We continue to summarize the results of the completed NHL regular season. We have already talked about how all Russian hockey players played in this championship; Now it’s time to determine the ten best of them.
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10. Alexander Ovechkin
79 games, 65 (31+34) points, “-22”
I thought for a long time whether it was worth putting Ovechkin in the top 10 and literally at the last moment I decided that it was still worth it: no matter how bad the utility indicator was, at the age of 38 Alexander literally dragged to Washington by the ears to the playoffs. The Capitals captain was really his driving force: he not only became the team’s best sniper, but also finished the season in the top 4 of the Capitals and in the top 6 among the Russians in power moves.
Ovechkin changed the game for the sake of the team’s success, at one point taking advantage of his assisting qualities and at another changing his usual “office” in the left faceoff circle to the nickel, from where he scored most of the goals. goals at the end of the season. In his ability to adapt, Ovi will give an advantage to many, and that is why he has earned a place among the best Russians of the season.
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9. Alexander Romanov
81 games, 22 (7+15) points, “+23”
Almost nothing was said about Romanov’s success during the season, but he is the most useful Russian player this regular season and one of the most useful defenders in the Eastern Conference. At the same time, for being a homebody, and Alexander performs purely defensive functions, he performs quite well: Romanov repeated his personal best, set in the previous regular season.
The 24-year-old makes contact quite often and is not afraid to take the puck: in terms of power moves (157), he ranked third among Russians after Nikita Zadorov (177) and Ilya Lyubushkin (176) and 32nd in the league, and in terms of blocked shots (171), he was ahead of the rest of his compatriots and was 18th in the NHL. At the same time, for a player actively participating in the fight, he has quite a few penalty minutes: only 20.
Alexander Romanov in the fight for the puck.
Photo: Noah K. Murray/AP/TASS
Islanders fans highly value Alexander’s actions and call him the best defender (we are talking about defensive abilities) of the team, and even those Islanders fans who negatively perceived the fact that the club at one time gave him the first option to Montreal for Romanov. round, they now consider that deal to be a real bargain.
8. Vladislav Gavrikov
77 games, 23 (7+16) points, “+9”
Vladislav doesn’t hit the puck as often (55) or get under the puck (114) as Romanov, and he scores about the same number of points, but Los Angeles has the puck much more often with Gavrikov on the ice than the Islanders do with Alexander . which allows not only to timely neutralize the threat at the door, as the “islander” usually does, but also to prevent it in principle.
Additionally, the Kings defenseman is an important part of his team’s special team, which finished the season second in power play neutralization (84.6%) – the Islanders, where Romanov spends a lot of time, have the worst figure in the league (71.5%). And in general, Vladislav played quite reliably – the fact that only two teams lost less than the Kings was due to Gavrikov.
7. Igor Shesterkin
55 games, 36 wins, 91.3% OB, 2.58 KN, 4 shutouts
If Shesterkin had played from the beginning of the season like he has for the last two and a half months, he would probably not only be higher on this list, but he would also be in the running for the league’s best goalie award. regular season. However, unfortunately, Igor did not start the championship in the best way, which affected his final statistics.
However, we still praise Shesterkin for the end of the regular season: since February 1, he has no equal in terms of the percentage of reflected shots (93), in terms of reliability coefficient (2.2), second only to his compatriots Bobrovsky (2.15). ) and Kochetkov (2, 04), and in terms of the number of clean sheets (4), he shares first place with Charlie Lindgren and Bobrovsky himself. If Igor carries this form into the playoffs, the Rangers could go very far.
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6. Valery Nichushkin
54 games, 53 (28+25) points, “+5”
Valery had the best regular season of his career, playing only 54 games. The forward revealed himself in a new way in Colorado, becoming a very important part of the majority’s special team. In the minority, by the way, it was no less important: in this component, the “avalanche” did not grab stars from the sky, but also thanks to the Russian the teams were in the first half.
Nichushkin probably would have been aiming for a hundred points if, for mysterious reasons, he hadn’t suspended play to undergo the NHL’s Player Assistance Program. After his return, which occurred in early March, the forward was not always productive, but he practically maintained the point-per-game schedule. Let’s hope that Valery’s problems are behind us, because his potential allows us to have even more successful seasons in the future.
5. Pyotr Kochetkov
42 games, 23 wins, 91.1% OB, 2.33 KN, 4 shutouts
Peter has been playing in the NHL, it seems, for quite a long time, but only now will he lose his rookie status: for the first time in his career, the Russian played more than 25 games in one season. The first full-fledged regular season for Kochetkov turned out to be a great success: the young goaltender took advantage of the personnel situation in Carolina and loudly declared his ambitions to become the Hurricanes’ first number one. The competition with Peter had a beneficial effect on Frederik Andersen, who, after returning to service, played better than before: he will probably start the playoffs in goal.
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Kochetkov, on the other hand, became one of the most reliable goalkeepers of the season: his KN 2.33 is second among goalkeepers who played at least 25 games in the regular season. In terms of number of clean sheets, Peter is in the top 10 in the league and in the top 15 in terms of OB%. In all respects, he could have had better statistics, but the instability and periodic errors typical of young players still do not allow him to be considered an elite goalkeeper. However, Kochetkov has enormous growth potential. And even a chance to compete for Calder.
4. Kirill Kaprizov
75 games, 96 (46+50) points, “+11”
Kirill has been a ray of light in the dark kingdom of Minnesota for several years. The Russian forward won the Wild scoring race by a landslide and was just steps away from his second career 100-point season; seven lost games were not enough for him to reach triple digits in scoring.
Kaprizov already had a typical season: he broke many “savage” records, scored more than 40 goals for the third time in a row and climbed even higher in the list of top scorers in the club’s history. In just 278 games in a Minnesota jersey, Kirill reached seventh place, scoring 330 points. He is still very far from the first line: Mikko Koivu reigns there with 709 points, but the Russian is separated from second place, where Marian Gaborik is located, by 107 points. It is possible that Kaprizov advances to the Slovakian next season.
3. Sergei Bobrovsky
58 games, 36 wins, 91.5% OB, 2.37 KN, 6 shutouts
Sergei’s inspired play in last year’s playoffs carried over into this regular season; While other Russian goaltenders were often criticized, Bobrovsky returned to the form of perhaps his best years and at one point seriously claimed the Vezina. Now his chances of winning the award for the best goalkeeper of the season are a little less, but at the same time the Russian should still be among the three main contenders for the award.
Sergei Bobrovsky
Photo: Lynne Sladky/AP/TASS
In almost all key indicators, he is in the top 5: in terms of reliability coefficient, Bobrovsky is just behind Kochetkov, in terms of the percentage of reflected shots he is eighth, but he is only 0.01% behind the fifth place , and in terms of No Shutouts, Sergei is even tied for first place with Washington’s Charlie Lindgren, Arizona’s Connor Ingram, and Pittsburgh’s Tristan Gerry. Now the best Russian goalkeeper this season will once again try to reach the Stanley Cup with Florida.
2. Artemy Panarin
82 games, 120 (49+71) points, “+18”
The Rangers forward had the best season of his career at 32 years old. Artemy scored 100 points for the first time in the season and immediately raised the bar to 120 effective actions, spending one of the five most “bread” years among Russian players. In terms of the number of points, Panarin equaled Sergei Fedorov, and only Alexander Mogilny and, twice, the man who took first place in our top scored more than him in a regular season (let’s assume there is at least some intrigue) . here).
For five years in New York, Artemy became the Blueshirts’ top scorer five times, but this year his influence on the team was simply unimaginable: Panarin revived Alexi Lafreniere, who, along with the Russian, also had the best season of his career. , and he also became the only “Ranger” to score more than 80 points in the regular season. And this is on the team that won the Presidential Cup! Of course, this couldn’t have happened without a strong defense, but Panarin’s effect on offense was truly powerful.
1. Nikita Kucherov
81 games, 144 (44+100) points, “+8”
Genius. Billionaire (ruble). Game creator. Philanthropist.
You can write about Kucherov’s successes this season for a long time, but you still won’t write enough. I don’t think it’s possible to fully understand how legendary Nikita’s season was. After all, he achieves his success by chance, and many fans take it for granted: no one is surprised when Kucherov gives 100 assists in a season, although in NHL history only four people did it before him, or when he was third. -after the greats Gretzky and Lemieux-he finishes the regular season with one hundred assists and 40 goals.
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Yes, they are happy for him, they support him, but few people perceive his achievements as something fantastic. But what he does is really fantastic. And most importantly, there are no signs that this fantasy is going to end anytime soon.
In the coming years, I am sure that we will put Kucherov on a par with legendary national and world hockey players. In the meantime, I will just state one fact (I will act as Captain Obvious): Nikita Kucherov is the best Russian player in the NHL in the 2023/2024 season.
