Pavel Alexeyevich Mintyukov (; born November 25, 2003) 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 ...

currently playing for the

Anaheim Ducks The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California. The Ducks compete in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division, and play their home games at Honda Center. ...

of 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). He was drafted 10th overall by the Ducks in the

2022 NHL Entry Draft The 2022 NHL Entry Draft was the 60th NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held on July 7–8, 2022, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec. Montreal were originally scheduled to host the 2020 draft but were unable to do so due to the COVID-19 pandem ...

Playing career

Amateur

As a youth, Mintyukov played in his native Russia, featuring within the junior ranks of

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 ...

. Following a single season in the MHL with

MHC Dynamo Moscow {{Infobox hockey team , team = MHC Dynamo MoscowМХК Динамо Москва , colour = #1d3f7f , colour text = #ffffff , logo = OHK Dynamo logo.svg , logosize = 160px , city = Moscow, Russia , league = M ...

, Mintyukov was drafted in the 2020 CHL Import Draft in the first round, 52nd overall, by the

Saginaw Spirit The Saginaw Spirit are a major junior ice hockey team based in Saginaw, Michigan. They are members of the West Division of the Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), one of the Major Junior leagues of the Canadian Hockey League ( ...

of the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overag ...

(OHL). Mintyukov signed to a contract with the Spirit on 7 July 2020. With the

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

season cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

shutdown, Mintyukov returned for the following 2021–22 season, and impressed in showing his offensive acumen from the blueline in posting 17 goals and 45 assist for 62 points in 67 regular season games. He was named to the OHL Third All-Star Team. Mintyukov began the

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

season with the Spirit, notching 16 goals and 54 points in just 37 regular season games before he was traded to contending OHL club, the

Ottawa 67's The Ottawa 67's are a major junior ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, that plays in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). Established during Canada's Canadian Centennial, centennial year of 1967 and named in honour of this, the 67's c ...

, in exchange for nine draft picks on 10 January 2023. He was the first defenseman to be named OHL defenseman of the month, for three months consecutively (October–December). He helped lead the 67's to the top of the league, winning the

Hamilton Spectator Trophy The Hamilton Spectator Trophy is awarded annually by the Ontario Hockey League to the team that finishes the regular season with the best record. The trophy was donated by ''The Hamilton Spectator,'' and first presented in the 1957–58 season. It ...

. He scored 24 goals and 88 points, best among all OHL defensemen, which led to him winning the

Max Kaminsky Trophy The Max Kaminsky Trophy is awarded annually by the Ontario Hockey League to the most outstanding defenceman. The award is named in honour of Max Kaminsky, who coached the St. Catharines Teepees to the Memorial Cup in 1960 and died shortly thereaf ...

as the league's best defensemen. However, the 67's were eliminated in the second round of the OHL playoffs.

Professional

Mintyukov was selected by the

of the

(NHL) in the first round, 10th overall, of the

. He was soon signed to a three-year, entry-level contract with the Ducks on 16 July 2022. Mintyukov made his NHL debut in the Ducks 2023–24 season opener on the third defence pair alongside

Ilya Lyubushkin Ilya Nikolaevich Lyubushkin (russian: Илья Николаевич Любушкин; born 6 April 1994) is a Russian professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing for the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL). Playing caree ...

in a 4–1 loss to the

Vegas Golden Knights The Vegas Golden Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference. Founded in 2017 as an expan ...

on 15 October 2023. He scored his first NHL goal against

Antti Raanta Antti Raanta (born 12 May 1989) is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL). Raanta was initially signed by the Chicago Blackhawks as an undrafted free agent. H ...

in Anaheim's 6–3 win over the

Carolina Hurricanes The Carolina Hurricanes (colloquially known as the Canes) are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, ...

on 16 October.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honours

References

External links

2003 births Living people Anaheim Ducks draft picks Anaheim Ducks players Ice hockey people from Moscow NHL first-round draft picks Ottawa 67's players Russian ice hockey defencemen Saginaw Spirit players {{Russia-icehockey-player-stub