Enigmatic Russian returns

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This article was published 06/07/2015 (3779 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

One day soon all the conversations — Alexander Burmistrov surely hopes — will be exclusively about hockey and not about fractured relationships and mysterious departures.

 

That day isn’t here just yet.

Burmistrov began the process of answering questions on topics he’d just as soon leave behind Sunday, almost from the moment he strolled into the MTS Iceplex unannounced and apparently past fans and Winnipeg Jets staff before somebody really noticed.

Then the “Hey, Burmi’s here” buzz started and a media session was hastily put together so the 23-year-old could begin taking the next step in his return to the Jets and the National Hockey League.

“I’m really excited, actually,” said Burmistrov, facing the local press for the first time since April 2013. “I miss this kind of game.

“It’s happened. I don’t want to look back and I’m happy to be here right now.”

It was a noticeably nervous Burmistrov who began his interview with reporters with the caveat his English still needed work. As a refresher, the enigmatic Russian — drafted eighth overall by the Atlanta Thrashers in 2010 — made the NHL as an 18-year old fresh from just one year in North America with the OHL’s Barrie Colts. He scored six goals and had 20 points in 74 games as an OHL rookie, boosting those totals to 13 and 28 in his first year in Winnipeg, flashing a skill set and defensive awareness that made him a versatile piece at both centre and wing.

But he and then-head coach Claude Noel apparently banged heads, and after the 2013 season he bolted for the KHL’s Ak-Bars Kazan Snow Leopards in his hometown.

“It was a really good experience,” said Burmistrov. “My family was there… lots of pressure because I was the hometown boy, and the fans wanted to see something from me.”

He had hoped to also suit up for Russia at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, but was one of the last cuts. Later that year he did wear Russia’s colours at the world hockey championships and it was there he had a sit down with new Jets coach Paul Maurice, who was working as an assistant coach with Team Canada. The details of that chat have been well-documented from the coach’s end over the last week, and when the development camp opened Friday Maurice again raved about Burmistrov’s talent and the fact his return would boost the depth chart.

‘I just want to help the team win games… I’m going to try and work hard every second on my game’

— Alexander Burmistrov

“That conversation (in 2014) meant a lot to me,” said Burmistrov. “We talked really good. I don’t know how to explain it. At that time I knew I really wanted to come back.”

Burmistrov signed a two-year deal with the Jets last week with an average annual value of $1.55 million and said he will remain in Canada through to the opening of training camp in the fall. He didn’t keep in touch with any of his Jets teammates upon his exit two years ago but did keep up on how the club was doing.

“I have the NHL app,” he said, “so I could take a look every game at the highlights and I knew what was going on here.”

The next stage of Burmistrov questions won’t be posed until the opening of main camp. Where does he fit on the depth chart, and what role might he play? Does he have some mending to do with the guys in the dressing room who were there when he exited in 2013?

Asked what has changed about him since he left — as a person or a player — Burmistrov said:

“I’m two years older. I don’t know if I’m a different player or not. Maybe a little bit, maybe not. We’ll see.

“I just want to help the team win games. I don’t know what (they) will expect from me. I’m going to try and work hard every second on my game, try to score goals and help the team win games.”

That will be critical for a team that set a franchise record last season with 99 points and will try to hold onto a Western Conference playoff spot in 2015-16. A re-energized and committed Burmistrov improves the forward skill and gives Maurice more options with his lineup.

Finally, in a lighter moment after what must have felt a bit like an interrogation Sunday, Burmistrov was asked what number he’d wear with the Jets now Jacob Trouba locked down his old No. 8.

“That’s the biggest question I think, yeah?,” he said with a grin. “I don’t think I’m going to wear the number I wore in Russia (69) here. That’s probably not going to work out.”

Ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @WFPEdTait