Is Vorobiev On His Way?
July 2nd, 2008 by SteveCliff Fletcher had this to say recently in an interview with Howard Berger:
“We’ll be signing a defenseman from Europe that hasn’t yet played in the NHL, and I’m still looking to hit a home run,”
While I’m sure most Leafs fans are curious as to whether the “home run” is Mats Sundin, or another player as the Leafs #1 Centre, I’m currently more intrigued by his comment regarding the defenseman from Europe that has yet to play in the NHL.
That description would certainly describe Dmitri Vorobiev, who the Leafs drafted with the 157th pick in the 4th round of the 2004 NHL entry draft. He has played an increasingly impressive role on Lada Togliatti in the RSL over the past few seasons. He finished 1st in the RSL for Goals by a defender and 2nd in the league for Defense Scoring with 16 goals, and 12 assists for 28 points. He also registered 74 penalty minutes in 55 games.
He is of average size at 6′ and 187 lbs. He is consistently noted in Russian scouting reports for his sometimes ugly, but effective, play in his own zone. He doesn’t always make the right pass consistently, but his offensive upside, and potential to improve make him a highly valued prospect. On Russian Prospects, he is given an 82 rating, which puts him on a par with Alexei Ponikarovsky, Alex Khavanov, Mikhail Grabovsky, Maxim Grachev, and Alexander Perezhogin. They consider him to be one of the top 20 D men produced by Russia in the past 10-15 years. That’s actually pretty solid company when you think about it.
Hopefully he crosses the pond this season, and the Leafs will be able to throw one more dart in the fart balloon that is the Leafs career of Bryan McCabe. I hope I don’t sound too bitter…
Posted in Prospects
4 Responses to “Is Vorobiev On His Way?”
By eyebleaf on Jul 2, 2008
you don’t sound bitter at all…
By LeaferSutherland on Jul 3, 2008
It appears that he was actually talking about Jonas Frogren…. which I think means “Finger” in Swedish.
By bkblades on Jul 3, 2008
^^
To further LeaferSutherland’s point, the Globe & Mail penned a link about the Leafs interest on Jonas “Frogger” Frogren.
http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080702.wleafs03/GSStory/GlobeSportsHockey/home
I really hope Vorobiev comes over to, but considering he is Leafs property, there would be no reason for Fletcher not to specifically identify his name. And if I’m not mistaken, Vorobiev just signed a new contract with a team in the new KHL. That complicates things, I believe.
By Steve on Jul 3, 2008
Thanks for the linkage… guess Vorobiev is NOT on his way… *sigh*