Late-round pick earns rave reviews
Russian winger Zavgorodniy combines work ethic with offensive creativity
Dmitry Zavgorodniy is determined to eventually call Calgary his winter home.
He proved it by spending a big chunk of his summer in the Stampede City.
Shortly after being selected by the Flames in the seventh round of the 2018 NHL Draft, Zavgorodniy bid farewell to family and friends in Russia and packed his bags for what was anything but a vacation: two months of training with a crew of established NHLers and other organizational up-and-comers, all under the watchful eye of team strength and conditioning coach Ryan van Asten.
“To spend all season away in the QMJHL and then go home for a short period of time and then leave to basically spend his whole summer in North America as well, it speaks volumes about the desire this kid has to get better,” praised Flames assistant general manager Brad Pascall. “That’s on his own accord. For guys to come to train here in summer, it’s something that we encourage, but ultimately they have to do it on their own. I guess it shows you the inner drive that this kid has. He loves the game. He’s a competitive kid, and he really wants to get better.”
You don’t find sure things in the seventh round of the draft, but Zavgorodniy — off to a stellar start in his second season with the Rimouski Oceanic of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League — packs an intriguing blend of speed, skill and offensive creativity in his fivefoot-nine, 173-pound frame.
For a few days last month, the 18-year-old left-winger was perched atop the QMJHL’s scoring charts. Although he has cooled off, blanked in three of his past four outings, he still ranks among the league front-runners with 11 goals and 17 assists in 19 outings. (His Oceanic teammate and teen phenom Alexis Lafreniere, already being billed as a potential first overall pick for the 2020 NHL Draft, tops the charts with 34 points.)
“I had a pretty good start, but I’m trying to do my best to keep it up and just don’t look at the statistics and just try to focus myself on the next game every time,” said Zavgorodniy, back in action Friday against the Gatineau Olympiques. “I think just keep shooting the puck, keep the aggressive mentality around the net, keep hungry for goals … I think that’s what I need to keep doing.
“And of course, I need to be strong defensively, too, to put my mindset on defence, too. Because offence starts with defence.”
Zavgorodniy’s early-season splurge in Rimouski hasn’t gone unnoticed.
The Flames’ forward prospect has scored the opportunity to wear his national team colours during the QMJHL portion of the CIBC Canada-Russia Series, a six-game cross-country exhibition showcase that serves as an audition for world junior duties.
Zavgorodniy will join Russia’s roster for two twirls next week in Quebec — Tuesday in Sherbrooke and then two nights later in Drummondville.
“We felt that he had a tremendous summer, really followed his development plan, really worked on his strength and then we felt he had a really strong and impressive training camp and opened a lot of eyes, quite frankly, with his speed and his skill,” Pascall said of Zavgorodniy. “We knew that when we drafted him, but to see it among his peers and even among some NHL players, you get pretty excited about somebody who possesses the talent that he has.
“So when he left camp, we go through and set goals, and one of his goals was to go down there and push the pace. He sees what the level of play is here in Calgary and what it takes to be a pro, so go push the pace in the QMJHL. And then secondly, as a short-term goal, it was to play well both offensively and defensively, put up points, but work toward making the world junior team and being in the conversation for that.
“He’s accomplished the first one, for sure. He’s pushing the pace. He’s getting points. And now he’s going to be playing in that Canada-Russia Series, and that’s part of the tryout process for the Russian team. So he’s on their radar.”
Zavgorodniy’s dream of skating in the NHL started as a kid in Omsk who idolized Russian scoring sensation Ilya Kovalchuk.
“I really liked how he played. He’s aggressive, he’s everywhere. Kind of like a madman on the ice.”
In recent years, he has also paid close attention to the likes of Nikita Kucherov and Evgeny Kuznetsov.
During that two-month eyeopener this summer in Calgary, he found himself following the lead of Flames veterans Travis Hamonic, Michael Stone and Matt Stajan, who has since signed in Germany.
Rasmus Andersson and Dillon Dube, now rookies at the Saddledome, were also regulars at those workout sessions.
“I want to do it again next summer,” Zavgorodniy said. “I saw how they’re working so hard, how they’re talking with each other, helping each other, how they commit themselves as hockey players, like with nutrition and a lot of stuff like that.
“And then with camp, too, the whole time in Calgary was really good and it’s helped me a lot. It maybe gave me a little confidence. I just tried to do my best there and prove myself every day.”