“I wasn’t coming here to be a fourth-line player,” says Alexander Burmistrov, but it doesn’t come off as braggadocio. Instead, the 25-year-old Russian forward is quietly confident that he can play wherever the coaches put him.
When Burmistrov was signed, it was easy to assume that he would be a good fit as a fourth-line centre and a penalty killer, an upgrade from Michael Chaput the previous year. That’s the role he played with the Winnipeg Jets, but it’s possible the Canucks see potential for more.
For instance, when Henrik Sedin was asked about the power play, he mentioned two of the Canucks’ big-name free agent acquisitions — Thomas Vanek and Sam Gagner — but then jumped to an unexpected name.
“Burmistrov is really skilled on the power play too,” said Henrik.
Vanek has 242 career points on the power play. Gagner has 120. Burmistrov has a grand total of 9 power play points in his five seasons in the NHL. That doesn’t exactly scream “power play specialist.” And yet, Henrik went out of his way to bring up Burmistrov as potentially having an impact on the power play.
“When Henrik or Danny talk about you, that gives you goosebumps,” says Burmistrov when Henrik’s comments are mentioned. “They’re really good players, really good persons, you just have to enjoy being around them because they’re such professional guys off the ice and on the ice. I think they’re one of the hardest working guys I’ve ever seen.”
Could Burmistrov end up playing with the Sedins on the power play? It’s perhaps not as surprising a suggestion as you might think.
When he got traded from the Winnipeg Jets to the Arizona Coyotes, Burmistrov connected with assistant coach Newell Brown and got added to the first power play unit. He wound up scoring four power play goals for the Coyotes. Now, Newell Brown is back coaching with the Canucks and he could be eyeing Burmistrov for a role on the power play.
Why did it work out for Burmistrov on the power play in Arizona?
“They just gave me a chance to play,” he says. “[Winnipeg] didn’t look at me as a power play guy, a score-goal guy, but Arizona, they told me to play my game and I just played my game.”
Burmistrov thinks he can play almost any role on the power play with his skillset — “Probably not in front of the net, because I’m not that big guy” — but can both score goals and set up plays. Oddly enough, when you look at the goals he scored for Arizona, they are from right in front of the net, despite not being “that big guy.”
While Burmistrov got pigeonholed as a defensive specialist over the past few seasons, he was an exciting offensive player when he entered the league with the Atlanta Thrashers, capable of highlight reel goals. When the Thrashers relocated to Winnipeg for his sophomore season, he more than doubled his rookie goal total and seemed to be on the right track.
Then the 2012-13 lockout happened and, upset that the Jets would not let him return to Russia during the lockout, Burmistrov bolted for the KHL for the 2013-14 season. When he returned, his forward progression seemed to be off the rails. He barely receive any power play time with the Jets last season before he was traded and had just two assists through 23 games.
Now he comes to the Canucks looking for the opportunity to re-ignite his offensive game.
While it’s best not to read too much into lines at training camp, it seems noteworthy that Burmistrov has been skating with offensive-minded players at practice. On Wednesday and Thursday, he skated between Loui Eriksson and Thomas Vanek. On Friday, he was between Sven Baertschi and Brock Boeser, and is expected to play on that line against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday’s pre-season opener.
Is it outlandish to think he might be the Canucks’ third-line centre at the start of the regular season? Could Brandon Sutter centre the fourth line? It’s all up in the air at this point and Burmistrov is eager to seize the opportunity.
“I’ve just got to earn that spot, you know?”
