A Quick Scouting Report on Volchenkov Courtesy of Ryan Classic

After the news of the Volchenkov trade, I sent an email to Ryan Classic, one of the writers at SBNation's Ottawa Senators blog, Silver Seven about a quick scouting report on Volchenkov. He was able to give a quick writeup.

Anton is, first and foremost, a shot blocker. Since the NHL started keeping track of the stat in 2005-06, he's blocked 1023 shots; no one else has topped 900. He hits hard, but is also surprisingly disciplined: he's never put up more than 67 penalty minutes, and hasn't topped 40 in the last two seasons. While he's had some injury problems in the last few seasons, you'd be hard-pressed to find many players with higher pain thresholds. His offensive ability leaves something to be desired, but New Jersey didn't sign Volchenkov to man the power play. Because of the wear on his body, it's likely he won't be nearly as effective towards the end of his contract. If he can stay healthy, he's a great number two defenceman at a reasonable price. He's not flashy, but you'll love having him on your team. Don't expect him to do many interviews; English isn't his strong point.

Hope that works for you. The two nicknames he has are The A-Train, and Android. Seriously, this guy will take a puck off the hand, go to the bench bending over in pain, walk through the tunnel, and then come back five minutes later and play the same as ever. We've always joked that he gets replacement shoulder and knee units when he's in the dressing room. I'm going to miss him. He actually signed for less than Ottawa was offering, but the Devils gave him term. Lou probably offered him more years than anyone else would, and Anton probably knew how his body might break down towards the fifth or sixth season. Still, good signing, and I wish him luck.