Blackhawks prospect Roman Kantserov is having a near-historic KHL season
The Chicago Blackhawks are emerging from the basement of the NHL with a solid start to the season that has them in range of the Western Conference playoff picture.
Connor Bedard, the first overall pick from the 2023 NHL Draft, has arrived as a true franchise-changing superstar with 39 points in 27 games played. Spencer Knight, with his .919 save percentage, looks like a cornerstone in net. Frank Nazar looks every bit the part of a solid running mate for Bedard, and even more help is on the way.
Roman Kantserov, the team’s second-round pick from 2023 at No. 44 overall, is producing at levels rarely seen in KHL history as a member of Metallurg Magnitogorsk, with whom he has 39 points in 34 games, including a league-leading 22 goals.
On Friday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton were joined by Daily Faceoff Associate Editor and Prospect Analyst Steven Ellis to discuss Kantserov’s rise in the KHL.
Carter Hutton: Over in the KHL right now there’s a Blackhawks prospect who’s creating a lot of hype. Tell us about Roman Kantserov.
Steven Ellis: 22 goals, 38 points in 33 games in the KHL this year. That’s how many points he had last year in 47 games, but he’s been able to do it in a lot fewer games. He’s only 21 years old. He’s very young, but you look at this. He’s on pace for 45 goals. That’s happened twice in KHL history. Josh Leivo and Sergei Mozyakin. What can you say about those two guys? Two veterans doing it in their prime, or at least you would expect them to put up a lot of points… The fact that Kantserov can be the third player to do that is absolutely wild. 21 years old, he’s only five-foot-nine, and I think that is something that scouts are looking at here and saying he might be a bit too small for the NHL, but right now he’s clearly not too small for the KHL. To my understanding also, his KHL contract is over in the spring, which means we could see him… I would love to see him lining up with Connor Bedard next season.
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…