Rangers exploring Alexander Radulov is a mistake

Buchnevich at 2014 camp Photo: Paul J. Bereswill

Pavel Buchnevich is signed and on his way to NY this summer to start getting acclimated to life as a Ranger. As we posted yesterday, the 21 year old Russian star in the making doesn’t speak English. This has the Rangers looking into bringing in at least one veteran Russian player who can speak both languages to help him transition.

Per Larry Brooks:

The Post has learned the Blueshirts are conducting due diligence on veteran free agent winger Alex Radulov, who is interested in returning to the NHL, but whose last term with Nashville in 2012 ended badly. Few doubt Radulov’s ability on the ice, but there is much skepticism — to put it mildly — about his ability to be an off-ice mentor. So Radulov is probably a longshot to land on Broadway.

If this is the start of a Russian Revolution for the Rangers, they need to do much better than this. Regardless of Radulov’s ability on the ice, acting as a mentor to the Blueshirts’ prized prospect could be a monumental mistake.

The issue as it seems is that Radulov is not a team player. He left the Nashville Predators high and dry for the KHL and while he is dominating there offensively, there’s been issues with authority. Former NHL great, Sergei Federov spoke to it as GM of CSKA Moscow.

[su_quote cite=”Nashville Post” url=”https://www.nashvillepost.com/home/blog/20471521/discipline-issues-cost-radulov-with-his-khl-team-too”]Former NHL great Sergei Federov, now the general manager of CSKA Moscow, announced his team captain for the 2013-14 season on Monday. It was not Radulov, who filled that role last season.”The last captain had problems with discipline,” Fedorov, said in a report from Russian website rian.ru. [/su_quote]

Is that who we want Pavel Buchnevich looking up to? Absolutely not!

I don’t care if Radulov can score and be an offensive force, he won’t fit in the Rangers locker room. For the last several years, the Rangers have fostered a great and close knit group. You can’t have a bad egg come in and disrupt that just so he can translate some of Alain Vigneault‘s instructions. Especially not a guy who has an obvious issue with authority.

Here’s an idea? If the Rangers can’t find a suitable veteran that will help not only Buchnevich and the team’s roster, an alternative could be to add a Russian speaking assistant coach to the bench.

I wonder if the Rangers could pry Sergei Zubov to take Ulf Samuelson’s spot?