Igor Olegovich Ozhiganov (russian: Игорь Олегович Ожиганов; born 13 October 1992) is a

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

currently playing for

HC Dynamo Moscow HC Dynamo Moscow () is a Russian professional ice hockey club based in Moscow. It is a member of the Tarasov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League. Dynamo has won the Gagarin Cup twice, in 2011–12 and 2012–13 seasons, and have won th ...

in the

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs ba ...

(KHL). He has formerly played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) with the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

Playing career

Ozhiganov played junior hockey within the

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was a central piece ...

organization. During the 2010–11 season, he made his professional debut by featuring in two games with CSKA in the

(KHL). Having established himself in the KHL with CSKA,

Amur Khabarovsk Hockey Club Amur (russian: Хоккейный клуб Амур), commonly referred to as the Amur Khabarovsk, is a Russian professional ice hockey team based in Khabarovsk. They are members of the Chernyshev Division of the Kontinental Hockey Le ...

and Sibir Novosibirsk, Ozhiganov despite being undrafted, initially met with

Mike Babcock Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and document ...

and

Lou Lamoriello Louis P. Lamoriello (born October 21, 1942) is an American professional ice hockey executive who is the president of hockey operations and general manager for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is also the former gene ...

of the

in August 2017. While long rumoured to sign with the Maple Leafs, Ozhiganov played out the 2017–18 season in the KHL with CSKA, scoring 9 points in 42 games. On 17 May 2018, Ozhiganov signed a one-year, entry-level contract with the Maple Leafs. After attending the Maple Leafs training camp, Ozhiganov remained on the opening night roster for the 2018–19 season. On 26 November, he scored his first NHL goal, against the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

in a 4–2 home win. Ozhiganov established himself as a regular on the blueline in the first half of the season before falling out of favour with head coach Mike Babcock, sitting as a healthy scratch for 12 of the final 19 contests, including all seven playoff games against the

. He finished the season with 7 points in 53 games. On 1 May 2019, Ozhiganov's KHL rights were traded by CSKA to

Ak Bars Kazan Hockey Club Ak Bars (russian: Ак Барс, tt-Cyrl, Ак Барс, en, Snow Leopard), also known as Ak Bars Kazan, is a Russian professional ice hockey team based in Kazan. They are members of the Kharlamov Division of the Kontinental Hockey ...

in exchange for

Jiri Sekac Jiri ( ne, जिरी) is a municipality in Dolakha District in the Bagmati Province of central Nepal. At the time of the 2011 Nepal census it had a population of 13,638 people.. Jiri, which lies about 190 kilometers from Kathmandu, is the m ...

. As an impending free agent, Ozhiganov's departure from the Maple Leafs was confirmed on 17 May 2019, after he signed a two-year contract to return to the KHL with Ak Bars. His move to Ak Bars reunited Ozhiganov with head coach

Dmitri Kvartalnov Dmitri Vyacheslavovich Kvartalnov (Дмитрий Вячеславович Квартальнов; born March 25, 1966 in Voskresensk, Soviet Union) is a retired professional ice hockey player who played 112 games in the National Hockey League, all ...

, formerly of CSKA. In the 2019–20 season, Ozhiganov made 19 appearances with Ak Bars, posting 8 points before he was traded to

SKA Saint Petersburg The Hockey Club SKA (russian: Спортивный клуб СКА), often referred to as SKA Saint Petersburg and literally as the Sports Club of the Army, is a Russian professional ice hockey club based in Saint Petersburg. They are members o ...

in exchange for Roman Rukavishnikov and Viktor Tikhonov on 7 November 2019. After four seasons with SKA, Ozhiganov was traded one year into his initial four-year contract extension with Saint Petersburg to HC Dynamo Moscow in exchange for financial compensation on 17 July 2023.

Personal life

Ozhiganov is married to rhythmic gymnast

Alexandra Merkulova Alexandra Sergeyevna Merkulova (russian: Алекса́ндра Серге́евна Мерку́лова; born 25 November 1995) is a retired Russian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2010 Youth Olympic Games champion and the 2012 Europ ...

, and they have one son together.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honours

References

External links

* 1992 births Living people Ak Bars Kazan players Amur Khabarovsk players HC CSKA Moscow players Krasnaya Armiya (MHL) players People from Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast Russian ice hockey defencemen HC Sibir Novosibirsk players SKA Saint Petersburg players Toronto Maple Leafs players Undrafted National Hockey League players Ice hockey people from Moscow Oblast {{Russia-icehockey-defenceman-stub