With the 168th pick in the 2014 NHL Draft, the Philadelphia Flyers have selected a Russian. THIS IS NOT A DRILL THE FLYERS DRAFTED A RUSSIAN. His name is Radel Fazleev and he’s a center from the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL.
He was teammates with the Flyers first round pick, Travis Sanheim.
ISS had him ranked at 172 before the draft, with the following scouting report:
There is no denying the talent that Fazleyev possesses. He is a good skater with good straight line speed and good quick hands which allow him to be a dangerous one on one player. He lacks power in his game and isn’t always able to win space or push his way into contested scoring areas, but when given space to execute, he is more than capable of making opponents pay for their mistakes. Fazleyev shies away from the rough play a little too often and can disappear if pressured aggressively early in games. He has shown a bit of a temper at times as well and it has caused too much opportunity for opposing teams to neutralize his talent too easily.
He put up 25 points (5 goals, 20 assists) and 12 penalty minutes in 38 games with Calgary last year, in his first season in the WHL. He also played for Russia’s U18 World Junior Championships team this past year, with one assist in five games.
In 2013, he was selected in the first round of the KHL Draft by Ak Bars. As with any Russian pick, the threat of possibly going back to the KHL down the road is there, but he absolutely appears to be worth a sixth-round gamble. Fazleev plays a skill-oriented game and appears to be a pretty raw prospect, but the talent appears to be there. And, as seems to have become a trend with today’s picks, he’s quick. Not your usual sixth-round pick by the Flyers, but it’s a good one regardless.
