Man of the Week: Nikolajs Jelisejevs
Latvian forward Nikolajs Jelisejevs potted his first KHL hat-trick in Admiral’s 4-1 win at Barys last week. It’s the latest achievement in a big year for the 28-year-old, whose career has blossomed for club and country in 2022.
This season has seen a big improvement for Admiral. The Sailors are usually embroiled in a battle to stay in touch with the playoff places, but currently Leonids Tambijevs has his team up in fourth place in the Eastern Conference. Notable wins over Dynamo Moscow – the first ever victory over the Blue-and-Whites in Vladivostok – and runaway leader SKA are just adding to the excitement in the Far East.
Nikolajs Jelisejevs is playing a big part in that success. He leads the team in goals this season with eight and is showing signs of rekindling a partnership with Rudolf Cerveny, his team-mate at Dinamo Riga last season. Along the way, he has helped Admiral pick up at least one point in its last 10 games, establishing an all-time KHL record for the club.
Early years
Many youngsters in Latvia take up hockey at an early age, and Jelisejevs was no exception. Nikolajs made good progress as a youngster and was playing in Latvia’s U18 championship before his 16th birthday. Indeed, in that 2009-2010 season he was prolific for HS Prizma/Pardaugava, compiling 29 (17+12) points in 14 games. The following year saw Jelisejevs make his debut in men’s hockey, scoring four goals in 12 games for Latgale in the Latvian championship. He also made his international debut, helping Latvia win promotion to the top division of the U18 World Championship.
All of that inevitably brought him to Dinamo Riga’s attention. For the next three seasons, Jelisejevs played for Dinamo’s juniors in the JHL and continued to gain international experience. He represented Latvia at world U18 and U20 tournaments. His KHL debut came as a 20-year-old in the 2014-2015 season, when he had four games for Dinamo Riga, producing one assist. By a quirk of fate, his Dinamo debut on Sep. 27, 2014, came against Admiral, his current employer in the KHL.
Have stick, will travel
However, Jelisejevs struggled to establish himself on the Dinamo team. Too old to continue in junior hockey, he remained within the Riga organization until September 2017, but found his opportunities limited. So, after a brief and productive spell with Liepaja in the Latvian championship, he headed off for a hockey adventure.
The first stop was China. As preparations for the 2022 Olympics picked up, Kunlun Red Star was joined by unofficial feeder clubs in the VHL. Jelisejevs went to Tsen Tou Jilin, where he enjoyed regular game time and helped the team to the playoffs in its debut season. In 2018-2019, he moved on to Almetyevsk, also in the VHL, where his contribution brought him back to the attention of Team Latvia’s selectors. After spells in China and Tatarstan, Jelisejevs then came back home and had a productive spell with Olimp Riga.
Back in the KHL
Those years of wandering the minor leagues bore fruit at last. In late 2020, Jelisejevs came back to Dinamo Riga and he established himself on the team in closing weeks of the 2020-2021 campaign. Then came a real breakout season.
At the start of 2021-2022, Jelisejevs did not have a high profile in Latvian hockey. Indeed, when the national team assembled for its Olympic qualification campaign at the start of the season, head coach Harijs Vitolins did not select Nikolajs for the team. By the time Latvian went to Beijing, though, Jelisejevs was on the plane. He played himself into that position with his brightest KHL season to date. Despite Dinamo Riga’s struggles, he scored 20 (13+7) points in 29 games, leading the team in goals and standing second in points, just behind Lukas Radil. The Czech played 14 games more for his extra three points.
In Beijing, Jelisejevs played in all four of Latvia’s games, scoring on Sweden in his first game at the Olympics. With Riga’s KHL season over, the forward moved on to MODO to finish his campaign in the AllSvenskan and then got a first World Championship call, scoring in his team’s 3-2 win over Norway in Tampere.
After Dinamo withdrew from the KHL in the spring of 2022, Jelisejevs was on the move again. He joined Admiral, playing under his compatriot Leonids Tambijevs and alongside Rudolf Cerveny, the Czech forward who played in Riga in 2021-2022. Nikolajs continues to score goals, culminating in that hat-trick in Astana, and is on course for his most productive KHL campaign to date.
