Nikita Aleksandrovich Nikitin ('; born 16 June 1986) is a Russian 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 ...

defenseman 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 ...

who currently plays for

Traktor Chelyabinsk Traktor Chelyabinsk, also known as Traktor (russian: Трактор), is a professional ice hockey team based in Chelyabinsk, Russia. They are members of the Kharlamov Division of the Eastern Conference of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). F ...

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 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

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the s ...

Columbus Blue Jackets The Columbus Blue Jackets (often simply referred to as the Jackets) are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, ...

and

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

Playing career

Nikitin spent his junior career skating in the

Avangard Omsk Hockey Club Avangard (russian: ХК Авангард, links=no, Vanguard), also known as Avangard Omsk, is a Russian professional ice hockey team from Omsk. It is a member of the Chernyshev Division in the Eastern Conference of the Kontinental H ...

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 The Russian Superleague (russian: Чемпионат России Суперлига, ''Russian Championship Superleague''), commonly abbreviated as RSL, was the highest division of the main professional ice hockey league in Russia. It was consi ...

(RSL) with Avangard, establishing himself as a strong Superleague-calibre defense-man. Nikitin was drafted by the

with the 136th overall selection in the

2004 NHL Entry Draft The 2004 NHL Entry Draft was the 42nd NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 26 and 27, 2004 at the RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. It is especially notable because it was the last NHL event to take place before the beginning of the lockout, ...

. On 14 June 2010, he was signed by the Blues to an entry-level NHL contract. He scored his first NHL goal on 6 February 2011 against

Dan Ellis Daniel Ellis (born June 19, 1980) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who is currently a goaltending scout for the Chicago Blackhawks. He played in the National Hockey League for the Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators, Tampa B ...

of the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play th ...

. He was traded on 10 November 2011, to the

for defenceman

Kris Russell Kris Russell (born May 2, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman currently an unrestricted free agent. He most recently played for the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was originally drafted in the third roun ...

. After Columbus agreed to give the

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. 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.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

*
RussianProspects.com Nikita Nikitin Player Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nikitin, Nikita 1986 births Avangard Omsk players Bakersfield Condors players Columbus Blue Jackets players Edmonton Oilers players Ice hockey players at the 2014 Winter Olympics Living people Olympic ice hockey players for Russia Peoria Rivermen (AHL) players Russian ice hockey defencemen Ice hockey people from Omsk St. Louis Blues draft picks St. Louis Blues players Traktor Chelyabinsk players