Prospect Info: #69(nice)OA - Hurricanes select LHD Alexander Nikishin (Spartak - KHL)

[DaveG]

6'3 / 190

Plays for Spartak in the KHL

Not known as an offensive defenseman but is well regarded when it comes to his possession game and his shot is solid.

Under contract until 22/23

From his Black Book review:
At 6’3” and almost 200 pounds, Nikishin is a tower of strength. His aggressive style of hitting is elite for this draft class and would be for most of the last few at least. At the junior level, it’s much more pronounced but he’s capable of even knocking pros off their feet. Whether it’s a shoulder or a hip, open ice or along the boards, he’s as fierce of a hitter as anyone is going to find at this age. Remarkably, he keeps his feet in most of these car crashes but can chase around the ice in order to make them.

Click to read more...

 

[w e l o s t b o y s]

 

[GoldiFox]

Apparently has a cardiac issue and can't play until he gets permitted to

 

[A Star is Burns]

Don't know nuffin about him. Big boy, so that's nice.

 

[Unsustainable]

Nice Pick

 

[2Minutes4Surging]

THW Prospect Profile-

Whenever you have a big-bodied teenage defenseman receiving meaningful minutes in one of the top hockey leagues in the world, people will take note. This has been the case for Russian defensive prospect Alexander Nikishin, a 6-foot-3, 196-pound hitting machine who played in nearly 30 games for Spartak Moskva of the KHL in 2019-20.

While he saw little offensive success, posting just three points, he made a number of highlight-reel defensive plays, laying down disruptive hits that helped influence the outcome of games. He is also in line to continue receiving top-four minutes with Moskva in 2020-21, meaning that he will get to continue developing his game against men in the KHL.

This strong play has made Nikishin a very attractive prospect at the 2020 NHL Draft, as teams often fall in love with physical defensemen who can play the body. How high his ceiling is may be in question, however, as he still needs to work on some fundamentals like skating and control to supplement his already great defensive instincts.

 

[Big Daddy Cane]

"I love the fact that the first thing everybody says is 'this guy loves the open-ice hits.'"

- Dave Reid

 

[A Star is Burns]

"I love the fact that the first thing everybody says is 'this guy loves the open-ice hits.'"

- Dave Reid

A little bit of grit in the system isn't a bad thing for sure.

 

[AhosDatsyukian]

Can't say I know much about him but I do like taking a shot on Russians so good pick in my book

 

[2Minutes4Surging]

Alexander "Boom" Nikishin

 

[Surrounded By Ahos]

Alexander "Boom" Nikishin

I randomly clicked around a bit, and at 15 minutes exactly he has a great play. Boops a guy off the puck behind his net, goes end to end and takes a decent sharp angle shot then hustles back to his own zone and decks the guy with the puck.

I like this kid.

 

[Wolfpuck]

Big D

Nice

 

[2Minutes4Surging]

I randomly clicked around a bit, and at 15 minutes exactly he has a great play. Boops a guy off the puck behind his net, goes end to end and takes a decent sharp angle shot then hustles back to his own zone and decks the guy with the puck.

I like this kid.

around 6:00 starts a series of stick-handling clips. This guy has great handles, especially for his size. It is kind of insane.

Quote from THW - "
His hands are those of a top line winger. When he has the puck on his stick, it seems superglued. This allows him to pull off some of the most impressive dekes and zone exits/entries of all draft eligible players, regardless of position."
Alexander Taxman – futurescopehockey.com

 

[vorbis]

some of the plays in that MHL reel are just crazy. he's running roughshod over kids.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

I like guys who already have their own nicknames -- especially nicknames like "BOOM".

 

[CanesFanBudMan]

Other than his size and that he likes to hit the different scouting reports are all over the place

 

[Unsustainable]

I like guys who already have their own nicknames -- especially nicknames like "BOOM".

Boom, Beer Fridge, Poonman, Ironman

Seems like we have them going

 

[Navin R Slavin]

Other than his size and that he likes to hit the different scouting reports are all over the place

For a third round pick, I'll take "big" and "likes to hit" as the consensus any day of the week if he's got some upside.

 

[AhosDatsyukian]

some of the plays in that MHL reel are just crazy. he's running roughshod over kids.

Helps being that big in the MHL

 

[The Faulker]

Great thread on him here. He sounds fun.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Me: “Alexander Nikishin. Never heard of him. But his name is that of a man who loves to knock the **** out of people.”

Minutes later:

"I love the fact that the first thing everybody says is 'this guy loves the open-ice hits.'"

- Dave Reid

 

[Cardiac Jerks]

Great thread on him here. He sounds fun.

Big guy who likes to truck people and isn’t known for his offence is comparable to...pk subban?

The scouting reports are kind of all over the place with this kid.

 

[Surrounded By Ahos]

Me: “Alexander Nikishin. Never heard of him. But his name is that of a man who loves to knock the **** out of people.”

Minutes later:

His name definitely sounds like a giant James Bond henchman who just tosses people out of moving trains.

 

[Chan790]

I like it.

A guy we can count on in a couple years to put Wilson in the front-row seats if he pulls some typical Tom Wilson ****?

I like it a lot.

 

[geehaad]

Big guy who likes to truck people and isn’t known for his offence is comparable to...pk subban?

The scouting reports are kind of all over the place with this kid.

Did you watch the video posted above? That will explain why the scouting reports are all over the place.

When I first saw "big hitter", I thought, 'ah, we played it safe with this one...defensive defenseman'. However, I think this kid fits the mold of "high ceiling, may never make it" players we're stockpiling. Get to the 6:00 mark of that video, where the stickhandling starts. It's seriously impressive. From there, it's scoring plays, end-to-end rushes, and O zone play...all of which will leave you in love with this kid. Then "the bad" starts at 18:56, and...there's some bad, for sure. A bit of the classic trying to do too much, but also a lotta flubs.

I hope no one tries to break the spirit this kid obviously has, putting him in the box where he attempts to make zero mistakes. It appears that he will still be making mistakes 10 years from now, but he's going to make himself some tremendous highlight-reel plays too. That ratio is going to be a big indicator of his longevity as a pro.