Boston Bruins prospect Alexander Khoklachev. Mandatory credit: www.russianprospect.com.
Boston Bruins prospect, Alexander Khoklachev could find himself playing for the Providence Bruins in the very near future.
The 19-year old Russian center is traveling around the world and playing some pretty good hockey in the process while gaining plenty of experience.
During the lockout he played in the Kontinental Hockey League for the Moscow Spartak and tallied just 7 points in 26 games. Not overly impressive but he’s just 19 and that was his first real taste of professional hockey.
Once the lockout ended, the kid they call “Koko” returned to his Ontario Hockey League team, the Windsor Spitfires and did what he does in the OHL, he dominated. Khoklachev played in just 29 regular season games for the Spitfires but was still able to total 48 points while registering 22 goals and 26 assists.
Now that Khoklachev’s Spitfires have been eliminated from the OHL playoffs, he is now eligible to play in the AHL for the Providence Bruins and according to Kirk Luedeke, who is the Bruins and NHL prospects writer for both the New England and New York Hockey Journals, Koko could be in Providence very soon.
Tough finish for Koko & Windsor Spitfires- blanked 4-0 by Plymouth. Cody Payne scored and ends year with 24 goals.
— Kirk Luedeke (@kluedeke29) March 18, 2013
Alexander Khokhlachev expected to be in Providence practice this week and if all goes well, will make AHL debut next weekend
— Kirk Luedeke (@kluedeke29) March 18, 2013
With Chris Kelly out indefinitely with a broken left-tibia and David Krejci going down with an apparent leg injury on Sunday, the Boston Bruins are suddenly running out of reliable centermen.
Adding a kid like Khoklachev to the organization certainly helps to replenish a thinning center position and possibly gives the Bruins another option down the road.
Khoklachev could also end up as a trade chip for the Bruins as well, however thats not very likely in my opinion.