After being defeated in Game 5 of the KHL Finals and losing the Gagarin Cup to Ilya Kovalchuk and the rest of SKA St. Petersburg yesterday, Alexei Bereglazov can now turn his attention to a potential NHL contract. Igor Eronko of Sport-Express reports that the Russian defender will indeed head to the NHL next season, and repeats that the New York Rangers are the leading candidate for his services. The connection between the Rangers and the 22-year old had previously been reported by Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.
Similar to Nikita Zaitsev last season, Bereglazov has been playing in the KHL for several seasons already, winning the Gagarin Cup last year and getting to the finals once again. His impact and importance increased this year though, playing almost 20 minutes a night during the regular season and registering a career-high 19 points. Unlike Zaitsev, who was almost fully developed when he joined the Maple Leafs last season at 25, Bereglazov still has more room to grow into his 6’4″ frame and could still see drastic improvement at both ends of the rink.
While the Rangers are the only team who has been currently linked, there will surely be other clubs in the mix for Bereglazov if he indeed decides to head to North America. A big, young defender who has offensive upside is exactly what every team is looking for, and though he still sometimes struggles moving the puck quickly up the ice he will likely improve over the next few years wherever he plays. For Magnitogorsk, where he currently plays, it would be a big blow to lose the young defender to the NHL after another big season.