He may have arrived late to the Edmonton Oilers training camp due to visa issues but defenceman Anton Belov has done nothing but impress since his arrival to the Alberta capital. In just under two weeks, the talented Russian has already shown enough to cement himself a spot inside the top six and don’t be surprised to see him push for a bigger role as the year progresses.
While he may need time to adjust to the North American style
of game, the man many believed to have been the premier defenceman in the KHL
during the 2012-13 campaign, isn’t exactly coming into this blind. At
twenty-seven years of age, Belov should be more than capable of adjusting to
life in Edmonton without being in the least bet overwhelmed.
The 6’ 3” defenceman will not only add some much needed size
to the Orange and Blue’s blueline but give head coach Dallas Eakins a guy who apparently
has never seen a puck he doesn’t love to fire on net. Through four preseason
appearances, Belov led all Oilers D-men with ten shots on goal, with Philip
Larsen and Justin Schultz being next on that list with four a piece. In fact,
he was among the team leaders in shots on net with names such as Jordan Eberle,
Taylor Hall and Nail Yakupov.
Having a player that is not only willing to blast the puck
on goal but actually enjoy doing so, is generally a plus for a team with as
much talented upfront as the Oilers possess. Be it the likes of a Eberle, Hall,
David Perron or Yakupov lurking about for a rebound or a Jesse Joensuu or Ryan
Smyth causing havoc in front of the opposing team’s crease. The more pucks that
get to the net, the better chance one of those guys knocking one across the
goal line. Pretty simple stuff but sometimes simple isn’t quite so sexy.
Belov isn’t overly flashy but his booming point shot could
be exactly what has been missing from an Oilers power play that has steadily
improved since the arrival of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Once they return to full
health, Edmonton could very well run with two units featuring four forwards and
one D-man. Making the Russian rearguard the probable point man on the second
unit but one who should be more than capable of pushing Schultz into the power
play stud most project him to become.
Heading into Tuesday’s season opener, it looks as though the
Oilers #77 will be a part of a very intriguing third pairing with veteran Nick
Schultz. With the quartet of Andrew Ference, Jeff Petry, Schultz and Ladislav
Smid expected to do much of the heavy lifting at even strength, the Belov-Schultz
duo will need to keep things as simple as possible at five-on-five.
The senior Schultz remains a solid stay-at-home defender who
was asked to do far too much during the 2013 season, playing alongside the
younger Schultz in a top four pairing role. At his stage of his career, the
thirty-one year old is best suited for a bottom pairing minutes and with Belov
as his partner, they just may turnout to be as good a #5/#6 tandem the Oilers
have had for some time.
Though he has only played four games, Belov has already shown
to be as good or an even better distributor of the puck as fellow countryman
and teammate Denis Grebeshkov. Like Grebeshkov, he sometimes forces the puck
into areas of the ice most players wouldn’t even dream of looking but that sort
of comes with the territory.
Defencemen who are
confident enough to attempt such passes are generally players who you want on
your roster. Is there a risk/reward factor to using guys like that on your
backend? Most definitely but with the Oilers entire mantra revolving around their
blueline’s ability to transition the puck up ice, it is somewhat of a necessary
evil.
Expecting Anton Belov to walk into the National Hockey
League and step into a top four role would probably be asking a little too much.
He will undoubtedly go through his share of growing pains during the course of
the season but he has all the tools necessary to become exactly that. It could
go either way but GM Craig MacTavish may have unearthed a real gem of a player
for the organization.
2013-2014 Prediction: 8 G, 15 A, 23 Pts
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