With the 19th pick of the 2012 NHL Draft, the Tampa Bay Lightning have selected Andrey Vasilevskiy, goaltender for Tolpar Ufa of the Russian Jr. League.
A native of Tyumen, Russia, Vasilevskiy was ranked the No. 1 European goaltender by the ISS and NHL Central Scouting. Able to fill the net impressively at 6'4" and 204 pounds, Vasilevskiy's draft stock started to rise after he split time in the World Juniors tournament for Team Russia, but the question of if he will go to North America or stay in the KHL is an obvious concern.
One of the most purely talented goaltenders in the draft, Vasilevskiy also has excellent positional skills and a willingness to take away shooting angles as he fills the net. Athletic and regarded as an excellent butterfly netminder, he could be part of the long-term answer in net that Tampa Bay has sought for the last several years.
Stick with SBNation.com for full coverage of the 2012 NHL Draft. For team-by-team coverage of the draft, check out our network of hockey blogs.
There are 0 Comments. Add Yours.
Shortcuts to mastering the comment thread. Use wisely.
C - Next Comment
X - Mark as Read
R - Reply
Z - Mark Read & Next
Shift + C - Previous
Shift + A - Mark All Read
Comment Settings
Live comment alert: Hide it!
Comments for this post are closed.