Prospect Info: #69(nice)OA - Hurricanes select LHD Alexander Nikishin (Spartak - KHL)
- Thread starter DaveG
- Start date
Sombastate
Registered User
I'm going to be entirely transparent, I'm only asking because someone is offering him to me in a dynasty league, but I've also been very interested in him as a prospect.
What are his strengths and weaknesses and are you guys anticipating a True Blue #1? A top Pairing?
Thanks in advance!
What are his strengths and weaknesses and are you guys anticipating a True Blue #1? A top Pairing?
Thanks in advance!
board rule - you have to tell us the name of your fantasy team first. then, maybe, you get answers.
Sombastate
Registered User
Bamberg Badger Hounds
I have Weiner dogs, my fiancé is from Germany and I have EVERY German player in the league. So I molded my entire team after the German identity (also have the two Austrians).
For further reference, the guy loves Faber, I have Faber and he offered me Kulich, Catton and Nikishin for Faber and Foerster
AhosDatsyukian
Registered User
- Sep 25, 2020
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Full disclaimer I may be his biggest fan/advocate here and have been for a long time (since first watching him the year after we drafted him before he truly broke out).
Important to note absolutely nobody can really predict the KHL to NHL transition perfectly. But the way he projects based on his KHL play the last few years is as a true bonafide #1 do everything D. He's a different style of player but in terms of overall impact on the ice in different aspects of the position Hedman comes to mind. He has a rocket of a slapshot and wrister that is very accurate for a D man, pretty good puck handling and great vision/puck movement.
Defensively he could come over next year and immediately be the biggest hitter in the league, depending on how much leeway he is given. Dude goes for massive hits from all angles and lays guys out regularly in ways rarely seen these days in the NHL. I suspect Rod will rein that in a bit though. He's got good stick work and positioning in the D zone and is obviously a big guy with a big reach.
I can't think of anything that one could consider a weakness of his. His upside is a top 5-10 league wide player. Incredible leader for his young age. I suspect there's a chance he's brought in a bit slower than most would hope/expect so I don't expect him to step in and immediately be putting up elite scoring production like he has in the K, I think a safe bet his first year here would be 35-45 points, a lot of hits and a great +/- playing on a good team. Probably quite a bit of PIM early on. Will be really interesting to see how long it takes him to pick up Rod's system and how well he'll fit in it. On the surface it seems like a perfect fit and the system allowing D men to jump into the play much more could unlock even more of his offensive potential. But we have to actually see it happen before I make any claims.
I've been trying to temper my expectations with him for 3 years now but his play on the ice is making that damn difficult.
