raphael

He wasn't part of the national teams before he left Russia. This is his last year of junior eligibility as well.

Sheldon Souray had a profile similar to Lernout coming out of the WHL. 6-4 tough guy defenseman with a heavy shot who only had 9 points in 42 games his draft year. Who knows? Souray was taken around the same point of the draft and came from the same part of the country I believe.

It's worrisome that the Russians don't think Scherbak is national team quality. That was the case with Avtsin and Trunev, who looked like they should be national team quality from over here, but weren't included.

Lernout was ranked as the #52 overall North American skater by Central Scouting and the Habs got him as the #56 overall N.A. skater taken in the draft. It wasn't "off the board" according to those rankings.