Man of the Week: Alexander Nikishin

KHL.ru continues its weekly column with Alexander Nikishin. The young SKA defenseman is eying the Russian KHL record for points scored on the blueline, having amassed 45 (9+36) so far, with the record belonging to Kirill Koltsov, who had 48 in 2014-2015 for Salavat Yulaev.

Among the all-time defenseman top-scorers, Alexander Nikishin is already in tenth position. Three players are ahead of him by just one point – Karel Rachunek, Mat Maione, and Chris Lee. Lee is the holder of the overall record, with his record-breaking 65-point campaign in 2016-2017 and 86 if taking into account the whole season. For now, reaching that height seems to be not realistic for Nikishin, but he has a chance at the second place, surpassing Kevin Dallman’s 59 points in 56 season games in the KHL inaugural season. Moreover, SKA is currently leading the league – which is probably the most important thing for the young defenseman.   

“Of course, it's nice to score points, especially this season and a new team. Only glad, it motivates me to do more. I didn’t think about records, I’m glad that I’ve beaten the club record – it’s a big achievement. I try not to stop and hope that partners will score even more from my assists,” the defenseman told KHL.ru. To achieve a new record for SKA, Nikishin just surpassed Sergei Zubov, who is one of Roman Rotenberg’s assistants on the SKA’s bench. It looks like he always wanted to score points and get on the scoresheet. “Deep down, I always wanted to be an offensive defenseman. You can see from the outside what I am like. There are great people’s records ahead of me now, I followed Koltsov when I was a kid, his teams’ plays always passed through him, but I can’t really compare myself to him or Vyacheslav Fetisov.”

Early years

Alexander Nikishin was born on Oct 02, 2001, in Oryol, a city in central Russia at some 230 miles southwest of the capital. However, he quickly tied his hockey career with the Moscow Region, first playing for Atlant, then lining up in the CSKA system. Representing the Red-and-Blues he was first invited to the Russian U16 national team in 2017-2018. However, Nikishin had his debut in the JHL with another Moscow club, Krylya Sovetov.

After spending a year with the Wings, Nikishin moved to Spartak. There, he had his KHL debut right away.

Moving up the ranks

A solid defenseman with a pro body and a nice shot, Nikishin lined up for 29 games with Spartak in the 2019-2020 season, other than spending time with Spartak’s affiliates in the VHL and the JHL. He also played in the playoffs for Spartak, with three appearances.

In the next year, his role within the Spartak organization rose, and he tallied his first KHL goal on Oct 12, 2020, in a Spartak’s 6:4 win over Kunlun Red Star, with his average time on ice increasing as the season went by. Moreover, at the end of the season, he was picked up in the third round of the NHL Entry draft by the Carolina Hurricanes.

In the 2021-2022 he became one of the top players for Spartak on the blueline, averaging more than eighteen minutes a night and leading the team’s defenseman with eight goals. And most importantly, he represented Russia at the 2022 Olympic Games in China, returning home with a silver medal. Following a strong 2021-2022 campaign, he caught attention from SKA, where he moved in the 2022 offseason. Nikishin admits that that year was a turning point in his career. 

“The Olympics gave me a big chance, gave me more confidence in my abilities. It was a big step forward. I played with famed players and worked with an excellent coaching staff. Then I came back to the KHL, and I already had so much more knowledge and experience.”

Move to SKA

Nikishin’s move to St. Petersburg was memorable – SKA gave Spartak a record-breaking nine players in exchange for the promising blueliner. “I felt the pressure only the first day,” Nikishin explained. “When I came to the team, everything started all over again, I only wanted to get acquainted with the team, get to know all the players, and no longer think about the trade.”

Looking at smart puck’s data, if compared to his days with Spartak, puck possession didn’t change, but he had more shots and passes. At the same time, he had less puck battles.

“Maybe it’s the different styles of play of the teams,” Nikishin says. “Last year I played a lot of defense and against this backdrop there might have been more battles. Now my partners are also aggressively attacking, and I pick my position to pick up the puck. Or I just don’t find myself in such battles, except in the corners in my own zone. After the game with Kunlun, I try not to take too many risks.” That night, he suffered from a game-misconduct penalty after a high hit on the Dragons’ forward Tyler Wong.

However, this season he has had far more positive moments than negative ones, and Nikishin’s outstanding play is one of the main reasons why SKA is leading the league.