Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports
The KHL rights of Boston Bruins prospect Alexander Khokhlachev have been traded from Omsk Avangard to SKA St. Petersburg for defenseman Yuri Alexandrov. While this news may alarm some fans of the Bruins, it shouldn’t be anything to worry about. It isn’t an uncommon practice for international teams to hold the rights for NHL players, and as a result, this trade is simply to re-stock the prospect pool for SKA St. Petersburg in a sense. It’s probable that the KHL franchise is aware of the depth that Khokhlachev will need to compete with to even break the lineup in Boston, and this could potentially be a way for them to try and persuade him to sign with them after his contract expires with the Bruins after this season.
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Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
Khokhlachev is the Boston Bruins top offensive prospect, and while his ceiling is high, it will be hard for him to earn a starting job in Boston at center with the depth chart containing name such as Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, Ryan Spooner, Chris Kelly, Maxime Talbot, and others. Khokhlachev posted 43 points in 61 games last season in Providence, and only had 3 games with the big club in which is didn’t score a point.
The Bruins will need to make a decision on whether or not Khokhlachev is in their long-term plans at centre, or potentially as a winger. If they don’t see him breaking the lineup within the next season, it is likely they will have to trade him or watch him sign elsewhere as he will probably be tired of having to play in the AHL. The Bruins are deep at center as previously mentioned, but the loss of such a top prospect will be a painful pill to swallow, and will not earn General Manager Don Sweeney any fans if he loses Khokhlachev for nothing.