He leads the Windsor Spitfires in scoring and is second among OHL rookies with 28 points.
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| Alexander Khokhlachev Photo by Joe Lemire / In Play! Magazine |
Well, as of today, the secret is out.
In its first rankings of the season, NHL Central Scouting has listed KoKo as the 12th best NHL prospect in the Ontario Hockey League.
Khokhlachev, a 17-year-old from Moscow, Russia, has displayed dynamic speed and excellent puck skills in his first season of hockey in North America. He has drawn comparisons to countrymen Pavel Bure and Alexander Mogilny - one of Khokhlachev's hockey heroes, and the reason he wears number 89 for the Spitfires.
But as one NHL scout - who came to Windsor to see him - recently said, "Those guys were pure goal scorers...but Khokhlachev is a threat to do just about anything every time he touches the puck."
IN GOOD COMPANY
The top three ranked OHL players are Gabriel Landeskog (Kitchener), Brandon Saad (Saginaw) and Dougie Hamilton (Niagara).
Ranked just one spot above Khokhlachev is fellow Russian Vlad Namestnikov of the London Knights. The two played together on Russia's Under 18 team at last year's World Juniors.
Also making the cut was Windsor native and former Spitfire, Austen Brassard. Ranked as the 25th OHL skater, Brassard has four goals and seven assists in 21 games this season for the Belleville Bulls.
ONTARIO HOCKEY LEAGUE
RANK
PLAYER
TEAM
POSITION
HEIGHT
WEIGHT
1-Gabriel Landeskog-Kitchener-LW-6-foot-1/4-207
2-Brandon Saad-Saginaw-LW-6-foot-1 1/4-208
3-Dougie Hamilton-Niagara-D-6-foot-4 1/4-193
4-Ryan Strome-Niagara-C-6-foot-1/4-183
5-Vincent Trocheck-Saginaw-C-5-foot-10-184
6-Tobias Rieder-Kitchener-C-5-foot-10 1/2-176
7-Boone Jenner-Oshawa-C-6-foot-3/4-194
8-Ryan Murphy-Kitchener-D-5-foot-10 1/2-176
9-Nicklas Jensen-Oshawa-LW/RW-6-foot-2 1/4-188
10-Matthew Puempel-Peterborough-LW-6-foot-198
11-Vladislav Namestnikov-London-C-5-foot-11 1/2-170
12-Alexander Khokhlachev-Windsor-C/LW-5-foot-10-188
