1 - Alexander Nikishin - D - KHL - Carolina Hurricanes 3rd rounder in 2020
It’s been a whale of a season for the 21-year-old former Olympian. He’s not only leading SKA in defensive scoring, but the entire KHL. In fact, he’s 6th overall in KHL scoring as we write this. The number of defensemen who collect 52 points in a KHL season can be counted on one hand every season and he’s got just that already in 63 contests. Heck, he’s just 13 points away from the KHL’s single season record for defensemen. All that’s accompanied by a +20 in a league where only a handful of players even have a +20 and he’s a key component of the league’s most prominent power play. His mobility and hockey sense rank him among the best in the KHL and we’ve really got to insist that everyone once again realize that he’s just 21. We all know Carolina has a prospect bin as full as anyone, but Nikishin’s prospect development is something that can change a team’s plans. Now, can Carolina get him over?
This isn’t the best goal Nikishin has scored this season, but we like seeing such mobility from a young man this size. Putting the biscuit in the toy department from that spot isn’t too shabby either.
2 - William Wallinder - D - SHL - Detroit Red Wings 2nd rounder in 2020
Wallinder already broke through last season and established himself as a top six defenseman for a very potent Rogle club that made its way to the final four in the SHL playoffs. His 20 points in 60 games were an above-average total for a 19-year-old, even if his role was diminished in the playoffs. Enter the 22-23 season. Now he’s manning the point on the first power play unit and is regularly seeing over 20 minutes of ice time a game, having hit the 24-minute mark 11 times this season. To be clear, Rogle is not playing up to expectations and while providing ice time to a myriad of prospects, they’ve spent much of the season outside of a playoff spot. Still a bit lanky, Wallinder has regularly engaged himself in the rush and has seen his blueline play as a puck distributor enhance in leaps and bounds. His six goals and 24 points in 44 games have him way ahead of last season’s pace. He’s also been willing to throw his weight around, although careful to pick the right times to do so. One has to think that he’s in North America next season but expect him to take the reverse-Seider path to the NHL, meaning Rogle -> AHL -> NHL - and not the other way around.
Here’s one of his early season goals this year and it’s been one of his prettiest to date. The hands are there, and we’re excited to see how he makes use of them in North America when there’s generally less time and space to work with.
3 - Marat Khusnutdinov - C - KHL - Minnesota Wild 2nd rounder in 2020
The season started out with Khusnutdinov playing his typical humble role for powerhouse SKA, but he slowly started building up the stats and has been just en fuego since the calendar flipped to 2023. His role has increased, and he’s not only gotten power play time, but a consistent 16+ minutes of ice time per not. That’s never a given when you’re his age playing for a veteran-laden team that hosts plenty of offensive weapons. After a nice 16-point rookie season (51 total games), Khusnutdinov has blown those stats out of the water having notched 11-30-41 in 62 games this year, adding a respectable +13 in the process. In his 17 games in 2023, he’s accumulated 13 of those points. Despite what looked like injury in his game last Saturday, he promptly returned early this week and collected two assists.
When he was drafted, there were visions of plays like this coming from the small, but crafty forward who was denoted for playmaking skills. This doesn’t result in a goal, but maybe it would if he’s making such passes to players like Kirill Kaprizov.
Later in this game we see him darting from deep in his zone right on into the opposition zone. We won’t worry about the poor defensive structure of the opponent leading to this goal as we’re much more enthusiastic about Khusnutdinov accepting this pass and turning it into a rapidly released wrister that left the goaltender with little chance.
4 - Patrik Puistola - W - Liiga - Carolina Hurricanes 3rd rounder in 2019
In his draft year, the average built Puistola was considered a bit of a fan favorite among friends of the draft who are always looking for kids who look like mid-round gems. Five goals at the U18 Worlds coming off a season that saw him take the second tier Mestis by storm with 18 goals and 33 points in 30 total games will certainly do that. Since then, Puistola has slowly but surely established himself as a Liiga level player, with an eight-point WJC performance sprinkled in back in 2020. At the moment, he finds himself at his statistical pinnacle with 15 goals and 36 points in 54 games, considerably topping the 27 points he had in 61 total contests last season. Moreover, he’s his (young) team’s top scorer, leading the way in both the regular season and in Champions Hockey League play (eight points in nine games). What has us a bit excited is that the 22-year-old Finn has an imposing wrist shot. He uses it too seldom, but it’s there and it’s deadly. For that matter, the same can be said about his one-timer. He can let it rip when fed properly. But if Carolina brings him over, they’ll want to be tickling these kinds of shots out of him more often in the smaller rinks. It may be the difference between success and failure in North America.
It goes without saying that top scorer Puistola has got a nice role right on the first power play unit. He assumes the Tim Stützle position that makes use of his lefty shot on the left-hand side of the offensive zone. We see goals like this and that’s exactly the type of sniping we’re envisioning from him with the Hurricanes organization.
5 - Shakir Mukhamadullin - D - KHL - New Jersey Devils 1st rounder in 2020 - Traded to the San Jose Sharks, February 26th, 2023
His name is surely not the sexiest on this list, much less the easiest to spell, but Mukhamadullin’s steps in development this season simply cannot be overlooked. When drafted, it was never really a question of tools, but all about whether there’d be a toolbox. After some good stints being levied out by more bland periods of play over the past few seasons, things have gone click this year to the tune of six goals, 19 points, and a fantastic +17 in 65 games. More importantly, he’s understanding his big frame better. His body control has been more mature and comfortable. He’s very busy in his zone, placing renewed faith in his breakout abilities, but keeps a ton of pucks in the opposition zone while on the attack. In essence, he’s already showing why New Jersey was so willing to daringly take him where they did back in the truly unique 2020 draft. San Jose had to be impressed with the development and included him as a key piece in a massive package for Timo Meier. There’s no telling what the plan is moving forward as he has not yet signed an ELC and the wave hanging over Russian prospects is considerable.
Part of Mukhamadullin feeling good in his body has been the willingness to check. These are the kind of rush-ending hits we love to see from defensemen his age.
At the same time, he’s shown incredible confidence with the puck, even in situations where you’d think he would best be served playing it safe. But how can you not be impressed with moves and results like this?
Honorable mention: Emil Andrae (PHI, SHL), Semyon Chistyakov (NAS, KHL), Alex Chmelevski (SJS, KHL), Calle Clang (ANA, SHL), Arseni Gritsyuk (NJD, KHL), Dennis Hildeby (TOR, SHL), Roni Hirvonen (TOR, Liiga), Niko Huuhtanen (TBL, Liiga), Marco Kasper (DET, SHL), Alexei Kolosov (PHI, KHL), Nikolai Kovolenko (COL, KHL), Carl Lindbom (VGK, HockeyAllsvenskan), Leevi Merilainen (OTT, Liiga), Sergei Murashov (PIT, MHL), Zion Nybeck (CAR, HockeyAllsvenskan), Noah Ostlund (BUF, HockeyAllsvenskan), Nikola Pasic (NJD, HockeyAllsvenskan), Dmitri Rashevsky (WIN, KHL), Ilya Safanov (CHI, KHL)
