Why would he get no assignments? Kovtun, Voronov, and Menshov have two assignments. Who else would they send in Artur's stead? It's not like they have a huge pipeline in men the way they do in ladies. And c'mon, what's the point of getting TAT as a coach if she can't even politik you into one spot?
I'm not sure if the Skate America field will be easy though. True, Nam and Pitkeev are likely too young and inexperienced, and we can probably count on Abbott to bomb (*sigh*). But Machida and Ten likely will place 1-2. Artur can get bronze if he fends off Jason--I dunno what kind of shape Jason will show up in next season, jumps-wise--will he attempt the quad, or will try to do a clean all-triple performance? Anyway, it'll be really exciting.
Artur's World Ranking and Season's Bests are so low, I wasn't sure. Plus he still seems to be persona non grata with the fed for the Nice fiasco. Hopefully Tat's politiking works well for both his head and his performances!
If Artur can skate clean, he can do - and routinely does - a two-quad long and a one-quad short. Even during his "worst" period last year he still did a two-quad two-3A long two weeks before Nationals. That is always going to help, and we know TAT has been working on his SS...yes, I think SkAm can be a good launchpad for him. He's away from the other powerhouse Russians, he doesn't have to face Max...I have everything crossed for him.