Quick Facts
Biography
Nikita Aleksandrovich Nikitin (Russian: Никита Александрович Никитин; born 16 June 1986) is a Russian professional ice hockey defenseman that played for the St. Louis Blues, Columbus Blue Jackets and Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is currently an unrestricted free agent.
Playing career
Nikitin spent his junior career skating in the Avangard Omsk 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 (RSL) with Avangard, establishing himself as a strong Superleague-calibre defenceman.
Nikitin was drafted by the St. Louis Blues with the 136th overall selection in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. 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 of the Tampa Bay Lightning. He was traded on 10 November 2011, to the Columbus Blue Jackets for defenceman Kris Russell.
After Columbus agreed to give the Edmonton Oilers 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.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2003–04 | Avangard Omsk | RSL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2004–05 | Avangard Omsk | RSL | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2005–06 | Avangard Omsk | RSL | 41 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 24 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 2006–07 | Avangard Omsk | RSL | 54 | 1 | 15 | 16 | 101 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 39 | ||
| 2007–08 | Avangard Omsk | RSL | 57 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 48 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2008–09 | Avangard Omsk | KHL | 53 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 28 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 2009–10 | Avangard Omsk | KHL | 43 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2010–11 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 41 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | Peoria Rivermen | AHL | 22 | 3 | 11 | 14 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2011–12 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2011–12 | Columbus Blue Jackets | NHL | 54 | 7 | 25 | 32 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012–13 | Avangard Omsk | KHL | 33 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012–13 | Columbus Blue Jackets | NHL | 38 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 17 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2013–14 | Columbus Blue Jackets | NHL | 66 | 2 | 13 | 15 | 20 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2014–15 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 42 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2015–16 | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 30 | 1 | 13 | 14 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2015–16 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 259 | 17 | 59 | 76 | 85 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| KHL totals | 129 | 10 | 32 | 42 | 50 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | ||||
International
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Russia | WJC |  | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| 2012 | Russia | WC |  | 10 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | |
| Junior totals | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||||
| Senior totals | 10 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | ||||