Boston Bruins prospect Matvei Kotkov wasted little time putting his stamp on the new season in Russia.
The 6-foot-0 forward, drafted by Boston with the 104th pick in the fourth round of June’s Entry Draft in Buffalo, scored his first goal of the season for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in the KHL. The finish came about 10 minutes into the game, when a loose puck in the slot landed right on his stick and he buried it with a hard shot.
That kind of release was part of the appeal when the Bruins took him, and Elite Prospects highlighted it in its pre-draft scouting note: "Kotkov escapes coverage, plays between defenders, times his routes with the play, and gets passes in the middle of the slot, firing off of him with his quick-draw, hard release. The best tool in his arsenal, his shot, makes him ever-dangerous,'' Elite Prospects wrote.
Kotkov’s track record in juniors backed that up. Last season in the MHL, he missed time because of an injury, then came back strong and posted 14 goals and 31 assists in 34 games. He added nine goals and six assists in eight playoff games in Juniors.
Before heading to Russia for the season, Kotkov spent time at the Bruins Developmental Camp in late June and early July. He turned heads there, especially with Adam McQuaid, Boston’s director of player development.
It’s still very early for a player who was drafted only a couple of months ago, but the early returns are encouraging for the Bruins. Kotkov looks like another prospect with a real scoring touch and a knack for finding space around the net, and his first KHL goal was a clean reminder of why Boston liked him in the first place.
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