Man of the Week: Dmitrij Jaskin
KHL.ru continues its ‘Man of the Week’ column with Dmitrij Jaskin – the Czech international has just netted his 100th tally in the KHL, and was the fastest to do so, surpassing even the great Sergei Mozyakin.
In Saturday’s SKA 4:2 win over Spartak, Jaskin erased one of the records set by Mozyakin. Jaskin only needed 176 games to reach the coveted milestone, compared with 202 for the former Gagarin Cup champion. Moreover, Jaskin is the leading goalscorer in the KHL since his debut on Sep 1, 2019, when he started lining up for Dynamo Moscow. If that’s not enough, the SKA forward missed last year’s KHL action as he joined the Arizona Coyotes, where injuries limited him to 12 games. Also thanks to Jaskin’s goals, SKA is still leading the Western Conference and the league, and it’s unlikely that they will step down from the top spot in the standings, despite losing on Wednesday to CSKA. So far, the Omsk native has scored 24 goals in 37 games.
Early years
Dmitrij Jaskin was born on Mar 23, 1993, in Omsk, Russia. His father Alexei was a pro hockey defenseman in the top-flight USSR and Russian leagues, most notably with Khimik Voskresensk, then he moved to Czechia, signing with Vsetin. The veteran blueliner was a key figure in Vsetin’s golden age, when the side won six titles in just seven years. Jaskin senior wore the ‘C’ for Vsetin and became the first foreign player to have such an honor in the Czech hockey history. Following his father’s success, Dmitrij also started playing hockey in Vsetin, with his brother Mikhail as the family moved to Czechia when he was just eight months old.
Move overseas
After first playing professionally for Slavia Praha of the Czech Extraliga for two seasons, Jaskin
was selected by the Moncton Wildcats in the 2012 CHL Import Draft. He consequently announced that he would play for the QMJHL team in the 2012–13 season in order to increase his chances of playing in the NHL. The forward was successful in Moncton, with 99 (46+53) points in just 51 regular-season games.
On Apr 3, 2013, he signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the St. Louis Blues, and was assigned to the Chicago Wolves. He was recalled to the Blues roster on Apr 9 and he played his first two NHL games in that stint.
Jaskin spent further five seasons within the Blues system, and was then acquired off waivers by the Washington Capitals before the 2017-2018 season. After 37 games with the Capitals, Jaskin opted to pause his NHL career and returned to Russia in signing a one-year deal with Dynamo Moscow on Aug 22, 2019.
First stint in the KHL
Making his KHL debut in the 2019-2020 season and benefiting from an increased role within Dynamo, Jaskin found his scoring touch back with 63 points in 58 regular season games. His 31 goals set a new franchise single-season record at the KHL level and he was signed to an improved two-year contract extension on Apr 17, 2020 and he was awarded MVP of the regular season honors.
In the next year, he would do even better, netting 38 tallies for 60 points, adding another five goals and three helpers in ten postseason contests. However, after two excellent seasons with the Blue-and-Whites, Jaskin returned overseas and signed with Arizona Coyotes of the NHL.
Return to America and back to Russia
The forward didn’t find good luck after moving to the Coyotes. He produced only one point for Arizona in twelve games before suffering from a serious knee injury after a collision with Nashville Predators’ Mark Borowiecki that set him out for the remainder of the season. After his contract in the NHL expired, Jaskin decided to return to Russia, signing a deal with SKA St. Petersburg. Shortly after his signing, he was named the team’s captain by head coach Roman Rotenberg.
The rest is recent history. Jaskin is currently the second scorer in the league, trailing Avtomobilist’s Brooks Macek by three goals - the Motormen’s German international has netted 27 so far. With 37 points, the Omsk native is trailing only Marat Khairullin among all SKA’s scorers. However, with 24 goals he’s leading the pack, and it’s unlikely that anyone else within the team can get close to his goalscoring and he’ll be on the lookout for another league-wide leadership as the season grows older.
