Vadim Shipachyov. Closing in: 7 points to regular season record, 54 to KHL record

KHL.ru continues to share news about significant milestones that may occur in the upcoming Fonbet KHL season.

In the 2023-2024 season, two players have the potential to become the first to reach 1,000 games in the KHL. The first to achieve this milestone is likely to be defenseman Evgeny Biryukov from Salavat Yulaev, whose record may be set right in the middle of the regular season. The second player is Vadim Shipachyov from Ak Bars, but in his case, reaching a thousand games may only happen in the playoffs.

However, Shipachyov’s upcoming records are not limited to this played games mark.

600 assists in the KHL

The Ak Bars forward could have achieved the first milestone during the Gagarin Cup finals against CSKA, but he failed to earn an assist in the last two games of the finals. Shipachyov currently has 599 assists, and his next one will make Vadim the first player to reach 600 assists in the KHL.

If considering the Russian championships as a whole, Shipachyov played 15 games and scored only 1 point (0+1) before the creation of the KHL. Therefore, he already has 600 assists in the national championships alone. As for the record in this category, it belongs to Sergey Mozyakin with 656 assists. The gap is not that significant and quite attainable, possibly within one season, but certainly within two.

Regular season record

In last year’s KHL regular season, things didn’t go as well for Shipachyov as before. He accumulated only 45 (9+36) points. Out of the 15 seasons he has played in the league, this result ranked only ninth in terms of regular-season performance. The gap between him and Mozyakin in regular-season points is minimal, with 749 points for Shipachyov compared to Mozyakin’s 756 points. If we recall the pace of scoring points at the start of the 2021-2022 season, it becomes a task that can be accomplished not just in the first few weeks of the regular championship, but even in the first three games. Shipachyov scored 8 (6+2) points in the first three games of the season.

Moreover, Dmitrij Jaskin joined Ak Bars as a newcomer. Shipachyov and Jaskin played two strong seasons together in Dynamo Moscow, with Shipachyov scoring 65 and 67 points respectively in the regular season.

KHL record

But the main task for Shipachyov this season is to catch up with and surpass Sergei Mozyakin on the League’s list of all-time scorers. Mozyakin stopped at 928 points, while Shipachyov currently has 874. Achieving 54 points in one season or approximately 68 to 90 games is not such a difficult task. Especially considering that Shipachyov has scored at least 54 points in 8 out of 15 regular seasons. If considering the entire season, including the elimination stage, there have been nine such seasons, including the last one, where Shipachyov scored 45 points in the regular season and 12 in the playoffs.

If looking at the list of top scorers in Russian championships, Shipachyov confidently holds the third position. He needs to score 102 points to surpass Danis Zaripov (977 points) and 337 points to reach Mozyakin’s record (1212 points).

Shipachyov’s contract with Ak Bars will be valid for two more seasons, and it wouldn’t be surprising if he becomes the top scorer in the history of the KHL, the top passer in Russian hockey history, the first forward to play 1,000 games in the KHL, the first KHL player to reach 1,000 points, and the second player in Russian hockey history to reach 1,000 points.