But there were basically no drafted defensemen out of the KHL who reached his level. Who's even his closest comparable? Yes, a bunch of undrafted guys like Zaitsev or Antipin were stars in the KHL but their pedigree was very different.
The question is is Nikishin in the KHL that long because he doesn't have that pedigree of a Sergachev? All the other comparables jumped at 19-21. 21 was when Nikishin broke out. Sergachev won the cup at that age. Or is it because he felt it was the best development opportunity? It wasn't a Zaitsev situation where nobody drafted him and nobody wanted him. His explosion also went hand-in-hand with moving to SKA, getting to play with his pick of the best KHL forwards. Same team that were so deep they were able to play mind games with Michkov and Demidov. I know the argument is a the year he led SKA in scoring, but a common theme is Nikishin played all the games and most forwards sat at least 10-15, showing they were resting guys. Team also got cratered in the playoffs as the heavy favourites multiple times with Nikishin playing the most minutes. Obviously he signed the SKA deal at 20 because Carolina wasn't interested then.
You're right though, there is essentially no comparable at D. That's why skepticism is founded though. Who knows what the first of his kind is going to do? It's not even hating. There's just a wild amount of hype and shitposting involved with Nikishin. It's very unlikely he becomes Pronger-like. I don't think Victor Hedman is even as good as Pronger, and Pronger was the lite version of Larry Robinson. I don't think Nikishin is a top 3 prospect but he might become a real immediate top 4 threat. And it
would be a disappointment if he didn't because he'll be 24 starting next season. His stats hitting a wall in the KHL also suggest that he is just as reliant on his forwards for creating offense.
But he's nothing like Hutson who led his top 3 ranked NCAA team in scoring as a rookie and set the record for best rookie season. The merits of their accomplishments are completely different, but for some reason it's become "if hutson can do it nikishin can do it". As if Hutson didn't do more with lesser team mates. Hutson matched Nikishin's totals in the KHL last season with 30 less games played, they're not even remotely comparable with the puck. Which is why I think you're seeing so much backlash to Nikishin's hype team. Cause Hutson passed Makar and Hughes in the NCAA and now the NHL for rookie seasons. Directly comparable. Hutson directly outplayed Norris winning dmen comparable to their play at his age. There's never been a Russian Norris winner. Zubov's single third place and Konstantinov's likely undeserved second place finish (Lidstrom gapped him in all comparable metrics and started his dominance over top 3 Norris finishes the next season. Bowman even matched Lidstrom up against the "Legion of Doom" and obliterated them) are the only instances.
Meanwhile, Damir Sharipzyanov is having better KHL seasons than Nikishin, and he was a pretty mid prospect in both the OHL and NHL. LA sent him down to the ECHL even and he became a #1D in the KHL within two years. Trevor Murphy is leading his KHL team in scoring. Tons of d in fact are having randomly huge breakouts in the KHL since less imports have been willing to go to the KHL due to the Ukraine war. It kinda just hints that the KHL is a weaker league now, as a lot of teams used their imports on dmen in the past. Plus the sheer number of top Russian goalies that are playing in the NHL. Yes he's 29, but Nikishin is pretty close to the ripeness of his prime.
But who knows. if Rod the Bod ever puts Nikishin in he might immediately be their best dman. I can't imagine he doesn't ask for a trade if he gets 0 playoff games in while watching less-ready Demidov get prime minutes and thrown back on the ice even after costly turnovers to increasing confidence and ice time each game. Which you would think is the opposite since Carolina are heavy favourites over an injured New Jersey and would be the easiest series to break Nikishin into, while Montreal are fighting for their lives and would theoretically want all the experience they can get. SKA didn't even release Gritsyuk early when the Devils have some key forward injuries. Of course Nikishin will feel slighted and speak through his agent. It just means Carolina management and coaching themselves don't believe he's as good as he's hyped to be. Like they're not going to sit Orlov or Burns, and everyone else is signed for next year. It kind of signals to Nikishin he's walking into camp in Rod's eyes as the #7 next season; especially if they re-sign Orlov since Rod really loves LD/RD more than most coaches.
I just know I'd be fuming in the opposite situation if MSL were benching Demidov for guys who will be gone next year. Or how we were fuming when Ducharme was using Caufield on the fourth line and he had 50 goals in 82 games after MSL took over.
Anyways, it will be interesting to see how good Nikishin actually is in an NHL environment. It will certainly affect how Russia is scouted if he can pan out. Like how Ryan McDonagh fooled tons of scouts, including Trevor Timmins who picked McDonagh, into drafting out of US High schools. Or how Chara/Byfuglien got tons of 6'5 plus or fat people drafted. Habs stole Romanov in the second because nobody watched him play and they had a European combine where he blew them away. They picked him early second worrying another team might have saw him and would grab him before 56. If Nikishin hits I think you'll see more second round picks being thrown at Russian prospects. Like how Finland had a mini-resurgence a few years ago.
tl;dr Nikishin doesn't have a direct comparable and it works for and against him. For that reason you can't really say he's better or worse than other prospects. It's not hating to point out others are better. It's not glazing to say he could be the best prospect, but it's unfounded since you can't argue it with conventional metrics. It's hating to say he's a nothing prospect, but not hating to suggest he might only be a top 4. It's not homering to say he could be a first pairing D, but it certainly is hyperbolic to suggest he's the consensus best prospect outside of the NHL with more upside than Lane Hutson. The way his team is using him does not inspire the confidence towards the latter opinion, but Cole Caufield, amongst many others, is proof sometimes coaches are just wrong.
Hope he plays soon to be honest, I like seeing hyped players debut.
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