New Jersey Devils: Yaroslav Dyblenko Heads Back To Russia
By Nick Villano
One under-the-radar New Jersey Devils prospect is no longer a part of the franchise. All signs point to Yaroslav Dyblenko heading back to the KHL.
The New Jersey Devils continued to break news on Tuesday, despite being out of the playoffs and far away from free agency. After revealing that Patrick Maroon, Taylor Hall and Cory Schneider underwent surgery for different ailments, they made two moves to their AHL defense corps. In one move, they re-signed Brian Strait as a pure depth move. In the other, Russian defenseman Yaroslav Dyblenko will be placed on waivers so they could terminate the contract.
The Devils signed the 24-year-old defenseman last offseason to a two-year entry level contract. It seemed like a move that could pay dividends over time. The Devils defense was in a bad way after last season, and the team needed options.
Dyblenko could never make it past the AHL, which probably put a bad taste in his mouth. The emergence of Will Butcher and the trade of Sami Vatanen really didn’t leave any spots open to take a chance on a defenseman.
On top of that, only Mirco Mueller really dealt with a major injury. Add a half season of Dalton Prout, and there was no room to take a chance on a minor league player who could have done some things in the big leagues.
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Dyblenko was a decent defenseman for how young he was in Russia. His numbers aren’t eye popping, as he’s not very offensive, but he could fill a role as defensive defenseman. He’s a physical presence, but does take his fair share of penalties, with 50 PIMs in 54 games with Binghamton.
Dyblenko was always going to need more time in North America to really find his game. Defensemen usually take more time to develop. Dyblenko not only had to develop as a player, but also one playing in a completely different style. It didn’t click, but I thought he could be much better in his second season in the system.
It looks like the Devils and Dyblenko just wanted to go their separate ways. That’s fine, but this could be a mistake in the long run. However, if Dyblenko wanted to go back to Russia, the Devils made the right move. If his thought process is stuck on another continent, then he was never going to work out here. If he spends the rest of his career in Russia, then he will be soon forgotten.