A rare purely Russian exchange in the NHL. Kostin went to McDavid, and Samorukov to Tarasenko

Dmitry YerykalovSecond chance in the NHL for former youth partners. Swapping players with less than 50 NHL games between them would hardly attract attention. If not for one significant “but”. Edmonton and St. Louis exchanged not just Russians, but Russians of the same age, who played a lot both against each other and for the same team. Dmitry Samorukov played for the CSKA school, Klim Kostin – for the capital’s Dynamo. Their paths in the Moscow Championship crossed many times. And already together the defender and the forward went to the junior and youth world championships. Both are bronze medalists at the MFM-2019, where Kostin was the captain, and Samorukov was his assistant. In general, these guys are tightly tied. Samorukov and Kostin are the same age. Both were born in 1999. So they entered the NHL draft at the same time. Dmitry was chosen in the third round, and Klim was chosen in the first. However, in the five years that have passed since the ceremony, they have not really made it to the NHL. Kostin made his debut for St. Louis in the 2019/2020 season and even managed to score an abandoned puck then, but he received a more or less permanent place at the base only last year. At the same time, Samorukov first came out at the base of the Oilers, but his “-2” made that debut not the most successful. Now the Russians will try to prove themselves in new circumstances. “He should do more. He should be more involved in the game. I don’t see enough, ”Craig Berubi said these words to Kostin right in the midst of a training camp. This is already seriously disturbing. Despite the fact that in the summer the Blues signed a one-year unilateral contract with Kostin, they did not seriously count on our striker. In exhibition matches, Klim played mainly in the fourth link and received 9-11 minutes each. So his entry into the bounce draft was not surprising. As well as the same procedure in the case of Samorukov. Except everything looked like it was nothing more than a way to send players to the farm club. Few would have thought that an exchange would follow, especially one Russian for another. Samorukov, unlike Kostin, played for Edmonton in exhibition matches a lot and, in general, not bad. About 16 minutes is a good time, but pre-season is not the same as the regular season. In a situation where all the Oilers defenders are healthy, there are no places for the first three pairs. Dmitry would have to start his third season in the AHL, which promised him stagnation instead of development. Louis has at least five experienced defenders on one-way contracts, of which three play on the left, that is, in the position of Samorukov. But a new challenge and a fresh look from the coach is a chance anyway. If only Dmitry’s injuries were bypassed. Over the past year, he has suffered from a shoulder injury and a broken jaw. Kostin’s prospects at Edmonton look brighter. At least compared to what awaited him in St. Louis. Spoiler: nothing good. By signing Klim to a minimum contract, the “musicians” implicitly hinted that they needed him on a residual basis. The set of forwards in the Berubi team is impressive, so there was basically no place for Kostin there. What can not be said about Edmonton, where there is McDavid, Draisaitl and all the rest. The team’s best edge is Evander Kane. Somewhere near Hyman. Claims for the top 6 and Finn Puljujärvi. But Kostin’s plus is that he is almost equally effective both in the upper links and in the lower ones. Both Kostin and Samorukov left Russia quite a long time ago. Dmitry went through the junior leagues of Canada at all. However, their best seasons are strongly associated with the KHL. And this also unites them. When the season did not start overseas due to covid, Avangard sheltered Kostin, and CSKA returned Samorukov on loan. As a result, the young “soldier” with “+20” entered the top five most useful players in the league, and Kostin not only went through Bob Hartley’s school, becoming a more mature player, but also won the Gagarin Cup. Does this mean that they urgently need to return to Russia? No no and one more time no. To begin with, they will have to go through the first exchange in their lives, albeit separately, but at the same time, and also simultaneously reset their careers. And the KHL will wait.