UConn taps back into Russian pipeline with two commitments

UConn men’s hockey’s Russian pipeline is back open. The Huskies landed commitments from ‘08 forwards Alexei Vlasov and Andrei Molgachev from Chelyabinsk and Magnitogorsk, respectively. Both are currently playing in the United States. They’re the teams first prospects born in 2008.

Vlasov current plays for the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede, where he has four goals and two assists in eight games. All those goals came in the opening weekend, earning him USHL Player of the Week. He’s listed at 5-9, 161 pounds with a right-handed shot.

As for Malgachev, he’s currently in Detroit with the Little Caesars 16U AAA. Standing at 5-9, 159 pounds with a left-handed shot, his season has not yet begun.

Russia has been a fruitful pipeline for UConn since joining Hockey East featuring the likes of Max Letunov, Ruslan Iskhakov, Yan Kuznetsov, Vladislav Firstov, Artem Shlaine and Arsenii Sergeev. Letunov’s 24 assists and 40 points are most in a single-season during the program’s Hockey East Era, while his 60 points and 95 points are second in the career marks. Three of the six Huskies to reach the NHL are from that group, too.

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