KHL scoring ace Steve Moses signs with Predators
This storyline sound familiar?
The Nashville Predators have brought a KHL player back to North America to help their offense.
It’s not Alexander Radulov, who famously flamed out with the Predators in 2012. It’s Steve Moses – who doesn’t supposes his toeses are roses. He signed a one-year $1 million contract with Nashville for 2015-16.
He also can score goals. This season he set the KHL’s goal scoring record with 36 scores in 60 games. He’s from Leominster, Massachusetts and played four years at the University of New Hampshire. The 25-year-old Moses is just 5-foot-9 and 172 pounds.
So what’s Moses’ NHL potential beyond parting the Black Sea to come back to North Am… OK I’ll stop there. But TSN’s Bob McKenzie took at look.
"He's the top (unrestricted) free agent in the KHL, that's for sure," one NHL management person said.
"Really small but really fast," said another.
Some teams think he's worth a shot. Others aren't so sure. In any case, what's certain is the diminutive University of New Hampshire alum – he played four seasons there between 2008 and 2012 – won't be leaving Jokerit (where he's in his third season), or the KHL, unless he has a one-way NHL contract tucked in his back pocket.
And now he has that. Beyond his clear KHL goal scoring success, Moses wasn’t even a point per-game player at UNH. Regardless, for $1 million, Moses is probably a risk worth taking for Nashville because well … that number doesn’t even really equate to a risk. There is always a lot of hoopla around KHL and college free agents. But really, they’re just assets that generally come at a bargain basement price.
Look at those wheels:
“I like to shoot the puck; I like to create offense, and I’ve been a goal scorer for the majority of my career,” Moses said to the Predators' website. “That’s what I like to do, but I’m definitely not going to shy away from anything as a smaller guy. The way Nashville plays, pushing the pace and forechecking and trying to create offense, I think that’s a big part of why I chose to come here and that’s the game I like to play.”
Judging by the above photo he's Rebecca Black, Friday levels of excited.
Some NHL scouts seemed to not be totally sold on Moses' savior potential to McKenzie:
"He's quick and can shoot the puck but he's tiny and spends a lot of time on the perimeter," said another. "He's a better player on big ice."
"He could play in the NHL but he projects as a depth player and do you want to give a depth player a one-way deal?" said a third.
Again, the gamble isn’t high, and he could yield a so-so reward for not a lot of money. Plus, this will undoubtedly turn out better than the Radulov situation – unless the Predators play the Arizona Coyotes in the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs, and Moses decides to break curfew and hence not be allowed in the land of Canaan.
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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
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