Defenseman Oleg Sosunov standing out at Lightning camp for something other than his height

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
September 19, 2017

TAMPA – To walk past Lightning prospect Oleg Sosunov is to crane one’s neck upwards to catch a glimpse of the 6-foot-8 defenseman.

Sosunov, a sixth-round pick from the 2016 draft, has certainly been turning plenty of heads at his first training camp, and it has to do with more than just his size.

A relative unknown in his draft year and looked at as a long-term project, Sosunov is already showing he has the potential to be another highly-touted prospect in the Lightning pipeline. His early showing in camp has earned the a spot in the preseason opening lineup against Carolina tonight at 7:30 p.m. as the 19-year-old takes an important step in his development who is already drawing some comparisons to another large defenseman.

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”I coached (Zdeno Chara) when big Z first came to the Islanders, and this kid can skate. He moves quicker than Z did,’’ Lightning associate coach Rick Bowness said. “Now, Z’s a great player and a hall of famer, so I’m not knocking him. The kid can move for his size is my point. The rest we’ll see. He’s got to get used to, he hasn’t played over here. He’s not coming from the juniors leagues like a lot of guys do. He’s coming right from Russia. So, we’ll see how he adapts to the pace of play in the smaller ice surface. He’s got to learn how to play in the North American rink and the North American game, and that’s not going to happen in one night. We’ll give him a good look tonight, give him some experience and go from there.’’

This game figures to be the only preseason action Sosunov gets as cutdowns are expected to come following Wednesday’s preseason game at Carolina. There’s a good chance that Sosunov is among that first group of cuts and will be reassigned to Moose Jaw of the Western Hockey League, where he will begin his first season in North America.

Sosunov played the previous two seasons with Loko Yaroslavl in the Russian MHL, a junior league comparable to the Canadian junior system in North America. While finding any statistics for such leagues can be tricking, according to Eurohockey.com, Sosunov appeared in 32 games for Loko last season without registering a point while compiling 79 penalty minutes.

Based on his performance to this point, Sosunov figures to see his game improve as he starts to make the transition to a new situation.

”My first year pro we had (2005 first-round pick) Vladimir Mihalik, and they have some similarities in their size and their reach and how they get around the ice,’’ Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. “What was amazing to me was how he got around. There is no sense in making comparisons to anybody else, but for somebody that size to have that agility and ability to skate is pretty impressive. I’m really intrigued to see how his development goes.’’

Sosunov has also caught the eye of some of his fellow teammates and countrymen, including Mikhail Sergachev.

”He’s a huge guy, I look small compared to him,’’ said Sergachev, who is 6-foot-3, 215 pounds. “I feel like he’s a good skater and he has a good shot, it’s a sneaky shot, you don’t expect him to shoot and he lets it go. He makes smart plays. He’s good.’’

Based on his early showing, Sosunov expects to get better.

Pregame notes: Here were the lines at the morning skate: Alex Volkov-Vladislav Namestnikov-Cory Conacher; Adam Erne-Matthew Peca-Anthony Cirelli; Cedric Paquette-Gabriel Dumont-J.T. Brown; Boris Katchouk-Alexey Lipanov-Taylor Raddysh. … The defensive pairings were: Libor Hajek-Andrej Sustr; Daniel Walcott-Cal Foote; Oleg Sosunv-Jamie McBain. … Michael Leighton is expected to get the start in goal, with Nicola (Nick) Riopel dressed as the backup.

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