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Nikita Okhotyuk

CSKA Moscow Signs Nikita Okhotyuk, Ivan Prosvetov, Dmitri Samorukov

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Kontinental Hockey League club CSKA Moscow is hard at work today getting their 2024-25 roster set in stone. After making a trio of rumored signings official earlier in the day, they’ve made three more. Flames RFA defenseman Nikita Okhotyuk, as well as free-agent netminder Ivan Prosvetov and defender Dmitri Samorukov, are headed to the Russian capital per separate team announcements on Telegram. It’s a two-year deal for Okhotyuk and three-year deals for Prosvetov and Samorukov.

Okhotyuk’s signing was initially reported by TSN’s Darren Dreger all the way back in May. It’s part of a rush of deals that CSKA is trying to get under the wire before a 24-month international transfer ban, imposed by the IIHF as part of the sanctions levied toward them for violating the Flyers’ valid contract with netminder Ivan Fedotov last summer, goes into effect on Aug. 11. But whether that transfer ban will be enforceable remains to be seen after the KHL voted last month to make themselves independent from both the IIHF and the Russian Hockey Federation.

A second-round pick of the Devils in 2019, Okhotyuk played only 15 games for New Jersey before he was dealt to the Sharks in last year’s Timo Meier trade. The 6’1″ defender spent most of last season in the NHL, posting a goal and seven assists for eight points in 43 games for San Jose with a -22 rating, averaging 16:27 per contest. His brief tenure in California came to an end on deadline day, when he was traded to the Flames for a 2024 fifth-round pick. He played sparingly for Calgary down the stretch, posting an assist and a -2 rating in nine games.

Since Calgary issued him a qualifying offer, they’ll still hold Okhotyuk’s NHL signing rights when his deal with CSKA expires in 2026. If he opts to return to the NHL at that time, it’ll need to be with the Flames unless they trade his rights. Calgary will hold his rights until his 27th birthday, meaning Okhotyuk could become an unrestricted free agent on Dec. 4, 2027, if he waits to make an NHL comeback until after that date.

Prosvetov, 25, became a Group VI UFA this summer after spending last season with the Avalanche. A report out of Russia back in April indicated he’d be heading to CSKA. The former fourth-round pick of the Coyotes played a career-high 11 games last season, spending significant time as the No. 2 option in Colorado behind Alexandar Georgiev before Justus Annunen passed him on the depth chart. He was passable but still below-average with a 4-3-1 record, .895 SV% and 3.16 GAA.

The Moscow native hasn’t played in his home country since the 2015-16 campaign, when he suited up for a local U-17 club. He was excellent in AHL action with the Avs’ affiliate, posting a .921 SV% in 21 games, and likely would have had NHL offers if he decided to stay in North America. But it’s clear his mind has been set on returning home for the entirety of the offseason.

Samorukov, meanwhile, is the only member of the trio not to see NHL ice last season. The 2017 third-round pick of the Oilers began the season on an AHL contract with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The 25-year-old eventually landed a two-way deal with Pittsburgh in November, but he never received a call-up and wasn’t tendered a qualifying offer at the end of the season. He last suited up for CSKA while on loan to them for the 2020-21 season, when he posted eight points and a +24 rating in 48 games. He had 15 points and a +7 rating in 64 games for the Baby Pens last year.

Nikita Okhotyuk Signs Two-Year Deal In KHL

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Earlier this morning, TSN’s Darren Dreger reported that defenseman Nikita Okhotyuk would be leaving the Calgary Flames organization to sign a two-year deal with CSKA Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League. Okhotyuk’s signing rights were traded in the KHL only four days ago in a swap between CSKA and Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod.

Okhotyuk became a solid prospect with the New Jersey Devils organization after being selected with the 61st overall pick of the 2019 NHL Draft. Poised to be a defensive defenseman at the NHL level, Okhotyuk scored 10 goals and 47 points over 148 games with the Ottawa 67’s of the Ontario Hockey League after coming to North America for the start of the 2017-18 OHL season. Okhotyuk finished his junior career with a whopping +72 rating, which covered up for his subpar offensive output.

Okhotyuk’s prospect stock began to rise throughout his first couple of years with the Devils organization as he continued to display his knack for shutting down opponent’s top lines in the American Hockey League. His defensive prowess would eventually lead to Okhotyuk’s inclusion in one of the more high-profile trades of the 2022-23 season, as the Devils traded the young defenseman to the San Jose Sharks in a deal that would bring Timo Meier out east.

During his tenure with the Sharks, Okhotyuk displayed flashes of his defensive capabilities that made him such an important prospect in New Jersey but failed to move up the depth chart for San Jose in any meaningful way. Because of this, Okhotyuk was once again traded this past year, this time in a small move to the Flames organization.

Albeit otherwise unnoteworthy news to see a struggling depth defenseman in the NHL try his luck overseas, this transfer by Okhotyuk has already become quite controversial. Much like goaltender Ivan Fedotov’s situation with the Philadelphia Flyers before the beginning of the 2023-24 season, Okhotyuk’s contract appears to violate Article II.4.1 of the IIHF International Transfer Regulations which could lead to sanctions by the international governing body.

Snapshots: Hronek, Mikheyev, Okhotyuk, Abramov

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Canucks defenseman Filip Hronek had a career year this season, notching 48 points in 81 games while logging over 23 minutes a night in his first full year in Vancouver.  The timing couldn’t have been much better as he’s eligible for restricted free agency with arbitration eligibility this summer.  While a long-term deal has been expected for a while, Thomas Drance and Rick Dhaliwal of The Athletic report (subscription link) that there has been very little progress made on a new agreement nor have their been any sort of substantive negotiations in several months.  Hronek is owed a $5.28MM qualifying offer next month, one they’ll have no issue tendering as a long-term agreement is likely to run past the $7MM mark.

More from around the hockey world:

  • Still with Vancouver, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman suggested in the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link) that the Canucks might consider buying out Ilya Mikheyev this offseason. The 29-year-old wound up with a respectable 11 goals and 20 assists in 78 games this season but his production cratered as the year went on as he managed just a single tally and nine helpers in his final 45 regular season and was held off the scoresheet altogether in 11 playoff contests.  Mikheyev has two years left on his deal that carries a $4.75MM AAV; a buyout would carry a cap charge of $1.15MM next season, $2.15MM in 2025-26, and $1.55MM for two more years after that.
  • A pair of young NHL players were traded recently in the KHL. CSKA announced that they traded the rights to Blues prospect Mikhail Abramov in exchange for Flames blueliner Nikita Okhotyuk.  Abramov picked up 14 goals and 22 assists in 59 games with AHL Springfield this season and has yet to play at the NHL level.  Okhotyuk, meanwhile, spent most of the season in San Jose before being acquired late in the season by Calgary; he notched nine points, 80 blocks, and 147 hits in 52 NHL games.  Both players are set to become restricted free agents in July.

Sharks Place Radim Simek On Waivers, Assign Nikita Ohkotyuk On Conditioning Stint

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The San Jose Sharks placed defenseman Radim Simek on waivers today for the purpose of assignment to the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda, per a team release. They also loaned defense prospect Nikita Okhotyuk to the Barracuda for a conditioning stint.

San Jose placed Simek on injured reserve to open the season with a lower-body injury, but he was cleared to return today. The waiver placement is surprising, to say the least – Simek is in the final season of a four-year, $9MM extension and has been one of the more valuable shutdown defenders analytically for a Sharks team that’s struggled to keep the puck out of the net in recent seasons. It seems the team is more intent on giving opportunities to younger shutdown prospects, namely 23-year-old waiver claim Ty Emberson, who’s expected to make his NHL debut tonight against the Bruins.

Given his $2.25MM cap hit, it seems unlikely Simek will get claimed, but he would be a valuable contributor to a handful of teams looking for penalty-killing help. The 31-year-old Czech defender has experience playing both sides of the ice and should get a few offers in free agency next summer if he elects to stay in North America instead of continuing his career in Europe. He had a goal and two assists in 44 contests with the Sharks last season.

The 22-year-old Okhotyuk also landed on IR to start the season but is now ready to go. Acquired from the Devils as part of the Timo Meier trade last season, he has not yet played a game in the Sharks organization after a hernia prematurely ended his 2022-23 campaign. He’ll now get the chance to do so with the Barracuda and could see some NHL ice in San Jose soon enough. The 61st overall pick in 2019 made ten appearances with the Devils last season, recording his second NHL goal in the process.

Pacific Notes: Pettersson, Okhotyuk, Labanc

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Canucks star center Elias Pettersson missed practice today as he was “a little bit banged up,” per head coach Rick Tocchet. However, there’s little concern about his availability for Thursday’s matchup against the Lightning.

Pettersson took friendly fire from defenseman Tyler Myers to one of his legs during last night’s shutout loss to the Flyers but seemed “unencumbered” today when walking around. Pettersson, 24, has been nothing short of electric through three games thus far, displaying an added layer of physical maturity to his game while leading the team in scoring with six points. Entering the final season of a three-year, $22.05MM contract, Pettersson is perhaps the best pending RFA on the market, and his willingness to sign long-term will be a significant storyline to monitor as the Canucks begin their campaign, which is off to an up-and-down start. They’re in relatively good shape with a 2-1-0 record thus far, but a rather dominant performance by the basement-dwelling Flyers on Tuesday did not inspire much confidence.

Elsewhere in the Pacific Division on this Wednesday afternoon:

  • It appears Sharks defenseman Nikita Okhotyuk is gearing up to make his debut for the team after he was acquired in last season’s Timo Meier trade with the Devils. A late second-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, Okhotiuk sustained a sports hernia injury at the end of last season that prevented him from playing for either the Sharks or the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda after the trade, and a separate lower-body injury has kept him out of action since the beginning of the month. The Mercury News’ Curtis Pashelka says that Okhotiuk could be an option for Thursday’s game against the Bruins, likely the reason behind sending Henry Thrun to the minors earlier today. Okhotiuk remains on IR for the time being, and the Sharks needed to open a roster spot to activate him.
  • Staying with the Sharks, Pashelka also relays word from head coach David Quinn that winger Kevin Labanc will make his season debut against the Bruins after serving as a healthy scratch for the team’s first three games. Labanc, 27, is in the final season of a contract earning him $4.725MM per season, but his production has steadily declined from its 56-point peak in 2018-19, and he’s now fallen far out of favor with the Sharks’ coaching staff. He is, however, expected to get a look in the top six alongside Thomas Bordeleau and Filip Zadina.

Sharks Notes: Simek, MacDonald, Okhotiuk, Couture, Bailey, Kaspick

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Before their opening night matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights tomorrow night, Curtis Pashelka of Bay Area News relayed some injury information from the San Jose Sharks. Pashelka notes that defensemen Radim Simek, Jacob MacDonald, and Nikita Okhotiuk are all returning from injury.

There wasn’t any further information regarding their status for tomorrow night. Still, the fact that they are now all back skating gives some optimism that San Jose could see the return of several important blueliners in the coming days. For the time being, Simek and MacDonald are currently on injured reserve, while Okhotiuk finds himself on the season-opening injured reserve.

Throughout this year, the Sharks will give Simek plenty of opportunity and ice time, as he would be a prime trade deadline candidate on a contending team to shore up the bottom six of a defensive core. Okhotiuk on the other hand, a former second-round selection of the New Jersey Devils back in 2019, is a potential building block on defense in San Jose, after being acquired at last season’s trade deadline.

Other Sharks notes:

  • In a bit more negative injury information, Pashelka also relays on that Sharks’ captain, Logan Couture, did not skate today, and has had some sort of setback in his lower-body injury. Being placed on injured reserve on September 21st during training camp, the going notion was that Couture would be evaluated on a week-to-week basis. Given that tomorrow will mark three weeks on injured reserve for the veteran forward, there may be some pessimism surrounding Couture’s availability tomorrow night.
  • Still coming from Pashelka, and moving away from injuries, he announces that the AHL affiliate of the Sharks, the San Jose Barracuda, are planning on signing forwards Justin Bailey and Tanner Kaspick to AHL contracts for the upcoming season. Of the two, Bailey is the only one with NHL experience, playing a total of 82 games over seven years, scoring five goals and four assists.

Nikita Okhotiuk Undergoes Season-Ending Surgery

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The San Jose Sharks have announced that defenseman Nikita Okhotiuk underwent successful core muscle surgery yesterday. While no further details related to the injury were included in the team’s official announcement, including a more detailed recovery timeline, the announcement did state that the team expects Okhotiuk to make a full recovery in time for the Sharks’ training camp in September.

This surgery announcement ends any possibility of Okhotiuk returning to the ice and making his debut within the Sharks organization this season. The 22-year-old Russian blueliner hasn’t played since a February 11th AHL contest against the Laval Rocket, one where he fought against minor leaguer Riley McKay. It’s unknown whether the injury that knocked out Okhotiuk is in any way related to the fight, but it’s worth noting that he did return to the game after serving his penalty.

As mentioned, this injury ends the possibility of Okhotiuk skating for the Sharks’ organization for the first time this season. He was acquired by the franchise in the Timo Meier trade, alongside a package of other young Devils players and draft picks.

The 2019 second-rounder finishes his season having played a total of 30 games, 20 in the AHL and 10 in the NHL. He scored seven points across that span of games (six in the AHL) and also registered 35 penalty minutes.

Both the Sharks and Devils have been intrigued by the physicality Okhotiuk brings to the game, and it’s likely that the Sharks will give the 22-year-old the opportunity to make coach David Quinn’s opening-night lineup at training camp in the fall. With that opportunity in mind, Okhotiuk’s offseason recovery process will be of paramount importance for the short-term future of his career.

Devils Assign Nikita Okhotyuk To AHL

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After being up with New Jersey for more than a month on what started as an emergency loan, Nikita Okhotyuk’s time with the Devils has come to an end for now as the team announced (Twitter link) that the defenseman has been assigned to Utica of the AHL.

The 22-year-old got into ten games with New Jersey and saw action in a particularly limited role as he averaged under 12 minutes a night.  Okhotyuk picked up his second career NHL goal earlier this month and also chipped in with 31 hits and nine blocked shots.  He has been a bit more productive with the Comets, picking up two goals and four assists in 17 contests at the AHL level.

With this assignment, the Devils are down to just six healthy defenders on their roster.  However, John Marino has been skating for a couple of weeks and was upgraded to day-to-day last weekend so it’s possible that he’ll be ready to be activated for their next game after the All-Star break against Vancouver.  Otherwise, Okhotyuk or someone else will likely be getting recalled a little more than a week from now.

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