He’s here!
Everett’s newest present, winger Nikita Scherbak, has officially joined the team. He arrived in Everett on Monday after being reassigned by the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday, and he practiced with his new team for the first time Tuesday afternoon at Xfinity Arena
Scherbak is Everett’s big trade acquisition. The first-round NHL draft pick, who is entering his 19-year-old season, was acquired from Saskatoon a week ago in exchange for goaltender Nik Amundrud and a pair of high bantam draft picks. There was an extra buzz of excitement around practice today because of Scherbak’s presence.
The Tips are obviously excited to have Scherbak in the fold. They’re also relieved they no longer have to worry about whether he might stick in the NHL as a 19-year-old, as they are still doing with defenseman Mirco Mueller.
Scherbak seemed to settle in with his new teammates right away. He was interacting with all his linemates, both on the ice and on the bench as his English is decent. He was particularly interactive with fellow Russian Ivan Nikolishin, as some Russian chatter could be heard on the bench. The early reports also suggest Scherbak has already exhibited an entertaining personality.
While Scherbak is ready to go for Friday’s home opener against Kelowna, his paperwork isn’t just yet. Scherbak has a visitor’s visa to the U.S., but doesn’t yet have his work visa, which is necessary for him to play in games. The Tips were working to expedite that, and they were confident it would all be wrapped up by Thursday or Friday. However, there’s still a chance it won’t get done, in which case he he wouldn’t play Friday. Hopefully that gets done, because the home opener, against arguably the best team in the WHL in Kamloops Kelowna, would be all the more exciting with Scherbak in the lineup.
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