The Muskegon Lumberjacks turned heads Wednesday when the club announced that it has plans to add 2025 NHL Draft prospect Ivan Ryabkin to its roster in the near future.

In FloHockey’s too-early top 10 rankings for the NHL Draft, Ryabkin was ranked No. 4. While we haven’t done our early-season ranking yet, Ryabkin is expected to remain a candidate for the first round. Should he land with Muskegon, it’s a major coup for both the Lumberjacks and the USHL as a whole.

According to the team’s announcement, Ryabkin has been "added," but there will be a few more hurdles to clear before the talented forward can suit up.

"We are excited about the opportunity to add Ivan to our program." Said Lumberjacks President Steve Lowe in a statement released by the club. "We expect Ivan to be here in the next couple of weeks after he competes for Team Russia at the end of the month. We still have several steps to go in order for Ivan to wear a Lumberjack uniform, but it does look promising.”

The Lumberjacks have made a pair of roster moves including the addition of Ivan Ryabkin and a trade with the Sioux Falls Stampede.

Visit our website for more information, https://t.co/MjAniXZXcK #ChopChop | #GetJACKD | #USHL | #Hockey pic.twitter.com/j7vbkfM8PF

— Muskegon Lumberjacks (@MuskegonJacks) October 16, 2024

So what are the things that could potentially stand in the way of Ryabkin coming to Muskegon? Namely, contractual obligations.

Why Ryabkin's Arrival In Muskegon Is Net Yet Certain

According to his player page on the KHL's website, Ryabkin is under contract until May 31, 2027. If Dynamo has a professional contract with him that they wish to enforce, he will not likely be able to leave. However, as we’ve seen in recent months with a number of players, KHL teams are becoming more apt to terminate agreements with players if their intention is to go to North America. But no two situations are the same.

The Philadelphia Flyers were able to get Matvei Michkov over two seasons earlier than expected. He just scored his first two NHL goals Tuesday night.

Russian reporters quickly contacted officials with Dynamo Moscow to confirm or deny that Ryabkin was leaving. According to their GM, the club expects him to continue with their VHL team, which is Russia's second pro division and essentially the minors for the KHL.

According to the Moscow Dynamo GM Alexei Sopin Ivan Ryabkin, top-5 favorite of the #NHLDraft2025, is sent to the farm team in the VHL (2nd tier Russian pro league) and stays in the system, not going overseas https://t.co/sEuxFiuFg9

— Daria Tuboltseva (@DariaTuboltseva) October 16, 2024

While that may be the case now, there's always the possibility things could change as they did, unexpectedly with Michkov. But no two situations are alike. Additionally, even though Russia is currently barred from international competition, the IIHF still has jurisdiction in international contract transfer matters. With Muskegon and the USHL being under the USA Hockey umbrella, there are transfer rules that would have to be abided by for Ryabkin to be eligible to play.

So this is far from over in terms of when and even if Ryabkin can come to the Lumberjacks.

Muskegon has long been a destination for higher-end Russian prospects. NHL star Andrei Svechnikov played for Muskegon in his U17 season, while Calgary Flames first-round draft pick Matvei Gridin spent the previous two seasons with the Lumberjacks. The team also was expecting to land current Hershey Bears star Ivan Miroshnichenko, who is a first-round pick of the Washington Capitals, a few years back before visa issues prevented that connection from happening.

Why is Ryabkin such a highly-regarded prospect?

Last season, Ryabkin outscored Matvei Michkov’s under-17 point total in the MHL, Russia’s top U20 league, with 58 points in 44 games. The 17-year-old appeared in two KHL games earlier this season with Dynamo Moscow and already had eight assists in nine games with their MHL side MHK Dynamo Moskva. 

Ryabkin, however, has been a healthy scratch for a few games and there had been rumblings that his draft stock was about to take a tumble. 

When a player is part of a professional club system as Ryabkin is, there's a lot of different things the team may try to do to get the most out of him. It doesn't always mesh with what's best for a player's draft stock and sometimes it doesn't really seem to mesh with what's best for that player's overall development.

We see examples of this all the time. Right now, Ivan Demidov -- the No. 5 overall draft pick by the Montreal Canadiens in June -- is seeing limited minutes in the KHL when SKA St. Petersburg plays the best teams. He's getting parked on the bench the year before he's supposed to come over to North America and join the Montreal organization. It's not ideal.

The reason we've seen more Russian players come over at younger ages, often playing U15 hockey in the United States or Canada, is to get out of that system and have a bit more control over their developmental path by getting into the North American system sooner. That allows them to get onto junior teams and some have taken the route to gain college eligibility as well.

This practice has not gone over particularly well in Russia.

So What Happens Next?

Your guess is as good as mine. There's a chance that Ryabkin's representation wanted Muskegon to announce this news to put some public pressure on Dynamo Moscow to make a decision with the young player. However, should Dynamo feel they have a contractual claim to the player, this transaction or transfer may never happen.

As for Muskegon, it's an almost no-risk situation. Should Ryabkin get released and come over, the team gets a premium talent that will help them on the ice and potentially get some nice publicity come draft time. If he doesn't come over, all it really cost Muskegon was clearing a roster spot to make room for Ryabkin. If they don't get him to come, they should be able to find a replacement.

The next few weeks could be a little bit tense as Dynamo Moscow has already mobilized through the Russian media to stake their claim to the player.  Should Ryabkin be released from his Russian contractual obligations, however, the Lumberjacks are potentially adding one of the more dynamic players in the 2025 NHL Draft class.

We'll keep our eyes on this ongoing situation.

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