Boston Bruins: Is It Time To Move Alexander Khokhlachev?
Forward Alex Khokhlachev wasn’t on the ice this morning at the TD Garden. This has led to speculation that Khokhlachev has been cut from the Boston Bruins roster and is on his way to Providence to start another season with the AHL. (Anton Blidh, Ben Sexton, Chris Breen and Brandon DeFazio were also not on the ice this morning.) The 22-year old Russian has only played in three games with the Boston Bruins, and recently he expressed his frustration over not getting his shot in the NHL.
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“Boston should make a decision with me,” declared Khokhlachev last month. “I’ve waited for my chance already. Two years. I’m just still waiting. We’ll see. They should make a decision. Give me a chance, or I don’t know. We’ll see [what] they’ll do.”
“This is my last year of my contract. I’m 22 already. If they don’t give me the chance to play, why am I here? I will not play in Providence all my life. They told me, ‘Just wait for your chance.’ I’m still waiting for it.”
Khokhlachev is fifth in the Bruins depth roster at center. That is his biggest problem. While the Bruins have had to bring on a lot of young blood during the offseason, there still seems to be some reticence in letting the young kids take some jobs away from the veterans.
While the Bruins depth at center has been an issue, the young Russian forward didn’t make a big enough case for himself in the preseason. Khokhlachev has played in four preseason games for the Bruins. While he hasn’t been invisible, he hasn’t really been noteworthy either. He earned assists in the wins against the Red Wings and the Devils. He’s averaged around fifteen minutes per game, and saw time on the power play in all four games.
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On some level it would make sense to move a player like Chris Kelly over Khokhlachev, but that’s just not how the Bruins front office are wired at the moment. Kelly’s $4 million dollar contract becomes more and more of a millstone for the Black and Gold. Khokhlachev would make a sensible fourth line center, but the B’s just haven’t been impressed enough.
Khokhlachev doesn’t want to be a career AHL player. The Bruins have too many veteran centers. The Bruins are desperately lacking in quality defensemen (something that has been shown in the B’s last few games). It makes sense to make the most of the B’s current situation.
There are teams that would love to have a fast, bottom six forward in their roster. The Bruins could find what they’re looking for by offering the young Russian to another team. It would be easy to package him with whatever goaltender ends up being the odd man out (Jeremy Smith or Malcolm Subban at the moment) and find a respectable top four defenseman.
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