CANUCKSARMY’S 2018 NHL DRAFT PROFILES: #88 Vladislav Kotkov
5 years ago
For the 88th ranked prospect in the 2018 NHL Draft, we look at QMJHL import forward Vladislav Kotkov.
Although he didn’t have extremely noteworthy production this season, his draft analytics suggest that he is a very good bet for where the consolidated rankings have him slotted.
Kotkov finished second in scoring on the Sagueneens, trailing only 20-year-old forward Kevin Klima.
Although he didn’t have a huge season offensively, there wasn’t anything to detract from his overall upside and the draft analytics work in his favour.
Bio
- Age/Birthdate: 17.69/ January 8, 2000
- Birthplace: Moskva, RUS
- Frame:6-foot-4/ 203 lbs
- Position: Right Wing
- Handedness: Right
- Draft Year Team: Chicoutimi Sagueneens(QMJHL)
- Accomplishments/Awards:
- SeasonAwards by season
- 2015-2016
- YOG Bronze Medal
- 2016-2017
- MHL Champion
- U17 WHC Bronze Medal
Stats
Career
2017-18 Season
| GP | G | A | P | SEAL | INV% | 5v5 Pr INV% | 5v5 eP160 | Sh/Gp | Sh% | GF% | GF%rel | GD60rel | XLS% | XPR | xVAL |
| 61 | 21 | 28 | 49 | 0.83 | 28.5% | 19.4% | 1.44 | 2.87 | 12% | 49.2% | 4.5% | 0.43 | 26% | 27.4 | 2.2 |
Kotkov pops out in quite a few categories including XLS%, SEAL, shots and expected value. He had no major breaks in his offensive production throughout the year and even more encouraging given his GF%REL compared to his teammates.
Adjusted Scoring (SEAL)
Team Relative
Cohort Based
A success rate of 25.6% among his cohorts is an encouraging number despite a lack of noteworthy names.
As always, there is a lack of success among QMJHL players historically, so a success rate like this is definitely something meaningful.
Our Take
Kotkov is a good mix of speed, size and strength. The most noticeable of the three is his size, measuring in at 6’4″, it allows him to have long powerful strides that gives him a good top speed and ability to be strong on his skates. He isn’t the quickest to accelerate but does rely on those strides to generate speed and maintain it. He is hard to contain along the boards due to his strength and size and thus is able to dictate where he wants to go.
Usually, with players of his stature, they may be plodding with the puck but Kotkov isn’t afraid to stickhandle and is quite good at it. He uses his long arms and stick to move the puck around quite a bit while maintaining control.
The Moskva native has a heavy shot when given to time and space to lean into it and is able to move the puck well to his teammates. There are some concerns that he doesn’t process the game quickly but his read of the play is not a weakness, he just isn’t always quick to react.
He isn’t terrible in his own zone and uses his long reach to break up lanes and keep the pressure on the opponent carrying the puck. Kotkov can lose his mark though if facing a player who is particularly quick at accelerating or strong on their edges.
The things that stand out about his game from the quantitative side of the game are his involvement percentage, SEAL, pGPS, and his GF%Rel. All of those things pop for various reasons and suggest that Kotkov is a player that has the size that is worth targetting. You should never prioritize size for the sake of it, but with a player like Vladislav, if they have such good underlying numbers and have that large frame, they should be on quite a few draft lists for NHL teams.
Further Reading
| Consolidated | Average | Future Considerations | Hockey Prospect.com | ISS Hockey | McKeen’s | The Athletic | TSN Bob McKenzie | TSN Craig Button | The Hockey News | Sportsnet | ESPN | Dobber Prospects |
| 86 | 80.6 | 39 | $$ | 92 | 66 |
Kotkov is a big, powerful, offensive-minded winger…despite his immense size, he shows good mobility when carrying the puck and the ability to get up and down the ice…has powerful strides, which he uses to hit top speed quickly…hard to defend along the boards because of his size, strength, mobility and reach…uses his big frame and protects the puck nicely in the corner before going directly to the net for a chance to bury the puck…has a dangerous shot with strong velocity and impressive release…sets up in proper areas to unleash his wicked one-timer…has the ability to make plays with the puck on his stick, and shows his instincts by delivering very quick passes…makes a nice cross-ice saucer pass right on his teammates tape…intriguing talent because his diversified skills have seen him play both point and net front presence on the power play effectively…a threat to create every time he’s on the ice… plays with an active stick, loving to clog up lanes using his long reach, and good hand eye coordination…a goal-scoring winger with top-six upside at the NHL level.
