Grade: MIA
One of the few things Svitov needs, besides out of the Russian Military, is what he is not getting…ice time. He has received limited time, mostly on the fourth line, in the few games he was able to play with Avangard. Caught in a loveless triangle involving the Russian Military, the Tampa Bay Lightning and Avangard’s President, Anatoliy Bardin, Svitov is merely a pawn in the political war and is getting the short end of the deal.
Nikita
Alexeev
Team: Springfield (AHL)
Grade: C
Alexeev’s performance has been anywhere from sub-par to superb, depending on who
you talk to. Some expected much more than one assist in eight games from
the 8th overall draft pick. Others surmise not much can be expected from a
rookie playing his first professional hockey games. Alexeev came on strong
during training camp, displaying the skills he was highly touted for in juniors,
but then fizzled as soon as the season began. The combination of being
outplayed by fellow rookie Jimmie Olvestad and sitting in the press box for
almost half his time in Tampa, did not work to his favor. Alexeev has two assists in
three games since being reassigned to Springfield. If the trend continues,
he should earn a recall to Tampa Bay soon.
Mathieu
Biron
Team: Springfield (AHL)
Grade: B+
Biron has quickly prevailed in the race between he and fellow defenseman
Kristian Kudroc, showing he is the more mature and capable of the two. His solid play earned him 11 games in Tampa Bay and some
valuable schooling from veteran defenseman Grant Ledyard. Even though he
went
scoreless, Biron managed eight shots on goal and eleven hits, while
averaging nearly eleven minutes a night. The additions of Goc and
Boumedienne will hurt Biron’s chances of more time with the big club, but once
the pile-up on D is sorted out, he should see a significant amount of time with
the Lightning.
Kristian
Kudroc
Team: Springfield (AHL)
Grade: D+
Kudroc has some how managed to back himself into the Lightning’s doghouse.
While getting back in good graces with Coach Tortorella appears to be much easier than
it was with ex-coach
Steve Ludzik, Kudroc could have possibly sealed his fate. With
the additions of Goc and Boumedienne, and Mike Jones returning from injury soon,
someone is going to have to go and Kudroc’s name may be called. His numbers have been less than
impressive. He only dressed for one game with the Bolts before being sent
to Springfield. Since then he has been a minus-7 in 13 games and has
amassed 42 penalty minutes.
Dimitry
Afanasenkov
Team: Springfield (AHL)
Grade: C-
Afanasenkov came out flat to start the season, but woke up after a few
scoreless weeks and a couple nights in the stands. He went on a four game point
streak and now has seven points in 15 games, including two game winning goals. Affy needs to get himself back on track soon. After a roller-coaster ride
last season, he now has a chance to prove his worth to the organization.
Though, if he replays the hot/cold act we saw in Detroit last year, confidence
in him is going to diminish quickly.
