I guess it’s Egor now not Yegor. Fascinating. Despite the title I don’t want to relive the trauma of this selection. We’re going to focus on the player, the signing, and leave the bad decisions in the past. None of that is on Korshkov.

His deal is a two year entry level deal starting next season @ $925k/yr and he has a pro tryout with the Marlies for the remainder of their playoff run.

Well, he’s a 22 year old (soon to be 23) 6’4winger with five seasons of KHL experience. His best season had him with 26 points in 52 games and he hasn’t cracked the double digits on goals at any point of his KHL career. He’s been a frequent selection for Russia in International competition, and even had some Olympic consideration. At 187 lbs, he’s a bit of a bean pole, so count of reach and positional play, not outright physicality. Also hope that weight is outdated and that he’s up a bit otherwise he’ll spend his first year in North America looked in the Marlies gym.

The Leafs have signed one of their recent high draft picks and brought him to North America. That is exactly what you want him to do. He should have some adjustment period, but the fact that he’s in North America now and will get a chance to meet some of his teammates, coaches, and build a conditioning plan for the summer is only a good thing. The fact that the Leafs have guys like Zaitsev, Ozhiganov, and even Timashov and Der-Arguchintsev around the organization to help him adjust to the North American life is a plus for a young kid living out of country for the first time, and the Leafs might be one of the better positioned organizations for bringing over Russian players at the moment. They even have Nikita Soshnikov working out with the Marlies right now, so who better to train Sosh 2.0.

Korshkov has also signed a PTO deal with the Marlies that gets him into games and practices right now which an added bonus, and makes people like me who normally couldn’t care less about a Marlies playoff run realize there may be some benefit to one at the moment. Korshkov may not play, but he’s going to get to practice with players who are still playing for something, and he won’t be coming in on day one completely unfamiliar with the Leafs/Marlies style of hockey.

At the start of next season Egor Korshkov will be a 23 year old, 5 year pro, it’s not unrealistic to give him some consideration as a potential Leaf, if he can earn it in camp. His $925k entry level cap hit would be a significant add for the cap space strapped Leafs that could use a competent bottom six winger, or even more ideally, a winger who can provide the same complimentary puck retrieval and possession of a Zach Hyman within the top six, but that’s not a day one thing.

At this point most of us don’t know enough about Korshkov to know exactly where he’ll fit in, but I wouldn’t doubt that he’ll get a good look. The fact that he can kill penalties probably helps his case.