World junior championship: Vasilevski expected to shine in net for Russia

Star forward Mikhail Grigorenko recently made a telling comment about Team Russia’s goaltending.

“Only our team has Andrei Vasilevski. No other team does,” he said.

That’s ultimately right on so many levels.

Russia’s goaltender Andrei Vasilevski will set a new record for his country as he enters his third world junior championship.

Andrei Medvedev played at three different world junior championships for Team Russia and two under-18 world championships as well back in the early 2000’s. But Vasilevski will top that feat as he was part of Russia’s under-18 Team Russia for three straight years. He made his debut for Russia when he was just 15.

Russia’s coach Mikhail Varnakov said Vasilevski should be his starting goalie but still leaves some room for speculation.

“I think it’s an obvious decision. Vasilevski is hands down our number one choice. (Ivan) Nalimov will be his backup and (Igor) Ustinsky is the third goalie. That’s what we’re going to start with and see how it’s going to pan out.”

The Tampa Bay Lightning’s first-round pick had an offer from the Mississauga Steelheads to play in the CHL and an offer from Bolts to join their organization overseas. However, he decided to stay in his hometown Ufa, Russia for the time being to play for Salavat Yulaev – one of the top clubs in the KHL.

“What’s really important is that they let me play,” Vasilevski told Championat.com. “I start most of the games. I’m pretty excited about it but I understand I must play well so I wouldn’t be benched.

“I’m still young. This is my first full pro season. Sure, I have my bad days every now and then. I have to gain more experience. Everyone has a bad day but the more experience you have, the better you play.”

“It’s not like Vasilevski came out of nowhere,” said a former NHLer Andrei Nikolishin to KHL TV’s Andrei Yurtaev. “He’s been around for a few years now. He was always the best among his peers. He improved every year. However, Salavat relied on import goalies in the past few seasons and it was hard for Vasilevski to get even the third spot on the big club.

“He was given a chance this season and he proved he deserved it. He’s one of their top two goalies now. He plays well night in and night out. He’s never had a bad stretch. I think, he’s got bright future ahead of him.”

When asked why he chose Salavat over Tampa, Vasilevski gives a very simple answer.

“I play for Salavat now,” he said. “I have a contract. I have to play well. I don’t want to talk about the future.”

Alright then. We’ll turn somewhere else for an answer. Maybe Russian hockey expert Sergei Gimaev has some insight on that?

“Tampa was shocked when he decided to stay in Russia,” he told KHL TV. “They wrote a great development program just for him and he didn’t come over. (Lighting’s GM Steve) Yzerman must have been paralyzed when he heard the news. They drafted him in the first round, wrote a great program and he stayed in Ufa.

“I don’t blame Salavat. They told him they’d give him a chance and they did. The guy’s playing for the big club and he’s playing well. He lacks experience but that’s going to come to him. He has to work hard and aim for the top. He’s definitely in the same line with (Semyon) Varlamov and Sergei Bobrovsky.

“He’s got a crazy potential. All he has to do now is work hard. Many talented young Russian players stop working hard once they get a pro contract and you can’t do that. We always admire North American young players for how they improve their game on the pro level because they work hard. And that’s exactly what Vasilevski must do.”

No matter what goes on in Vasilevski's pro career, world juniors is a very different tournament and Andrei is first to emphasize its uniqueness.

“I finally get to play against my peers,” he said. “In the past I was always on a medal-winning team. I want that to continue. I already have silver and bronze medals from the world juniors. I don’t want to dream about anything or make big speeches. I want to focus on winning but not to speak too soon of it. That’s for the best.”