With the 164th overall pick in the NHL Draft, San Jose selected Timur Ibragimov, a left winger from SKA-1946 St. Petersburg of the MHL. Ibragimov stands at 5-foot-11, 163 pounds, and is a left-handed shot.
Ibragimov played in 110 MHL games, scoring 55 points, good for a tidy .50 PPG rate, and was unranked on most NHL scouting boards.
The Sharks acquired the pick (6th round, 164th overall) they used to select the Russian winger in a draft-day trade with the Vancouver Canucks, one that saw pending-RFA Francis Perron and the 215th overall pick sent to Vancouver, and pending-UFA Tom Pyatt and the 164th overall pick coming to San Jose.
Fear the Fin colleague Sheng Peng had this information about the Sharks’ most recent pick:
KHL source on 5’11” Timur Ibragimov: “Not big, but flashy winger with a good scoring touch…All about shooting and scoring. Main weakness is his defensive game.”
Ibragimov played for SKA’s MHL team. Like Spiridonov, it’ll be achievement if/when he cracks one of KHL’s top teams
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) June 22, 2019
Based on this evaluation, I can’t help but draw the comparison between Ibragimov and Sharks alum (as well as Russian countryman) Nikolay Goldobin.
Goldobin had a similar flash and scoring touch to his game, but struggled to remain in the Sharks’ lineup due to his lack of defensive capability. Additionally, Goldobin has a decidedly similar frame, standing at 5-foot-11 and weighing in at 196 pounds – although it should be noted that at the time of his selection, Goldobin was significantly leaner, weighing 178 pounds. It isn’t a stretch to imagine that as he matures, Ibragimov fills out similarly.
Of course, the x-factor here isn’t Ibragimov’s weight, but rather his ability to develop the defensive side of his game.
Unfortunately, Peng’s KHL source didn’t seem to be optimistic:
However, KHL source added about Timur Ibragimov, “Very strange choice for Sharks. Not so good, he had to be drafted.”
Source isn’t high on Ibragimov’s potential
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) June 22, 2019
We can only hope that he’s wrong, and that Ibragimov’s best is yet to come.
As many of you know, Fear the Fin is an independent site run by Sharks fans for Sharks fans. Help keep Fear the Fin independent by contributing to our