Path to stardom: Maxim Velikov
KHL.ru continues telling stories of those who showcased an exceptional level of playing despite their young age with forward Maxim Velikov. The young player comes from a hockey family, and he was recently traded to Salavat Yulaev in the deal that sent Ivan Drozdov to Moscow.
Forward Maxim Velikov is the son of the well-known defenseman Maxim Konstantinovich Velikov, who also began his professional career in the CSKA system. Velikov junior debuted in the Junior Hockey League in the 2021-2022 season at the age of 15. Then, he had an eventful couple of years. In the 2023-2024 season, he played 43 games in the regular season and scored 28 (14+14) points. During the 2023 offseason, Maxim played for the Russian national team at the Sochi Hockey Open. In November 2023, he was named the Most Valuable Player of the Future Cup tournament as part of the Russian U20 team.
“My first game against Almaz was the most nerve-wracking in the JHL for me,” the forward says. “Even during the 2023 playoffs, I wasn’t as nervous. I still remember stepping onto the ice for my first shift against Cherepovets’ leading line, with a faceoff in the neutral zone. They were so big, and I asked how old they were. I was very scared and anxious, but it seemed to go well.”
Velikov went on playing ten games in his first season, netting four goals. “At first, I didn’t have much confidence because I wasn’t spending much time on the ice,” the forward explains. “I was a young player, and this is normal. After scoring my first goal in the League against Dynamo Moscow, I felt more confident. In the second game against them, I netted two more. Then I was sent back to play in the youth leagues, and things calmed down a bit. It was both a positive and negative experience. The JHL is a different game. The speed of decision-making and passing is much faster.”
In the next season, he was a full-time player for the CSKA junior team. “Players born in 2001 graduated then. I was still one of the youngest, but the coaches started to trust me more,” Velikov recalls. “Once, I was put on the power play and scored. Since then, they let me play in special teams. Then there were illnesses, but I kept getting into the games. I even scored a double against SKA-1946. I played the reminder of the season with much more confidence.”
Velikov doesn’t hide that playing in the 2023-2024 season was harder for him. “Maybe it was a mental thing. I understood that other teams also had young players who were eager for every match. They are persistent, which makes it challenging. The players born in 2004 or 2005 don’t have the same drive as they did in their debut season. I try to cope with this, and my father keeps me motivated.”
Velikov’s father, also called Maxim, spent the last seven years of his career in the KHL with HC MVD, Dynamo Moscow, Atlant, and Amur. Differently from his son, however, he played on defense. However, he also started his pro career with CSKA, back in 1999. “He always keeps me focused on hockey,” Velikov says about his father. “He says me to seek the right play, and the coach’s instructions. He went through it all himself in his career. At 17, he played in the Superleague under Boris Mikhailov. He spent a lot of time with me when I was 11-12 years old,” the forward continues. “He got me working on my skating, hand techniques. Now, my dad is not as involved. Of course, he still worries, gives advice, and gets angry, but that’s normal. In terms of motivation... his gaze alone is strong motivation,” he smiles. Nowadays, Velikov senior works as a coach for CSKA’s youth system, most recently with the U17 team. He also had a brief stint as an assistant coach with the U16 Russian national team.
CSKA’s junior team, untraditionally, failed to qualify for the postseason this season. However, Velikov doesn’t hide the brighter parts of the path. “We managed to become a team,” the forward explains. “We had new guys, but everyone communicated well with each other. In training, we started practicing passes more. This wasn’t the case before because the older players followed the system. Now, we were allowed to improvise. We had one of the youngest teams in the League. It turned out the way it did, but we’ll improve our results in the next season. Many teams are losing their older players, while we still have guys born in 2005 and 2006, who are very good players and have shown they can play against older guys. So, everything will be fine.”
Another difference between the previous seasons is that Velikov added a certain element of physicality to his play, and this is shown in the stats – he had a good increase in hits delivered – 39 against 13, a three-fold increase. “I never really counted my hits,” he smiles. “I just tried to energize the team. It all started with the national team when I was called up for the Sochi Hockey Open. That’s when I first played against KHL teams, and I did quite well. I scored three goals in three games against Admiral, Avangard, and SKA. The game against SKA was particularly physical; you couldn’t switch off. I took a hit to the head, had a concussion. I missed a period but then got back on the ice. That’s when I realized you need to take hits, hit first, and play by the rules.”
As Velikov is the son of a former KHL player, hockey was a priority since his childhood. “There were no other options,” he laughs. “But I wanted it myself too. I did various sports: gymnastics, swimming, soccer, and tennis, but those were just additional activities. There was a moment when I realized I loved hockey. I was about six or seven when my father noticed that I was going to practice not to train but to chat. He’s a straightforward person: he says it, he does it. He took me away after practice, and we didn’t go back for a couple of weeks. Maybe I missed hockey then and asked when the practices would start again. My dad said they had been going on for two weeks already, but we weren’t attending because I didn’t want to train. Since then, I’ve worked hard on myself.”
Of course, Velikov’s dad has been critical for his development, not necessarily just in hockey. “I've always looked up to my dad. To say he’s a saint is an understatement,” he smiles. “He never lied to me or promised anything he couldn’t deliver. That’s the most striking thing about him. In terms of hockey, he inspired me with his work on the ice. I remember being a kid and going with him to the Dynamo training base in Novogorsk. He introduced me to Oleg Znarok, and we still communicate through my dad. At that time, I was lazy during training. Znarok said that my father was always a hard worker and that I should strive to be like him. My dad was out for a year due to a fracture, but he never spared himself and trained hard, giving his all to stay in shape and be useful to the team. Only now do I realize how proud I am of him.”
And considering his talent, it’s not hard to imagine that Velikov has all it takes to make his father equally proud. Chances are good that he will have his pro hockey debut as early as next year.
