed over since they don’t have a lot of eyes on them and are not allowed in international competition.
This is the definition of a lottery ticket, which is what you are going to get with a late round non-NA goalie. What do you think guys, vote here in our poll!
