Steep climb slowed down for the time being: ZSC young star Ustinkov (17) has to wait at the back

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There was a great surprise when ZSC coach Marc Crawford pulled 16-year-old Daniil Ustinkov out of the hat a year ago and deployed him in the National League. He played five games in qualifying and was then sent back onto the ice for three games in the play-offs. When things picked up again in the fall, the defensive gem was back, playing a total of 18 games — even if the ice time was rarely plentiful.

The rapid development of the Swiss talent with Russian origins has also been registered in North America. Numerous NHL scouts found their way to Zurich to take a closer look at Ustinkov; according to many reports, he was not only traded as the Swiss No. 1, but also as a first-round draft pick for the summer of 2024.

Overtaken by Leon Muggli from Zug

But during the U20 World Cup in Sweden around the turn of the year, the rapid rise of ZSC talent was slowed down. Ustinkov was not used again in the quarter-finals against Sweden (2:3 nV). “In the end we had six defenders who were a little further along in their maturation process than him. Daniil is still very young and still needs some time,” said U20 national coach Marcel Jenni afterwards.

Even after his return to Switzerland, Ustinkov’s ice hockey world suddenly no longer looked pink. He slipped down the NHL scouting lists behind Zug’s Leon Muggli (17), who impressed at the U20 World Cup. And in the ZSC defense, Jan Schwendeler (20) took his chance during Ustinkov’s absence and played strongly. Timo Bünzli (19), on whom Jenni relied until the end of the U20 World Cup, also got his first chance in the National League.

Ustinkov, who was also ill in January, had to go to the GCK Lions. But on Tuesday, in the first play-off quarter-final against Sierre (7:5), he was suddenly considered surplus even in the Swiss league. What’s happening there?

The prestige object of the ZSC?

“Ustinkov was only surplus because he only returned from the USA with the U18 national team on Sunday. He is going to play again,” explains ZSC sports director Sven Leuenberger (54). But he also admits that personal development is currently an issue for Ustinkov, “he cannot live on his great talent alone.” Leuenberger also points out that it is completely normal for young people this age to have ups and downs. «It can’t always be a steep climb. That wasn’t even possible for Roman Josi at the time, even when he was sent from SCB to Neuchâtel in the NLB.”

Behind closed doors, the ZSC Lions are occasionally accused of making Ustinkov their prestige object that they like to show off, even though it would actually make more sense for his development if he played for the GCK Lions and got a lot of ice time there. Leuenberger has no understanding for such criticism: “For us, the performance principle applies and Ustinkov played with us at the beginning of the season because he was furthest away from the young defenders at that time.”

What matters now is that Ustinkov can stabilize after the somewhat difficult past weeks, “and the National League is not the best place to find stability.” Ustinkov will therefore first play the play-offs with the GCK Lions before returning to ZSC after the season. And at the end of April, another big highlight awaits the future hope, whose contract with the Lions expires at the end of the season, with the U18 World Cup.

Blick will broadcast the National League clash ZSC Lions – Bern live on Friday. The broadcast starts at 7:25 PM.

Source : Blick