The Import Draft has taken place for the Canadian Hockey League. Players from overseas had a chance of coming over to play in the U.S. or Canada. Quite a few players are already drafted by NHL teams.
The London Knights with their 2nd over pick in the Import Draft and 53rd overall selected Ducks prospect goaltender Igor Bobkov of Russia. Bobkov was pretty impressive in the U20 World Juniors. He played six games and posted a 2.45 goals against average with a .930 save percentage. Pretty impressive numbers for a 19 year old. Anaheim will now be able to watch Bobkov at a much shorter rope distance once Bobkov is situated with the Knights. Not only is this great for Anaheim it's great for Bobkov as well, especially if he really wants to play in the NHL. Playing for the Knights will give him the North American style of hockey which is different from the Russian style, he's particularly used to playing.
The London Knights also happen to be the former team of Corey Perry which obviously means the Knights could very possibly have a very good raise of ducklings.
To give Bobkov this sort of experience as mentioned before will give him some excellent experience. Bobkov could very well be seen at Training Camp once the Ducks finally hit the ice at their official practice facility. Anaheim Ice. If we don't see Bobkov this year. There's a high possibility that he'll be in Camp before the 2011-2012 season. Most likely, he'll play with the Knights for the 2010-2011 and as the Ducks have a short rope distance to watch him. This would serve as easier access to send him out an invitation to see how he compares with the other goalies.
Anaheim has a nice pool of goaltenders and it was an odd choice not to chose a goalie over the two days of the 2010 NHL Draft. In a way, this could be good because Anaheim is taking the risk of having a small pool of goaltenders. Tons of great goalies were taken in the draft, some very good ones before or after Anaheim's selections. There has to be some sort of confidence not to snatch up a goalie at the Draft.
Once Igor plays for the Knights, Anaheim will then have five goalies playing on a North American Team, and only one playing overseas. Sebastian Stefansizin is still currently playing in Germany. The Ducks also have to be confident in specifically getting an extension down with Jean-Phillipe Levasseur The Ducks have Marco Cousineau secured, as he signed a 3 year extension which would take him to the 2013 season.
The Ducks drafted Bobkov in the 2009 entry Draft with their 3rd round, 96th overall. There's such a controversy of drafting Russians, the fear of them signing with the rival KHL steers some teams away from Russians. Russians are usually a high risk but could very possibly be a diamond in the rough. There's many great Russians in this league who have highly succeed.
With Bobkov, he did not play for a KHL team he played with Magnitogorsk Stalyne Lisy, where he played a total of fourteen games, posted a 2.71 GAA and a .893 SP. Bobkov kept his stats almost in a similar manner playing for both MSL and the WJC U20.
The Ducks have kept an eye on Bobkov while he was playing in Russia but Anaheim has to be very excited that he'll be playing for the London Knights. Where he'll most likely have a very good season with. Where he can prove himself and have his name more widely known in North America.
Bobkov is the tallest goalie out of all Anaheim's goaltenders including both Jonas Hiller and Curtis McElhinney. He stands at 6'4 and weighs just 192lbs
Good luck, Igor in your first OHL experience!
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