Bolts sign Artem Sergeev

[jason_haas]

@TBLightning

The Lightning have signed defenseman Artem Sergeev out of Val-d'Or of the QMJHL. @artemsergeev

[thefly]

hm never heard of that kid. looked for him in my older draft reports. wasn't listed either

[bassassin]

Attended Red-Wings prospect camp last year as a tryout, maybe where SFY saw him first?

Artem Sergeev, defense, try-out: Sarah Lindenau couldn’t find much on him, I can’t find much about the Val-d’Or Foreurs defenseman who’s six feet tall and definitely a solid 205 pounds and posted 22 assists over 64 games, his first in North America, but he’s a puzzling player. He’s got that Russian “slickness” in terms of his polished skating, his hard shot, superb passing skills and strong positioning, and he is strong, but sometimes you think, “Ah, there’s a classically skilled Russian defenseman” and sometimes he disappears. His English wasn’t fantastic, either, so I’m hoping his French was.

There’s skill and strength and a riddle wrapped in an enigma there.

Link

Artem Sergeev: A wild card in more ways than one because he’s so slick and so Russian at times and so very ordinary at others. His skills are clearly there and he’s mobile, very well-built and he’s smart but after a year playing with the Val-d’Or Foreurs, Igor Larionov’s client needs to learn more English and French, feel a little more comfortable doing his own thing and hopefully showing some grit during the prospect tournament.

http://www.kuklaskorner.com/index.ph...prospect_camp/

[aapbolt]

Maybe this is for Syracuse? Opportunity to learn to get better and help us out down the road.

[thefly]

erik just tweeted this:

Sergeev is another member of the 2012 Russian Jr. National team TB seems to be collecting - Vasilevskiy, Nesterov, Kucherov, Gusev others

[timothy]

Originally Posted by aapbolt

Maybe this is for Syracuse? Opportunity to learn to get better and help us out down the road.

Not until next year. He's just 19 and signed out of a CHL team, so he can't play in AHL until the season in which he turns 20 before December 31. His birthday in February. So, he's back QMJHL next season and then probably Syracuse for the 2013-14 season.

[timothy]

Originally Posted by thefly

erik just tweeted this:

Sergeev is another member of the 2012 Russian Jr. National team TB seems to be collecting - Vasilevskiy, Nesterov, Kucherov, Gusev others

Oh yeah... there's definitely Yzerman has a chance to ice 5 Russians on the same shift like his Red Wings did at one time:

Gusev - Namestnikov - Kucherov
Nesterov - Sergeev
Valisevsky

[pete]

Sergeev was one of the Rookie Camp invitees. For some reason I have it stuck in my head he was Nesterov's pairing partner at the U20's, but I'm not quite sure if that was the case.

Gusev will not be eligible for this year's Russian team for the U20's. Too old. Turns 20 in a week.

[jason_haas]

So he is right handed, correct? EliteProspects and HockeyDB both have him as a lefty but his Twitter pic says otherwise.

[pete]

Eliteprospects has him as a righty.

http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=79616

More importantly, so does YouTube:

+ YouTube Video

He was Arzamastsev's pairing partner at the U20's, apparently. Arzamastsev being the best guy on that d-corps, but the one we haven't acquired yet, for some reason. I think he goes UFA if he goes undrafted again next year.

http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=43977

Bonus Sergeev:

+ YouTube Video