The Russian forward of “St. Louis” Klim Kostin accepted the qualifying offer “Blues”. He lost money but got another year to prove his worth in the best league in the world.

Kostin is no stranger to wrestling

“Kostin really has a lot of talent,” St. Louis head coach Craig Berubi said of the young Russian last year.

The overall striker, who returned from the champion Avangard, was probably pleased to hear this, although there was a lot of work ahead of Kostin. He is no stranger to this, because the Russian has been fighting for his chance in the NHL since 2017, when he made his debut in the St. Louis farm club in the AHL.

If it were not for the unfortunate shoulder injury received in a key season for his future career, Kostin would have left in the draft much higher than the 31st number, under which he was chosen by the Bluesmen. In this case, perhaps the club would have treated the forward more carefully and allowed him to develop already at the NHL level, as happened with another St. Louis forward, Robert Thomas. He “left” in the same draft as the 20th and already in the 2018/19 season he played a full-fledged regular season for the Blues and scored 33 points (9 goals + 24 assists) excellent for a rookie in 70 games. Kostin, even after 5 years, does not have such a number of matches played in the NHL.

Return to Russia has benefited

Having stalled in the AHL at the dawn of his career, the Russian went on loan to Avangard. This is the case when everyone was satisfied: both the Hawks, who received a top-6 overall forward, and St. Louis, in whose application there was no place for a young Russian, and Kostin, for whom the KHL is a step forward compared to the farm club.

Klim Kostin / Photo: © KHL / Vladimir Bezzubov

It turned out that in Avangard the striker was lucky not only with playing practice, but also with his approach. Bob Hartley was sensitive to Kostin, immediately justifying the difficulties he faced while playing in the KHL, the difficulty of the transition from youth hockey to adult. Trust and hard work made him an indispensable power forward who hit left and right, making a small contribution to the hawks’ victory in the Gagarin Cup in the 2020/21 season.

Is there a future in St. Louis?

It seemed that at 22, Kostin had finally grown to the NHL, and St. Louis welcomed him with open arms. But it didn’t work out again last season: the Russian played 40 games in the regular season, got injured, and eventually went along the usual NHL-AHL route, ending the season in the Calder Cup final, which the Thunderbirds lost.

All the time in St. Louis, Kostin fought for the right to play in the third or fourth lines, and Berubi politely hinted that the forward needed to simplify his game. In other words, don’t play to your strengths, but stick to your game plan. Sounds like you should be concerned when you hear this. Or at least doubt: does the player have a future in this team and with this coach?

Doubts could be reinforced by the offer of Avangard, which was interested in the return of the champion a year ago.

Kostin will still have to be patient and work

But Kostin decided to cling to his North American chance to the last. His new one-year contract with St. Louis is more modest than his last. The Russian agreed to the minimum money that is only possible in the NHL – 750 thousand dollars per season. But the agreement is unilateral, that is, he will get into the AHL only through a draft of refusals.

Klim Kostin (center) / Photo: © Tim Spyers/Icon Sportswire / imago sportfotodienst / Global Look Press

The term of the contract and the size of the salary indicate that after 5 years of work and the struggle for a place in the NHL, Kostin will have to endure a little more and squeeze the maximum out of himself: the next season will determine his overseas future. For a place at the base, he will have to fight with three or four forwards, and if Kostin succeeds, then he will have a position in the last two links.

It does not sound very positive and encouraging, but last season, using the example of Valery Nichushkin, who won the Stanley Cup after 9 years of fighting for the right to play in the NHL, confirmed the veracity of the expression about patience and work that will grind everything.