Fortunately for the Boston Bruins, the diminutive 22-year-old speedster was as smooth with his words as he was with the puck.

"We were definitely concerned about his size and how he'd be able to handle playing against some of the big, physical teams in our league," Boston general manager Mike O'Connell told SportsLine.com about the player's pre-draft interview. "We asked him point-blank about it and he made us believe. He was very, very confident, and that convinced us to take a chance."

Despite his size, Sergei Samsonov has the potential to be a game-breaker.(Allsport)

It was a decision the Bruins have never regretted. Boston made the five-foot-eight, 180-pound left wing the eighth overall pick in the 1997 draft, and he rewarded them by jumping directly into their lineup that fall and going on to win the Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie.

Samsonov scored 22 goals and 47 points in his debut NHL season, and followed it up by averaging the same numbers over the next two years. He has already scored 57 points this year, and according to Bruins coach, Mike Keenan, is still only scratching the surface of his potential.

"He has the kind of skill level to be a very explosive game-breaker like a (Pavel) Bure," said Keenan said. "He's not in that league yet, but when you look at the (Scott) Gomezes and (Alexander) Mogilnys of the world, he could be qualified as part of that group. He's got a real upside to him."

Keenan has helped Samsonov's progress by playing him on a line with veterans Jason Allison and Bill Guerin -- all three of whom appeared in the All-Star Game earlier this month -- and giving him more defensive situational opportunities such as penalty kills. That's something Boston's former coach, Pat Burns, never considered.

"I don't think (Burns) trusted my defense a lot, and I'm not sure if that was fair or not," Samsonov said. "I agree in my first year, I had to learn a lot of defense and the trap, but I think I have learned a lot since then and right now, I think I pretty much have a good idea of what's going on. The most important thing is be consistent and to work hard."

Which is exactly what Samsonov does, Keenan says.

"He's one of those players who shows up and is ready to play 60 minutes every game," Keenan said. "He's a real treat to coach."

Samsonov has been earning the admiration of coaches and scouts ever since he came over to play in the minor leagues just before his 18th birthday, a decision he felt was his best chance to get to the big time.

After an incredible debut season as a junior in Russia when he scored 110 goals in just 50 games, Samsonov graduated to the Russian Elite League in 1995-96. He had another stellar season, but drew little attention while playing for Moscow CSKA, one of the weaker teams in the circuit.

Since he missed the eligibility cutoff date for the 1996 draft, Samsonov had to weigh the option of staying home another year or trying to raise his profile in North America.

"It was a tough situation for me in Russia because I didn't know if (CSKA) would be in the higher or lower division the next year," Samsonov said. "I didn't want to switch teams, so I decided to come over to North America where I could show myself more."

Samsonov tried unsuccessfully to hook on with a North American junior team, ending up instead with the Detroit Vipers of the IHL where he went up against older, more experienced players.

"It was the only league I could get into," he said.

He never looked out of place, according to Steve Ludzik, the recently-fired Tampa Bay Lightning coach who was behind the Vipers bench when Samsonov broke in.

"When his name first came up, I had some reservations because he wasn't even 18 yet," Ludzik said. "But he showed so much talent the way he moved up the ice and found daylight. Not too many people can do that. He looked like he could be an impact player right away."

And he was. Samsonov ended up scoring 29 goals and 64 points in 73 games for the Vipers that season, winning the rookie-of-the-year award and helping Detroit win the league championship. Scouts quickly caught on to him and pegged him to be a high first-round draft choice in spite of his size.

"I knew that wouldn't be a problem for me," Samsonov said. "If you can play this game, it doesn't matter how big you are."