Youngster report – fifteenth week
KHL.ru continues to follow U23 players’ performances throughout the league. These are the best for the tenth week of action. This time, the players’ performances between Dec 25-31 are taken into consideration.
Daniil Gutik
F, Admiral, 2001
Week stats: 3 G, 5 (3+2) points, +1
Admiral isn’t having its best season – quite the opposite – yet Daniil Gutik is certainly one of the best players for the Far East franchise. The forward, in his third season in Vladivostok, reached the ten-goal mark this week, scoring a double in the Sailors’ losing effort against Neftekhimik on Saturday. Gutik had two goals in the first half of the game, but the Wolves managed to rally back twice and win the game 5:2. The Khabarovsk native also had two points, with a goal and an assist, in Admiral’s lone victory of the period, in Sochi (5:3). Midway through the game, Gutik got the puck in the offensive zone, and made the best use of space controlling the puck and beating the opposition goalie with a snap shot from the high slot. Admiral will have a hard time in reaching the playoffs this season, so Gutik’s goals will be necessary to try and conquer a spot.
Danila Yurov
F, Metallurg, 2003
Week stats: 3 G, 4 (0+4) points, even
Magnitka’s bench boss Andrei Razin has moved Yurov in the middle, playing with Daniil Vovchenko and Alexander Petunin, and results didn’t take long to arrive with the young forward posting two helpers in two straight games last week. First, Yurov had two assists in Metallurg’s 4:1 win in Kazan – with his teammate Vovchenko posting his first KHL hat-trick. Then, two days later, on Saturday, Yurov had another pair of helpers when Metallurg returned home to defeat Kunlun Red Star, again with a 4:1 score. This time, Petunin posted a double, with both tallies being assisted by Yurov (and Swedish defenseman Robin Press). Metallurg is currently topping the Eastern Conference, and Yurov’s points are a big part of the team’s success.
Alexander Nikishin
D, SKA, 2001
Week stats: 3 G, 4 (1+3) points, +5
SKA is one of the hottest teams in the league, and is little surprise to see Nikishin among the best youth players. Actually, he’s currently one of the best blueliners in the entire league. Last week, the large-framed blueliner was dominant on the blue line, scoring points in all three games – all won by SKA – in particular in St. Petersburg’s victory over archrivals CSKA on Wednesday. SKA got away with a 2:0 win, while Nikishin participated in both tallies, first assisting Ivan Zinchenko’s opening goal, then sealing the deal for SKA with an empty-netter in the closing frame – it was Nikishin’s eleventh of the season. The young defenseman also had assists in SKA’s victories over Dynamo Moscow and Avtomobilist, other helping Nikita Serebryakov and Pavel Moisevich allowing no goals in two consecutive games. SKA is in fantastic shape, and Nikishin is contributing with great pace.
Ilya Nabokov
G, Metallurg, 2003
Week stats: 3 G, 2 W, 93.98%, 2.19 GAA
Nabokov’s game has been so strong that he became Metallurg’s first option between the piping and convinced the boards to part ways with Artyom Zagidulin. The period didn’t start well for the netminder, with three goals allowed to Lada in just twelve shots as he was benched in the first period with Alexander Sudnitsin taking his place guarding Magnitka’s crease. However, Nabokov quickly rebounded back with a 23-save performance in Kazan, with Metallurg getting a key away win over Ak Bars, and another 46 saves in his team’s home victory against Kunlun Red Star on Saturday (4:1). With such strong performances between the piping, Metallurg has got its crease covered for the years to come.
Dmitry Buchelnikov
F, Admiral, 2003
Week stats: 3 G, 3 (2+1) points, even
Once again, Admiral didn’t have its best week, but Buchelnikov had a couple of excellent performances. The Sailors picked up their lone win of the period on Tuesday Dec 26, with a 5:3 win over HC Sochi, and the young forward netted his sixth of the season that night. On Friday, Admiral lost to Neftekhimik for the first time in two days, and Buchelnikov had a multi-point performance when he had a goal and a helper in the Sailors’ losing effort. It marked Buchelnikov’s seventh of the season, and with seventeen accrued points he’s the fourth Admiral scorer, tied with Canadian Giovanni Fiore, an excellent result for a 2003-born player.
