Alexander Nikulin (ice hockey)
Alexander Sergeevich Nikulin (born August 25, 1985) is a Russian professional ice hockey player. Nikulin is currently playing with TUTO Hockey in the Finnish Mestis.
| Alexander Nikulin | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Born |
August 25, 1985 Perm, Soviet Union | ||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) | ||
| Weight | 205 lb (93 kg; 14 st 9 lb) | ||
| Position | Center | ||
| Shoots | Left | ||
| Mestis team Former teams |
TUTO Hockey CSKA Moscow Ottawa Senators Phoenix Coyotes Amur Khabarovsk Sibir Novosibirsk Spartak Moscow HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk HC Lada Togliatti HC Vityaz MHk 32 Liptovský Mikuláš | ||
| NHL Draft |
122nd overall, 2004 Ottawa Senators | ||
| Playing career | 2004–present | ||
Playing career
Alexander turned professional with HC CSKA Moscow of the Russian Super League in 2004. After playing three seasons with CSKA, Alexander signed with the Ottawa Senators who had drafted him 122nd overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. Nikulin played his first NHL game for the Ottawa Senators on November 22, 2007 against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
In the 2008–09 season Nikulin was assigned to the Binghamton Senators of the AHL. Disappointed with his slow progress to the NHL with the Senators, Nikulin demanded a trade or voiced the possibility of returning to Russia.[1] On November 3, 2008, Nikulin was traded to the Phoenix Coyotes for Drew Fata.[2] Nikulin was then assigned to affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage, where he spent the majority of the season, only playing in a single game with the Coyotes.
On May 24, 2009, failing an adaption to the North American style, Nikulin signed with former team CSKA Moscow of the KHL for the 2009-10 season.[3]
During the 2014–15 season, Nikulin's third stint with CSKA was cut short to 5 scoreless games after he was waived and claimed by Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk on October 29, 2014.[4]
On July 5, 2015, Nikulin continued his career in the KHL, signing a contract with HC Lada Togliatti.[5]
Personal
While with the Senators, Nikulin maintained a blog of his transition to North America, that became popular due to its candour.[6]
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2004–05 | HC CSKA Moscow | RSL | 16 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | HC CSKA Moscow | RSL | 51 | 10 | 11 | 21 | 22 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2006–07 | HC CSKA Moscow | RSL | 33 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 8 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 4 | ||
| 2007–08 | Binghamton Senators | AHL | 71 | 14 | 36 | 50 | 34 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007–08 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Binghamton Senators | AHL | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | San Antonio Rampage | AHL | 64 | 7 | 16 | 23 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Phoenix Coyotes | NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009–10 | HC CSKA Moscow | KHL | 42 | 5 | 17 | 22 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2010–11 | HC CSKA Moscow | KHL | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | Amur Khabarovsk | KHL | 45 | 5 | 17 | 22 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2011–12 | Amur Khabarovsk | KHL | 44 | 6 | 20 | 26 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012–13 | Amur Khabarovsk | KHL | 14 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012–13 | HC Sibir Novosibirsk | KHL | 36 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2013–14 | HC Spartak Moscow | KHL | 45 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2014–15 | HC CSKA Moscow | KHL | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2014–15 | Buran Voronezh | VHL | 7 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2014–15 | HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk | KHL | 22 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2015–16 | HC Lada Togliatti | KHL | 16 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2015–16 | HC Vityaz | KHL | 26 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2016–17 | HC Vityaz | KHL | 51 | 8 | 14 | 22 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2017–18 | HC Vityaz | KHL | 48 | 11 | 14 | 25 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2018–19 | HC Vityaz | KHL | 52 | 3 | 14 | 17 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2019–20 | MHk 32 Liptovský Mikuláš | Slovak | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| KHL totals | 453 | 52 | 126 | 178 | 68 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | ||||
| NHL totals | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
References
- "Sens prospect Nikulin demands a trade". TSN. 2008-11-02. Retrieved 2008-11-03.
- "Coyotes acquire Nikulin from Senators". coyotes.nhl.com. 2008-11-03. Archived from the original on 2011-07-26. Retrieved 2008-11-03.
- "Alexander Nilukin: Dumping the puck is not for me". russianprospects.com. 2009-05-24. Archived from the original on 2009-07-03. Retrieved 2009-05-30.
- "Nikulin departs to Neftekhimik via waivers" (in Russian). HC CSKA Moscow. 2014-10-29. Retrieved 2014-10-29.
- "Forward Nikulin to continue his career with Togliatti". rusport.ru. 2015-07-05. Archived from the original on 2015-07-07. Retrieved 2015-07-05.
- Bruce Garrioch (2007-09-20). "Carkner's dealt a bad hand". Ottawa Sun. Retrieved 2007-09-20.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alexander Nikulin. |
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
- Alexander Nikulin's blog