TRADE: RATTLERS ACQUIRE STEPAN TIMOFEYEV
(Bradford, ON, July 30, 2016)
The Bradford Rattlers have made another blockbuster trade to acquire the playing rights of Tottenham Steam star forward Stepan Timofeyev. Timofeyev was a deadline pickup by the Steam last season, wearing #22 for the championship winning club.
Timofeyev was the leading scorer of both the Steam and entire Russell Cup Playoffs. His 49 points (23g, 26a) in 22 playoff games was a key reason behind the Steam winning the league championship. In 9 regular season games, Stepan had 25 points.
Tottenham had named him MVP of their playoff run as an organization.
Stepan is a '95 born winger from St. Petersburg, Russia. Speaking about the trade, General Manager Sean Werth explained that while having Stepan's playing rights with the Rattlers, the club is still working to have him in pro hockey this season: "Stepan is a complete player with elite offensive ability -- he has outstanding leadership abilities, grit, intensity and a work ethic is second to none. He has already won a championship here, so myself, Matt Hamilton (Head Coach) and many others are working hard to advance him, but if we wanted Stepan to have a safe place with the Rattlers if things don't work in pro."
Stepan has had a busy off-season, skating with the ECHL's Brampton Beast, Ryerson University CIS, along with seeing interest from SPHL and FHL. The Rattlers are continuing to try to find Stepan a pro contract.
The Rattlers could have a large Russian flavour this season. Returning are Russian's Egor Kurbatov and Khassan Al-Dzhilaui while Earlier in the off-season, Bradford acquired Slava Chegrintcev from the Alliston Coyotes -- another elite Russian scoring forward who put up 136 points last season and the GMHL MVP.
Stepan and Slava played for the Rattlers AAA prospect team earlier this off-season, dominating the Carnevale Showcase Tournament in Toronto.
With training camp less than one month away, the squad is nearly complete and looking strong.
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