Quick Facts
Biography
Dmytro Anatoliiovych "Dmitri" Khristich (Ukrainian: Дмитро́ Анатолійович Хри́стич; born July 23, 1969) is a former professional ice hockey player. The Ukrainian played 811 games in the NHL in his career, for the Washington Capitals, Los Angeles Kings, Boston Bruins, and Toronto Maple Leafs. He is currently the Head Supervisor of the Professional Hockey League (PHL) of Ukraine.
Achievements
Khristich appeared in the 1997 and 1999 NHL All-Star Games. In the 1998–99 season, he had the highest shooting percentage (20.1%) among players with at least 82 shots (an average of at least one shot per scheduled game). He is the all-time scoring leader for players born and trained in Ukraine.
Boston walks away
Following the 1998-99 season, his second year with the Boston Bruins, Khristich took his club to arbitration and was awarded a $2.8 million salary. Feeling he wasn't worth the money, Bruins General Manager Harry Sinden opted to walk away from the contract making Khristich an unrestricted free agent.
This marked the first-time ever than an NHL franchise opted to walk away from a player after losing an arbitration case (Sinden would eventually be proven correct, as Khristich, coming off 66- and 71-point seasons, only scored 89 points over the next 3 seasons). Sinden would repeat this move several years later, walking away from defenseman David Tanabe.
Transfers
- July 8, 1995 – Traded to the Los Angeles Kings with Byron Dafoe for the Kings' 1st round choice (Alexandre Volchkov) and the Dallas Stars' 4th round choice (previously acquired, Washington selected Justin Davis) in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft.
- August 29, 1997 – Traded to the Boston Bruins with Byron Dafoe for Jozef Stumpel, Sandy Moger, and the Bruins' 4th round choice (later traded to the New Jersey Devils, who selected Pierre Dagenais) in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft.
- October 20, 1999 – Traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs for the Maple Leafs' 2nd round choice (Ivan Huml) in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft.
- December 11, 2000 – Traded back to the Washington Capitals (his original team) for the Tampa Bay Lightning's 3rd round choice (previously acquired, the Maple Leafs selected Brendan Bell) in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft.
International play
Khristich represented the Soviet Union in the 1990 World Ice Hockey Championships where he won a gold medal. He played for Ukraine at the 2001, 2002 and 2003 World Championships. He also represented Ukraine at the 2002 Winter Olympics. He played two games and scored two goals. The team finished in 10th place.
Awards
- Selected to two NHL All-Star Games: 1997, 1999
Career statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM | ||
| 1985–86 | Sokil Kyiv | USSR | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1986–87 | Sokil Kyiv | USSR | 20 | 3 | 0 | 3 | — | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1987–88 | ShVSM Kyiv | USSR-2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | — | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1987–88 | Sokil Kyiv | USSR | 37 | 9 | 1 | 10 | — | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1988–89 | Sokil Kyiv | USSR | 42 | 17 | 10 | 27 | — | 15 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1989–90 | Sokil Kyiv | USSR | 47 | 14 | 22 | 36 | — | 32 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1990–91 | Sokil Kyiv | USSR | 28 | 10 | 12 | 22 | — | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1990–91 | Baltimore Skipjacks | AHL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1990–91 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 40 | 13 | 14 | 27 | -1 | 21 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -2 | 6 | ||
| 1991–92 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 80 | 36 | 37 | 73 | +24 | 35 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 5 | +2 | 15 | ||
| 1992–93 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 64 | 31 | 35 | 66 | +29 | 28 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 7 | -2 | 2 | ||
| 1993–94 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 83 | 29 | 29 | 58 | -2 | 73 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 10 | ||
| 1994–95 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 48 | 12 | 14 | 26 | 0 | 41 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 5 | +4 | 0 | ||
| 1995–96 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 76 | 27 | 37 | 64 | 0 | 44 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1996–97 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 75 | 19 | 37 | 56 | +8 | 38 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1997–98 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 82 | 29 | 37 | 66 | +25 | 42 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 4 | +1 | 2 | ||
| 1998–99 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 79 | 29 | 42 | 71 | +11 | 48 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 7 | +1 | 6 | ||
| 1999–2000 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 53 | 12 | 18 | 30 | +8 | 24 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -3 | 0 | ||
| 2000–01 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 27 | 3 | 6 | 9 | +8 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2000–01 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 43 | 10 | 19 | 29 | -8 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2001–02 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 61 | 9 | 12 | 21 | +2 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | Metallurg Magnitogorsk | RSL | 31 | 9 | 12 | 21 | — | 20 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 2003–04 | Metallurg Magnitogorsk | RSL | 38 | 4 | 7 | 11 | — | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 811 | 259 | 337 | 596 | +104 | 422 | 75 | 15 | 25 | 40 | +1 | 41 | ||||
| USSR/RSL totals | 247 | 66 | 64 | 130 | — | 129 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 4 | ||||