So far, so good for Vitali Kravtsov’s development

What a difference a year makes. Last year, Vitali Kravtsov was rightfully frustrated, as he was sent to the AHL while inferior forwards (and defensemen) were slotted in at wing. This year, after a full season in the KHL and a pandemic, Kravtsov is looking like he belongs. It’s a little amazing how that works, getting one more year of development for a 21 year old Vitali Kravtsov.

Visually, Kravtsov is all over the ice and all over the puck. He’s in on defense, making the right reads and plays. He created the turnover that led to his first goal disallowed goal of his career. In the plays above, he forced the turnover and then quickly moved the puck to start the rush. He was also the third man in, which created the chance for him in open ice. Too bad Lindy Ruff challenged it.

What is amazing to me is his confidence with the puck. In the above, he starts the rush from his own goal line and gets the controlled zone entry. He was then a hound on the puck, helping force the turnover and creating more offensive zone time.

His first point was a little flukey, but it had the right idea. He got the puck along the boards and immediately knew Mika Zibanejad was in the slot. The pass was a little errant, but it created a fortuitous bounce for Brendan Smith.

We remember that diving play in his first game, where he almost scored the game winner?

All of this is to say that Kravtsov is visibly noticeable in a good way on the ice. What’s even better is the numbers support his strong perceived play as well. It’s only been 7 games, but he’s sporting a 52.86% CF% and a 48.25 xGF%. His xGF% is dragged down by one rough game against the Penguins where he had an 11.01% xGF%. That was actually the game the Rangers won 8-4, but were mostly outplayed. All but one other game were above 50%.

Managing Expectations

He does all this while bouncing around the lineup as well. When discussing what to expect from Kravtsov, we are getting a bit of the worst case scenario too. He’s getting primarily fourth line time with Brett Howden and Kevin Rooney, but he’s been fine. He’s also swapping with Colin Blackwell here and there. But for the most part, he’s getting fourth line time.

I had mentioned I’d be reasonably surprised if Kravtsov is gets 10 points this season. He’s got one assist through seven games. With 15 games left and Kravtsov spending getting about 10 minutes of TOI per game, that seems like a stretch. He’s still in line for 5-10 points, especially if he starts getting some bounces.

It hasn’t been smooth sailing for him, but if he continues on this development path, Vitali Kravtsov will be a solid contributor for the Rangers. He is certainly not coming out of the lineup any time soon.