It just shows you what a mess things currently are in Russian ice dancing.
Nobody is standing out in the pack yet. I think the Russian fed. are hoping S/K are then one but their partnership is still young. B/S have the most experience so their fighting based on that. And of course there are others as well. So at the moment it appears like the fed. isn't pushing any team hard yet and are just waiting to see before they make a move. That would benefit S/K or I/Z more then it would B/S.
I agree. This would benefit SK and IZ the most.
Russian ice dance is a bit undecided. It's kind of funny, I had practically written SK off after their performance last year, but I guess I was wrong. They are back and doing well. Objectively, I see them much improved from last year.
Strangely, I thought for sure I would be seeing IZ fight for the Euro podium this year but they didn't even make the team this year. And although I think IZ maybe should have made the team over SB, I can't say that I was super impressed by IZ this year, even though I like them as a team.
So, yes, pretty open ended for the Russians. Interested to see what happens.