My consistency has wavered in updating the KHL series on this site since the Gagarin Cup playoffs began due to academic obligations. However, I have been watching the postseason closely. SKA Saint Petersburg’s last 16 matchup against Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod got off to an ignominious start, as they dropped a 5-2 result in a game wherein they were simply outclassed. However, in Game 2, they had an epic double overtime duel with Torpedo yielded by them erasing a 2-0 Torpedo lead, eventually emerging victorious on a Vasily Glotov goal. Since that Game 1 embarrassment in the first ever postseason match at the new, state-of-the-art SKA Arena, they have not tasted defeat, winning Games 3 and 4 by 4-1 and 5-2 scores, respectively. That classic postseason hockey game in the second match was not only a catalyst for a bounceback, but featured a masterclass in durability by the clear best blueliner on the squad. 22-year-old world class prospect Alexander Nikishin (Carolina, 69th overall, 2020 NHL Entry Draft). The future Hurricane logged a game-high 39:44 TOI, which was additionally team-best for SKA by over four minutes as Artyom Sergeyev logged 35:18 for second-most on the long night. Nikishin has been nothing but reliable for SKA since he joined them last season after a gigantic trade between SKA and his former club Spartak Moscow. We will look at just what he has accomplished since joining the club, particularly examining his performance in this incumbent campaign.

Originally a product of rival CSKA Moscow’s development system, the 2001-born Orel native made his debut in the KHL with capital rivals Spartak in the 2019-20 season. Over the ensuing couple of years, he showed some promise with the physical tools he has always had but was quiet on the point scoring front, tallying just 8 points in 49 games. This, of course, did not preclude Don Waddell from choosing him with the third round selection acquired from Buffalo in the Jeff Skinner trade. He was placed 24th in the final European skaters ranking for his class, but his value would prove to be much higher than that in the long run. Nikishin had his first productivity bump in the 2021-22 season, posting 8 goals and 4 assists in 46 appearances. This would precede the transaction that would alter his trajectory and his performance forever.

A grand total of five players under contract and the rights to an additional four playing in North America were acquired from SKA in exchange for Nikishin, and, per SKA’s statement at the time, hefty monetary compensation. While none of the players surrendered by SKA had significant star power or proven status, they certainly believed in what they were getting. They would prove to be validated, as the defenseman would explode in the 2022-23 campaign, tallying 55 points in 65 games – absolutely breaking his established offensive ceiling. He was a key part in SKA’s Continental Cup conquest that season and, while his productivity did take a hit come playoff time, lowering from 0.846 PPG to 0.50 (8 points in 16 matches), he was a clear component of their success from beginning to end.

This season, the versatile defender – who can terrify opponents equally by brute force and with his skill with the puck (or by teeing up and launching a gigantic one-time slap shot – A powerful weapon of his that was on display during the hardest shot comp chapter of the skills portion of this year’s KHL All-Star festivities) – had a simply historic campaign. On February 9th, he passed the threshold for most goals by a SKA defenseman in a single regular season with his 16th tally, which also accounted for his fifth goal inside the last minute of regulation of the campaign – Another record for the franchise (per @HockeyNewsHub on X – His account is currently private, we recommend following him). He also reached 100 career KHL assists within this season, in addition to becoming the club’s leader in career regular season points by a defenseman when he reached 111 (per their press release congratulating him on his phenomenal season, this exceeded the previous record of 110 held by Dmitry Kalinin). All told, he reached that mark in 132 games played in a SKA uniform, in contrast with Kalinin’s 249. His 56 points this season also led Roman Rotenberg’s squad, which, per SKA’s press release, marked the first time a defenseman had ever been the team-leader in points. This all has come before the age of 23. This pace for becoming one of the best talents in the KHL is actually faster than those of most prodigal Russian hockey talents.

After all this, what’s next for the young two-way threat who was placed at fourth (a 65 spot jump up) in Corey Pronman’s re-draft for 2020 and 18th in Scott Wheeler’s? His contract with SKA expires upon the conclusion of the 2024-25 season. It is at this point he is believed to be expected to sign his ELC with Carolina. His adjustment should not be too, too difficult to the North American game. The majority of his matches the last two years have been played on an ice surface that is approximately the same size as an NHL rink with SKA having adapted 60x26m dimensions in the 2019-20 season (the standard increasingly for the KHL has become either NHL dimensions or the Finnish model, which is wider but the same length – Per Alexander Appleyard at PHLY Sports, Torpedo are, incidentally, the sole club using international dimensions). The expectations for his profile, meanwhile, are going to be high right from the jump and not without good reason. Consult Hurricanes creator The Warning Take’s phenomenal thread on his skill set: You can see that the guy is a force who is excellent at preventing penetration, while being a threat in just about any way you need in transition and in the offensive zone. He also broke down a significant amount of tape on him in this video. He has so many facets to his game and has put them together to great success. The return for Jeff Skinner already yielded netminder Pyotr Kochetkov, who has made a largely very good impression in the early phases of his NHL career. If Nikishin becomes even so much as an All-Star blueliner under Rod Brind’amour (who almost definitely will be paid up and kept as head coach in Carolina after what he has done to restore the franchise to relevance), the win for the Canes will only be more emphatic.