Kirill Gotovets

History

2007-08: Kirill Gotovets played for Yunior Minsk in Belarus. He scored 2 goals with 8 assists and 54 PIM in 45 games. Gotovets played for Belarus in the WJC U-18 tournament and had four assists and 6 PIM in five games. Gotovets was selected in the first round (39th overall) by Brandon of the WHL in the 2008 CHL Import draft.

2008-09: Gotovets crossed the pond to play at Shattuck St. Mary's in Minnesota. He scored 7 goals with 25 assists and had 70 PIM in 54 games. In four games at the WJC U-18 Division 1 A tournament in his native Belarus, he had 1 assist and 1 goal in four games as Belarus won the six-team tournament to gain entry into the top division. He committed to play college hockey at Cornell University in 2010-11. Gotovets was chosen by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the seventh round, 183rd overall, of the 2009 NHL Draft.

2009-10: Gotovets returned to Shattuck St. Mary's for his second season. He scored 8 goals with 19 assists and had 73 PIM in 44 games for Shattuck St. Mary's. He played in two games for Belarus at the WJC U-20 Division 1 B tournament and had 4 PIM and played for Belarus' national team at the World Championships in Germany. He was scoreless in three games at the World Championships and was -2 with 2 PIM. Gotovets was selected in the first round (18th overall) by Dynamo Minsk in the KHL Junior Draft.

2010-11: Gotovets skated in all 34 games for Cornell as a freshman and represented Belarus in the 2011 IIHF World Championship. He scored 1 goal with 6 assists and was +8 with 32 PMs for the Big Red, who finished fourth in ECAC Hockey. Gotovets skated in three games for Belarus and was -2 with 2 PMs.

2011-12: Gotovets played in 24 of 35 games for Cornell as a sophomore; playing both winger and defense for the Big Red. He scored 1 goal with 7 assists and was plus-13 with 12 penalty minutes. Cornell finished second in ECAC Hockey and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament after beating Colgate in the ECAC Hockey third place game.

 

Talent Analysis

Kirill Gotovets is an undersized offensive defenseman who is a smooth skater with excellent puck-moving abilities. He plays with unbridled energy, sometimes to the detriment of sound positional play. He is an efficient quarterback on the power play, though his quick shot lacks accuracy at times. He does not shy away from physical play but sometimes takes undisciplined penalties and is over-matched at times due to his size. The strength of his game is his skating and puck-moving ability and he should develop his defensive game playing in a Cornell program that is known for its aptitude in that side of the game.

 

Future

Long-term, Gotovets projects as an offensive threat and puck moving defenseman in the style of Lubomir Visnovsky or Andy Greene. He is still a work in progress in terms of his defensive play, and sixth-round draft picks are by nature long shots but he is a highly-skilled player.

Gotovets was dealt by the Tampa Bay Lightning to the Chicago Blackhawks in April of 2013 in a deal that sent Philippe Paradis to the Lightning.