In the shadow of the unstoppable Kucherov: which Russian had the best first half of the season in the NHL

Artemy Panarin

On the one hand, the high performance of the Rangers leader in the NHL regular season is unlikely to surprise anyone. Artemi Panarin has long been part of an elite group of forwards and, since his debut in the league in 2015, has never fallen below 20th place in the scoring race at the end of the season (in terms of points scored during this period, he ranks fifth among all players in the league ). But a number of factors need to be taken into account. Namely, harsh criticism from fans at the end of last season and a change in head coach, which threatened the Russian with serious problems.

In the spring, Panarin was made a scapegoat after the Rangers fiasco in the Stanley Cup. And there were reasons for this, because during the series with New Jersey, the team’s highest paid hockey player recorded only two assists. In the opening match, he assisted his teammates twice, after which he was “silent” over the next six games. As a result, there was an abundance of criticism towards the forward and the dismissal of Gerard Galland, during which Artemy twice exceeded the 90-point bar during the regular season. It seemed to many then that, under the leadership of the more old-fashioned Peter Laviolette, one of the world's most subtle strikers might have difficulty adapting. After all, earlier another creative artist, Evgeny Kuznetsov, became “sad” in front of him. But this time everything turned out differently.

Now Panarin is not only on fire in one of the strongest teams in the Eastern Conference, but is also among the main contenders for the Art Ross Trophy, ranking sixth in the scoring division. At the same time, he averages 1.35 points per game and, unless he gets injured or suddenly slows down, he will become the eighth Russian in history to score a hundred in the NHL. Now Nikita Kucherov, Alexander Mogilny, Sergei Fedorov, Evgeniy Malkin, Alexander Ovechkin, Pavel Bure and Kirill Kaprizov can boast of this achievement.

Valery Nichushkin

The real sensation of the first half of the NHL season was that the main pursuer of Kucherov and Panarin in the scorer race was not one of the recognized stars of Russian hockey, but the Colorado forward. Yes, the times are behind us when Valery Nichushkin did not score for 91 matches and even returned to his homeland to reboot his career. But such productivity was hardly expected from him. In 40 matches, he scored 22 goals and gave 20 assists, thanks to which he came close to repeating his personal performance records in the overseas tournament.

Many explain Nichushkin’s progress by the fact that he spent most of this period in the Avalanche’s top three. And this is partly true. Of course, in the leading line, the Russian not only got more time, but also had the opportunity to play with such stars as Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen, but even without them he did not lose face. In January, Jared Bednar moved him to the second combination, where he shot eight (6 + 2) points in six meetings.

Probably, by this time Nichushkin could have easily, if not surpassed, then repeated his personal record for goals and assists for the season, but in the middle of the month he was removed from the squad and included in the NHL athlete assistance program. Initially, many believed that this might be due to alcohol or drug addiction, but such rumors were not confirmed. It is unclear whether he will return to the ice before the end of the championship, but one thing is for sure: Valery is now one of the best Russian forwards in the championship, and his absence promises to have an extremely negative impact on Colorado’s prospects in the playoffs.

Andrey Svechnikov

Unlike Nichushkin, the Carolina forward has already spent a significant period of time without hockey. The reason for this was a serious injury and the subsequent operation, which left Andrei Svechnikov overboard for more than six months. In March 2023, he damaged his cruciate ligament in a match with Vegas, and returned to the ice only at the end of October. And at first, not everything worked out perfectly for him.

In the first 11 meetings, the Russian did not score once, limiting himself to seven passes, and forced journalists to begin to wonder about his attitude towards his own dry streak. True, Svechnikov himself remained calm and expressed confidence that he would soon “break through.” And so it happened.

At the end of November, he opened the scoring with his goals in the confrontation with Columbus, three weeks later he hit the Vegas goal, and from the end of December he began to upset one opponent after another. Montreal was especially unlucky, in a meeting with which the striker scored a hat-trick. Now the Russian, with 11 goals, is in fifth place on the list of the Hurricanes' best snipers, trailing only six goals to the leader, Sebastian Aho. Although the Finn played 16 matches more.

But there is a risk that the gap in the number of matches played will soon widen. At the end of January, Svechnikov received another injury, which forced him out for an indefinite period. But if you believe Carolina coach Rod Brindamore, the injury is not serious, and Andrei can return to duty before the All-Star Game. And it will certainly continue to delight fans.

Vladislav Namestnikov

But if Svechnikov has long been considered one of the most talented hockey players in the country, ready to replace Ovechkin and Malkin on Olympus in the future, then many have given up on his compatriot. In 2011, Vladislav Namestnikov was selected 27th overall in the NHL draft, and two years later he made his debut for Tampa Bay, but failed to become a star. In his best season with the team, he scored 44 (20 + 24) points, but just before the deadline he was traded to the Rangers, where he no longer showed such productivity. After that, wandering around the clubs began. Over the past five years, he visited Ottawa, Colorado, Detroit and Dallas, after which he returned to the Lightning, and in the spring of 2023 he was sent to Winnipeg. It seemed that everything was gradually moving towards leaving for his homeland, but the forward suddenly blossomed.

Namestnikov showed himself well in the spring part of last season, when he scored 10 points in 20 matches, and this year he only strengthened his position. Now he is in fifth place in the ranking of the most productive Jets hockey players with 25 (6 + 19) points, and also regularly plays on the same line with the team’s stars - Nikolai Ehlers, Cole Perfetti and Kyle Connor. And at the same time, it acts equally well both on its own and on the other side of the court, which is confirmed by its high usefulness (“+18”). According to this indicator, he shares second place among his teammates.

Of course, Namestnikov can hardly be called the leading hockey player of Winnipeg. How can we assume that the 31-year-old center forward is still capable of catching up with the conditional Kucherov and Panarin and becoming a full-fledged star in the league. But now he is clearly in a team where they trust him and know how to use his strengths. And he, in turn, helps Winnipeg in the fight for the first trophy in franchise history. Currently, Rick Bowness's team is sixth in the NHL standings and is among the contenders for the President's Cup.

Quartet from Columbus

Another sensation of the first half of the championship was the success of the domestic Blue Jackets. While the team is having another disappointing season, and the management is thinking about how to solve the problems with Johnny Gaudreau and Patrik Laine clearly not earning their money, the Russians are ruling the roost. In particular, Ivan Provorov, traded from Philadelphia, immediately fell into place and became one of the leaders of the Columbus defense, and at the start of the championship he demonstrated unprecedented productivity. In the first 12 matches, he assisted his teammates nine times and even held the status of the team's top scorer, but then he slowed down. But even despite this, he has every chance of surpassing his personal record in points.

But much more unexpected and discussed was the success of the Russian trio of strikers. Undoubtedly, fans could well have expected progress from Kirill Marchenko, who had a great finish to the last championship, but things were more complicated with the other two players. Dmitry Voronkov had just arrived in the USA and was not initially even considered as a candidate for the first team, while Yegor Chinakhov could well have left for his homeland. At the end of October, it was reported about his possible return to Avangard, but this remained at the level of rumors.

And now the team’s coaching staff is probably glad that they did not refuse the services of the 22-year-old striker. After all, it was Yegor who became one of the elements of the Russian “Columbus” troika, which earned many flattering reviews from fans and the media. At the moment, Marchenko, Voronkov and Chinakhov have scored a total of 73 points and occupy fourth, fifth and sixth places in the list of the team’s top scorers, and have also repeatedly become the main stars of meetings with the participation of the Blue Jackets. The November game with Boston stands out. Then all four domestic athletes scored, something that had never happened in the NHL before.