Nikita Aleksandrovich Nikitin (Russian: Никита Александрович Никитин; born 16 June 1986) is a Russian professional ice hockey defenseman who currently plays for Traktor Chelyabinsk in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He formerly played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the St. Louis Blues, Columbus Blue Jackets and Edmonton Oilers.
| Nikita Nikitin | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Nikitin at the 2014 Edmonton Oilers training camp | |||
| Born | 16 June 1986 Omsk, Russian SFSR, URS | ||
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (193 cm) | ||
| Weight | 217 lb (98 kg; 15 st 7 lb) | ||
| Position | Defence | ||
| Shoots | Left | ||
| KHL team Former teams | Traktor Chelyabinsk Avangard Omsk St. Louis Blues Columbus Blue Jackets Edmonton Oilers | ||
| National team |  Russia | ||
| NHL draft | 136th overall, 2004 St. Louis Blues | ||
| Playing career | 2002–present | ||
Playing career
Nikitin spent his junior career skating in the Avangard Omsk hockey system. He was a regular on Russia's under-18 and under-20 national squads and spent several seasons skating in the professional Russian Superleague (RSL) with Avangard, establishing himself as a strong Superleague-calibre defense-man.
Nikitin was drafted by the St. Louis Blues with the 136th overall selection in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.[1] On 14 June 2010, he was signed by the Blues to an entry-level NHL contract.[2] He scored his first NHL goal on 6 February 2011 against Dan Ellis of the Tampa Bay Lightning. He was traded on 10 November 2011, to the Columbus Blue Jackets for defenceman Kris Russell.[3]
After Columbus agreed to give the Edmonton Oilers permission to negotiate with Nikitin on 20 June 2014, Nikitin and Edmonton agreed to a two-year deal worth an annual average value of $4.5 million, and his rights were traded to Edmonton on 25 June, where he immediately signed the new contract.[4]
Having returned to the KHL with Avangard Omsk for the 2016–17 season, Nikitin continued in Russia, joining his second KHL outfit in Traktor Chelyabinsk on October 3, 2017.[5]
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2002–03 | Avangard–2 Omsk | RUS.3 | 34 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | Avangard–2 Omsk | RUS.3 | 56 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 54 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2004–05 | Avangard–2 Omsk | RUS.3 | 33 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2004–05 | Avangard Omsk | RSL | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2005–06 | Avangard–2 Omsk | RUS.3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | Avangard Omsk | RSL | 43 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 22 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 2006–07 | Avangard Omsk | RSL | 54 | 1 | 15 | 16 | 99 | 11 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 39 | ||
| 2007–08 | Avangard Omsk | RSL | 57 | 3 | 11 | 14 | 48 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2008–09 | Avangard Omsk | KHL | 53 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 28 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 2009–10 | Avangard Omsk | KHL | 43 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2010–11 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 41 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | Peoria Rivermen | AHL | 22 | 3 | 11 | 14 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2011–12 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2011–12 | Columbus Blue Jackets | NHL | 54 | 7 | 25 | 32 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012–13 | Avangard Omsk | KHL | 33 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012–13 | Columbus Blue Jackets | NHL | 38 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 17 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2013–14 | Columbus Blue Jackets | NHL | 66 | 2 | 13 | 15 | 20 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2014–15 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 42 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2015–16 | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 30 | 1 | 13 | 14 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2015–16 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2016–17 | Avangard Omsk | KHL | 47 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2017–18 | Traktor Chelyabinsk | KHL | 33 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 20 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 14 | ||
| 2018–19 | Traktor Chelyabinsk | KHL | 28 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 29 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| RSL totals | 166 | 5 | 28 | 33 | 171 | 31 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 47 | ||||
| KHL totals | 237 | 15 | 40 | 55 | 115 | 19 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 24 | ||||
| NHL totals | 259 | 17 | 59 | 76 | 85 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
International
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Russia | WJC |  | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| 2012 | Russia | WC |  | 10 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | |
| 2014 | Russia | OG | 5th | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Junior totals | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||||
| Senior totals | 15 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 4 | ||||
References
External links
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
- RussianProspects.com Nikita Nikitin Player Profile