I am a Caps fan currently living in Lewiston, Maine, so I go to a pretty decent amount of MAINEiacs games, albeit not as many as I'd like to. I also am originally from Long Island, so I have a certain interest in the Islanders and want to see them do well and stay there. I wish them the best of luck 78 games a year.

I thought I could give a small update on Kabanov from what I've seen the times that I've gone to MAINEiacs games this year. Currently he has a stat line of 4-7-11 in 9 GP in the QMJHL playoffs (rocking a +4, some sweet tats, and a crazy hairdo along with the rest of the MAINEiacs as well). [That previous sentence is about as much stats as I can provide, I don't know any place that keeps more advanced stats for junior leagues.] He may not have the highest point total on the team, but when I've gone to see them, he has routinely been the best offensive player for the team. He's on the MAINEiacs top line with Morin and Brodeur, usually, and start most periods (with Carrier and Finn on D). He also plays the first PP unit, sometimes on the wing and sometimes on the point, but he has no problem sliding between the two positions and creating opportunities on the power play. Watching him, you can see that he has great offensive talents and instincts, which are the main reason he was drafted of course, but he doesn't look to be a defensive sink hole (although one has to keep in mind the league he's in and the competition he's against).

An interesting note for their power plays - sometimes they'll have Kabanov line up at the point, and Carrier (their #1 PPQB D) line up at the inside wing, and try to win the puck back clean for a one timer from Kabanov. If they can't run that play smoothly, they immediately have Kabanov go to the half wall, and Carrier slide back up to the D spot.

Something that he (and every other 18/19 year old) has to work on is his size and how he handles physical play. His issue isn't that he shies away from physical play; from what I've seen he's perfectly willing to go into the corners, or take the puck to the front of the net, and bring the play to the difficult areas. But he's very wiry and needs to put more weight on his frame so he can better handle that play over a longer period and against larger people. Luckily that's something that's pretty easily fixed for an 18 year old.

From what I've seen, the Islanders got some real good value in Kabanov. Where he was taken it's low risk, high reward, and judging from how he handles competition in the Q, he probably should have gone higher than he did. As an example, I saw him undress Gormley (13th overall, 2010, Phoenix) a few times in the series against Moncton. In the last two games against Montreal (the #2 seed; Lewiston is the # 8 seed) Kabanov is 2-2-4 +3 (2-1 and 4-1 Lewiston wins).