The Greatest Defenseman in SKA History

Undebatable fact at this point

By Nick Bass

 

I’ll admit, I wasn’t fully invested in the Carolina Hurricanes drafts during the late 2010s/2020. I was a teenager, going through graduating high school and going to college (which of course went without a hitch, obviously). Matt Somma was still running the Prospect account and I had just started getting into prospects for a fan blog. 2020 was the first draft I truly cared about, but it was mainly because I wanted Yaroslav Askarov pretty badly.

Obviously, the Canes took Seth Jarvis, which has turned out to be spectacular. He’s been a great NHL player so far and has proven to be a core piece of the franchise for a long, long time.

The 2nd round pick, Noel Gunler, is in his 2nd AHL stint and has shown some good progression after spending the past 2 years injured. His shot is undeniable and his offensive instincts are good, but he needs to continue rounding out the rest of his game.

4th round pick Zion Nybeck never really put it all together. 50+ games at the SHL level with only 8 points to show, while also not playing in the SHL since 2021. 6th round pick Lucas Mercuri has actually had some nice development since being drafted and has a good shot to earn an entry level contract.

The first of the 7th round picks, Alexander Pashin, didn’t look comfortable in the AHL and decided to head back to Russia, where he is turning in his best pro season. The last pick of their draft, Ronan Seeley, is an amazing story who has been a nice stabilizing presence for the Chicago Wolves in the AHL over the past 3 years.

But the 3rd round pick, the 69th overall pick (nice), has turned into something undeniable. A near mythical player until the ink dries on a contract. But now, he’s achieved something more, becoming the greatest player at his position in his team’s history.

Alexander Nikishin. Sasha Nikishin. Sanya Nikishin. “Boom”. “The best prospect outside the NHL.” Whatever you want to call him. He’s become the best defenseman in SKA St. Petersburg history and there is no argument. At just 23-years old, he’s become undeniable.

Some backstory, FCHockey ranked Nikishin 100th overall in the 2020 draft. Elite Prospects, from what I can tell, didn’t have him ranked. McKeen’s hockey ranked him 167th overall. NHL Central Scouting ranked him as the 24th best skater! In all of Europe.

In his DY, he played in 29 KHL games and had 3 assists. I’ve always said that anytime you find a 17, 18, or 19 year old player getting decent time in the top league in a country, that’s always a good thing. He only averaged 9:30 TOI in those games, which isn’t great but again, he was 19. From Lassi Alanen’s tracking data in Nikishin’s draft year:

His offense STUNK! He struggled making passes, he was shooting low quality shots, he struggled in transition. The transition game was slightly better at the MHL level, but still not great. But! He could play defense. He had an advanced knowledge of how to effectively use his body to create space, while also being great and preventing entries.

Important to note with his offense, Spartak didn’t even use him on the power play until about halfway through his D+1. Even worse, Spartak used him as a net front guy. I understand he’s a big body, but maybe don’t do that?

The next 2 years were more or less the same, decent defense but not a ton of offense (66 games, 9 goals, 8 assists, 17 points). His ice time slowly started to increase, going from 9:30 in his DY, to 12:04 in his D+1, to 19:10! in his D+2.

He was selected for the 2021-22 Olympic Games, where he earned a Silver medal. This is where his breakout really started. His role slowly increased until he was playing 19 minutes a night. Easily one of the countries best defensive defenseman, Nikishin ended as a +2 against good competition.

SKA leadership took notice and decided to make a move for the defensemen, making one of the largest trades over the past decade in the KHL. SKA traded NINE, yes 9, players and 50 million rubles (equivalent to around 500k USD now, or something around 681k in 2022, don’t quote me) for the rights to Nikishin, in which they promptly signed him to a 3 year contract.

In that following year, while averaging 22:53 TOI a night, he found it. He put it all together. In 65 regular season games, Nikishin had 11 goals and 44 assists for 55 points. He was also a +19 on the season. Top 10 in regular season scoring, top in scoring by a defenseman in the KHL, his average of .85 points per game sits 7th all time in a single season. But, the 55 points sits as the 4th most productive season by a defenseman in KHL history.

After a disappointing loss in the conference final to the eventual champions, CSKA, and a nice 8 points in 16 games, Nikishin wanted more. Going into the next season, Nikishin was named the captain of SKA at the ripe age of 22. The youngest captain in the history of SKA St. Petersburg. So, what does he do?

In 67 regular season games, he goes out and puts up 17 goals and 39 assists for 56 points, somehow one-upping himself. He was a +32! in this time. His 56 points stands 3rd all time in KHL history. The 56 points would be 10th in the KHL in scoring and he would be clear of 2nd place by 11 points.

This season, it’s been more of the same level of dominance Canes fans have come to almost expect. A concussion and a injury from last season’s playoff run took away parts of his season, but it has barely slowed the kid down. In 47 games, Nikishin has 13 goals and 22 assists for 35 points. What more can you ask for?

His production begs the question, where does he rank all time in SKA defenseman history?

Points: 146 (1st)

Goals: 41 (T-1st)

Assists: 105 (1st)

What’s more impressive about this production is that he’s done it in 3 years. Second place, Dmitri Kalinin, has 36 less points in 2 more seasons than Nikishin. In his SKA career, he’s averaging .82 points per game, only beaten by Tony Deangelo, who only played 34 games before, well, you’ve seen it.

What does Nikishin do well? His passing is great, having both the ability to lace a touch pass from anywhere on the ice or just send a bullet at someone’s stink. His shot is INSANE. One of the biggest developments has the been the near pinpoint accuracy he can place a shot. He’s been able to find the lower corners around screens like there isn’t a goalie in the net.

Oh, he also won the hardest shot competition at the KHL All Star game in 2023 with a shot that registered 168.28 km/h, or 104.56 mph.

Defensively, he’s incredibly adept at using his body to just disconnect a player from the puck. In other words, he lays the body well and a lot. He developed the nickname “Boom” on social media because he would absolutely throw a player around like a ragdoll. His hip checks, while sometimes could be classified as illegal in the eyes of NHL referees, are absolutely violent.

The only real downside that is in Nikishin’s game is that he’s not a fast skater. He has real power in his stride and it’s not like he’s going to fly around guys at 6’4, 215 pounds. As an example, his top speed in his most recent game was 32 km/h, which is around 19 mph. 39-year old Brent Burns has 172 bursts of speed between 18-20 mph (NHL Edge).

All in all, the now 23-year old captain of one of the biggest teams in all of Russia now owns first place in most statistical categories in team history. His two-way game is something to behold, having the ability to quarterback a top power play and be one of the first penalty killers over the boards. Oh, and his contract runs out at the end of his season.