Nikita Filatov is quickly earning the trust of coach Ken Hitchcock.
"Up until yesterday, I would have said he'd be a player on the learning curve for us this season," Hitchcock said. "I would have said he has a lot to learn, and he's going to be in and out (of the lineup). He certainly has top-end skill, and we're going to need it, but it's whether he's up to (NHL) speed. But you know what, in the last two games, he's really gotten up to speed. He's a dangerous player, but he's really competing at a much higher level now, and he's been effective. He looks like somebody who is pushing for work now on a full-time basis." Filatov's improved play may bump R.J. Umberger down to the third line at the start of the season; leaving the 18-year-old Russian on a unit with Antoine Vermette and Jakub Voracek. Source: Columbus Dispatch
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