The Toronto Maple Leafs are trying to secure themselves an Ilya Mikheyev 2.0.
Alexander Barabanov is a skilled, undrafted winger out of the Kontinental Hockey League who had contributed three points for contender SKA St. Petersburg’s playoff run before the KHL’s post-season and his contractual obligations to the Russian league came to a screeching halt just four games into the playoffs.
As a free agent with multiple pursuers on this side of the pond (John Chayka’s Arizona Coyotes are reportedly interested as well), Barabanov is open to leaving his hometown of St. Petersburg and joining the NHL in 2020-21.
He has become a target of Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas, and the executive is rapidly gaining a reputation for luring inexpensive, overlooked UFAs out of Europe.
“Alex is a player that we’ve scouted and watched. He, along with many others over there, we’re certainly interested in,” Dubas confirmed over a phone conference Tuesday.
“We’ll continue to pursue him as best we can.”
The 25-year-old Barabanov has been slipping through defenders the way he slipped right through the 2012 draft. He is a serial winner who has hoisted two Gagarin Cups with SKA (2015, 2017), captured 2018 Winter Games gold with the Olympic Athletes of Russia, and has three bronze medals with the Russian national team (2014 world juniors, 2017 and 2019 world championships).
Barabanov scored 27 goals and put up 66 points over his past two seasons with SKA (101 games played) and projects to a third-line NHLer.
He also fits the Dubas mold in that he’s not exactly the largest body on the ice (five-foot-10, 191 pounds) but makes up for his slight build in oversized skill and determination. His highlights are GIF-worthy.
“He’s a very strong winger. Tremendous play-making ability, skill level in tight. But one of the other things that we like most about him is his ability to make plays under pressure and his ability to win pucks, protect pucks when people come after him, and [he] uses his strength to be able to do that,” Dubas said. “So, he’s a play-making winger that also has the ability to finish at the net.”
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The Maple Leafs’ star-heavy salary-cap structure is such that they depend on filling in their depth positions with emerging players on entry-level contracts or free-agent gems like 2019-20 Russian rookie Mikheyev, who turned heads and earned his teammates’ respect with 23-point showing in 39 games.
Mikheyev shares an agent with Barabanov, Gold Star’s Dan Milstein, with whom the Leafs brass have a sturdy relationship. And Dubas’s personal interest in Mikheyev’s well-being in the wake of December’s horrific wrist injury could go a long way to making Toronto a desirable destination for European imports. [ https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/leafs-dubas-goes-beyond-support-mikheyev-scary-injury/ ]
Toronto’s senior director of player evaluations, Jim Paliafito, takes the lead in recruiting European pros and college players. Dubas is quick to shift all the credit to Paliafito, who has also secured the services of free agents Nikita Zaitsev, Calle Rosen, Igor Ozhiganov and Par Lindholm in recent years. All but Ozhiganov are still on NHL rosters.
“He’s got a great read early on, on who the players are that we’re probably going to look after. He does a great job communicating back to the organization and to our player personnel department, and have a look at the players, whether it’s live or break down their video, and then he’s able to begin having conversations with them and their agents during the year to kind of get a handle on it,” Dubas explained from home quarantine.
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The sudden cancellation of the KHL season and scouting trips over the Atlantic, Dubas figures, has not hindered the club’s ability to evaluate foreign talent.
“We’ve had to change some of the recruiting side of it and move into a virtual format or FaceTime or Zoom meeting or what have you. But because of the job that Jim does, we’ve already gotten relationships there. So, it’s not trying to meet somebody over the phone or meet somebody over a virtual setting; you’ve already got a bit of a relationship there,” Dubas said.
“There are players that we’re interested in and we’re competing with many other teams to try to gain recruitment. And our hope is that the ability of the players that have come over from Europe since Jim been with us to quickly transition to pro hockey in North America will be a big help for us.”
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
