Man of the Week: Darren Dietz
KHL.ru’s weekly’ Man of the Week’ series goes on with Darren Dietz, one of the league’s top defensemen — the blueliner was in excellent shape and was awarded Defenseman of the week honors.
One of the top imports all-time for the league, Darren Dietz has entered his seventh season in the league breaking into the top-20 for scoring from the blueline – he’s currently in 18th place – but has a good chance to get as high as the top-10, surpassing prominent figures like Mat Robinson, Philip Larsen, or even Chris Lee. This week, the high-scoring defenseman had a three-point performance when CSKA thumped Vityaz 9:1, he had one goal and two assists that night. On Wednesday, he helped his team to defeat his former Barys as CSKA blanked the Kazakhs 4:0 scoring a third-period tally as he joined the rush and got the best of goalie Andrei Shutov following a smooth, cross-ice pass from forward Konstantin Okulov – Dietz accrued a plus-3 differential against Barys. It was Dietz’s eighth Defenseman of the week honor, but the first while representing CSKA.
Early years
Hailing from Medicine Hat, Alberta, Darren Dietz had an impressive junior career in the Western Hockey League, representing the Saskatoon Blades. In the 2012-2013 season, Dietz distinguished himself by leading all WHL defensemen with 24 goals and earning a well-deserved spot on the league’s All-Star team. His remarkable performance in the WHL paved the way for his NHL journey, as he was selected by the Montreal Canadiens in the fifth round of the 2011 entry draft.
Dietz went on to make his mark in the NHL, lining up for 13 games with the Canadiens in 2015, but the majority of his North American career was spent in the AHL, with a total of 218 league appearances. Following the conclusion of the 2016-2017 season, the defenseman made the decision to continue his career overseas.
Signing with Barys
On Jul 1, 2017, Barys made a significant announcement, inking Darren Dietz to a one-year contract. The Kazakh franchise had earned a reputation for its success in North American player acquisitions, with Nigel Dawes, who holds the record for the most points scored by an import player in the league’s history, and Kevin Dallman, one of the league’s top d-men during its early seasons, both having spent a substantial part of their careers in Astana. The hope was that Dietz would be Dallman’s successor on the Barys’ defensive lines, and it’s safe now to say that this move paid off.
In his first year, Dietz underwent the adjustment to a new country and a new league, contributing seven goals and 19 points in his KHL debut season. However, his production soared in the 2018-2019 season, with a remarkable 53 points (15 goals and 38 assists). The following season, Dietz was honored with the team’s captaincy, and since his inaugural season in the league, no other defenseman has outscored him, not even Philip Larsen of Salavat Yulaev, who consistently ranked among the top-scoring defensemen in the league in those years.
International scene and move to CSKA
Like many of Barys’ esteemed international imports, Darren Dietz was offered Kazakhstani citizenship and the opportunity to represent the country on the global stage. Dietz thus donned the Kazakhstan jersey at the 2019 IIHF Division IA World Championship, which took place in then-called Nur-Sultan. The home team’s remarkable performance saw them win all their games and secure promotion to the 2020 IIHF World Championship, although this event was ultimately canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
During the tournament, Dietz showcased his skills by tallying five points, consisting of 1 goal and 4 assists, in as many games. In 2020, Dietz continued to represent Kazakhstan in the pre-qualification round for the 2022 Olympics, where he contributed significantly with five points in just three games. Despite his efforts, the team narrowly missed out on Olympic qualification.
The d-man spent another year and a half in Astana, keeping on scoring at a remarkable pace, before being moved at the 2021-2022 trade deadline to CSKA. In Moscow, Dietz kept on anchoring his team’s blueline, albeit scoring a bit less due to his role within his new squad. He ultimately won two consecutive Gagarin Cups with the Muscovites, even scoring the cup-clinching goal in 2023, with a one-timer from the blueline in the middle frame of the seventh game against Ak Bars for his fourth goal in the elimination stage. And this year, CSKA has the chance to fight for its third Cup in a row – no one in the league has achieved that yet.
