This summer, many were saying that Nizhny Novgorod residents might be blown away. Additionally, Andrei Kozyrev left Igor Larionov’s seat to become the head coach of Severstal.
Torpedo reached the second round of the playoffs last season. And now they are no longer just second in the Western Conference standings, being the last championship club to suffer their first defeat. But even at the Larionov Wizarding Academy, we develop young people very well.
Torpedo is now the second youngest club in the KHL (average age 23.97). Only Kozyrev’s Severstal (23.62) is younger, built according to Larionov-Kozyrev models. The team’s best defenseman-scorer is 17-year-old Anton Silaev, who scored 6 (1+5) points in eight matches. The top scorer is 20-year-old Vasily Atanasov, who scored 9 (5+4) points in the same eight matches.
How does Igor Larionov manage to do this? I spoke about this with Alexander Kharlamov immediately after the end of the KHL board meeting in Moscow. By the way, Kharlamov made his debut there as a representative of Nizhny Novgorod hockey.
From Kharlamov’s interview you will learn:
“Gusev helped us get Atanasov back from Ugra”
— How important is it for Torpedo to have a representative on the KHL board of directors?
— We think it is important, given that we are building a new stadium. There is great interest in hockey in Nizhny Novgorod. Therefore, we decided that it would be okay to have our own member on this council. We have a great hockey region.
— Torpedo forward Vasily Atanasov became a sensation early in the KHL season. Remind me how he contacted you in the first place.
— We took Atanasov from Ugra (Khanty-Mansiysk), along with another striker Ivan Vorobyov. They paid monetary compensation for them in the amount of 4.5 million rubles.
— So Atanasov cost you a little more than two million rubles?
– It turns out that’s how it is. Here we must pay tribute to Sergei Gusev, the general director of Ugra. This is far from the first of their students who is already playing in the Continental Hockey League, being in a pretty good position.
When we brought Atanasov, he spent time in our youth team. It was clear the guy was talented and additional coaching work was needed. Igor Nikolayevich Larionov joined…
It is important that Vasily himself wants to develop and grow. But when there is such a mentor who can help in difficult times, it’s wonderful.
— Why do you think NHL scouts didn’t notice Atanasov for three consecutive drafts?
– I don’t have an answer to this question. To be honest, I myself was a little surprised that he wasn’t drafted in 2023. But that’s okay. You understand that the project is a very conditional thing. After all, Artemy Panarin was not selected in our draft at all. Like Sergei Bobrovsky or Andrey Kuzmenko.
— But Atanasov scores more points per game in the KHL.
– Well, it happens. But for Vasily, everything is just beginning. He is an educated guy, he has a wonderful family – the same father who monitors his career and draws the right conclusions. I think Vasya will only develop for the better, progressing every day.
“Silaev is a great defender, but extremely agile”
— 17-year-old two-meter defender Anton Silaev scored 6 (1+5) points in eight KHL matches. Inserts immediately into the Torpedo base!
— We have been running Silaev for a long time. And all his strengths were visible when he was still playing in the junior team and in the MHL. Now he plays in the KHL. He is an extraordinary defender. Large, but extremely agile. The big players don’t always stand out.
Silaev was the captain of the team his age. I integrated very well into the first team. I can say the same thing about 17-year-old striker Nikita Artamonov. He has 5 (0+5) points in eight matches. He plays calmly on the front line. And I must say good words about his partners – Alexey Kruchinin and Kolya Kovalenko, with whom he started, helped him a lot. Then Kruchinin was injured, the central players began to change. But still, the team is friendly, there is support and Artamonov holds on, proving through his play that he is worthy of playing in the first team.
— Tall defenseman Owen Power (197 cm) was selected first overall in the 2021 NHL Draft. These players are very popular in North America. Could Silaev go top 5 in the 2024 draft?
— This is our first guy, born in 2006, who played in the KHL. It’s probably worth a lot. We can sing Silaev’s praises for a long time. But then something can go wrong. Today we are happy to have such stars and promising players. In the future, these guys will be able to reach the level of the Russian national team. We all work for this – in addition to our club business, we have to recruit the national team.
— If one day the Russian Hockey Federation (RHF) reaches an agreement with the NHL on the payment of significant compensation for the departure of juniors, will this please a club as poor as Torpedo? You can really make money with this.
– It’s difficult to talk about it now. What can make us happy? There is never any extra money. But at first there will be disappointment that these players are leaving Torpedo and leaving the country. On the other hand, you understand that the guys today will go to the best league in the world. Of course, we’ll only be happy for them if it turns out they play it.
“Of course we would like to keep Larionov”
— Every off-season, everyone tries to take away Torpedo, where there are many interesting players. Or do you have a policy that if certain hockey players are retired, you will look for new ones?
— You know, the search for promising newcomers is a problematic subject. Either you have to buy them, and not at a low price, and we don’t always have the means to afford it. Or you need to dig deeper into scouting and look at things that everyone at other clubs isn’t paying attention to.
That’s how you find guys. But there are risks here – whether they play or not. However, we work through trial and error, trying to bring young players to the next level with the help of the coaching staff and their trust.
— Igor Larionov extended his contract with Torpedo, but what happens if he leaves for another club next summer?
— To be honest, Igor Nikolaevich and I did not discuss this issue in detail for next year. I think we’ll discuss it a little later when we have time. Of course we would like to keep Larionov. At the moment, as I understand it, he likes everything – both in the city and in the team. He has his own thoughts and big ambitions. The highest goals are only victory. But the question remains open, and we will see how it goes.
Watch live broadcasts of the Fonbet KHL championship matches on the channel, as well as on the matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru sites.
Source : MatchTV
I’m Emma Smith, a dedicated journalist and avid storyteller. I have been writing for news websites for the past 5 years, reporting on hockey news and delivering in-depth analysis of the sport. In my current role as Author at Athletistic, I write about hockey events from around the world to keep followers up-to-date with what’s happening in the sport.
