September means that hockey is less than a month away. Next weekend the rookie face-off will give fans a chance to see some young future stars. Colorado just announced their roster for the tournament on Thursday. The preseason will begin in earnest on Sept. 21st, or the 22nd, if you only care about the Avs.
But for those of us who absolutely cannot wait to talk puck, and how it could affect the Colorado Avalanche, this past Tuesday was also circled on the calendar. It was the first game of the season for Ilya Nabokov and Metallurg Magnitogorsk. The Avalanche selected the promising young netminder 38th overall this June.
Colorado was the first team to pick a goalie in the 2024 draft, and the organization clearly loves his pedigree. Ilya Nabokov led his Russian club to a KHL title last year, and racked up personal accolades along the way, including Rookie of the Year and Playoff MVP.
At 21, Nabokov is older than your typical draftee. In fact, he had been passed over in three previous drafts as teams waited for him to develop. It seems that the time did him all the favors one could hope for, as he's proven his worth in his home country where he is still under contract for the current season.
As an Avalanche diehard, I have been waiting to see any in-game action of Nabokov. Let me preface this with the obvious disclaimer that I am no trained scout, but I certainly like what I have seen after two games this week.
Metallurg Magnitogorsk are just 1-1 in the contests but Nabokov has shown flashes of great skill. As defending champions, the KHL gave Nabokov's club the toughest assignment to open the year, too. It is a league tradition to start the campaign with a championship rematch of the previous season, called the Opening Cup.
In this year's Opening Cup it was Metallurg Magnitogorsk (which essentially translates to Magnitogorsk Steelers) against the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (Railwaymen). Right away, you know the competition is going to be tough. Nobody wants a revenge game like the club you beat for the title.
Tuesday's game illustrated that dynamic pretty well. The puck was dominated by Lokomotiv in the first, though Nabokov kept it out of the net. When Yaroslavl finally broke through in the second period, it was thanks to an expertly executed power-play. A subsequent goal was scored seconds later on a breakaway chance following the ensuing faceoff.
Nabokov let in a third goal about seven minutes into the final frame to go down 3-0, but did well to keep from folding. His team's offense, which had been largely stagnant, came alive with ten minutes left in the game, and scored two goals. They ultimately fell short with Nabakov pulled for the extra attacker.
The 2-3 result may not have been what the reigning champs wanted, but the near comeback showed some guts. I feel pretty comfortable saying that Nabokov gave his guys a decent chance to win, stopping 29 of 32 shots on goal. If not for his work in the first period the game could have easily gotten out of hand.
Thursday's matchup against St. Petersburg SKA saw some marquee names on the opposing side. Most notably, Evgeny Kuznetzov, who played in over 700 NHL games and lifted the Stanley Cup with Washington in 2017-18. Kuznetzov surprised some by returning to Russia this offseason, but it obviously delighted SKA, who swiftly named him captain.
Another SKA player NHL fans should know, or likely will know fairly soon, is Ivan Demidov. Demidov was just drafted fifth overall by Montreal in June, and viewed by most as a sure bet for a solid NHL future.
Colorado also has a prospect on the St. Petersburg roster, forward Zakhar Bardakov, whose rights were acquired by the Avalanche in the Kurtis MacDermid trade. I don't know much about the winger, but he was pretty active with the puck, and he is an assistant captain with the team, which says something positive for sure.
Onto Nabokov's performance specifically on Thursday, again he looked impressive. Once more the opponents came out with something to prove. Magnitogorsk was outshot 20-8 in the first frame. Ilya Nabokov was arguably the best player on the ice in any case. Again, the first goal Nabokov surrendered was with a teammate in the box.
It was thanks to his resolve and some very quick movement that his Steelers were able to stay in it enough to shift momentum. This was probably the best period I've seen from Nabokov in the limited sample-size I've been able to witness. He moves very quickly from side-to-side and closes gaps surprisingly fast.
The second period was full of fireworks including five goals, three for Metallurg and two for SKA. The Steelers opened the scoring early and St. Petersburg changed goalies. Kuznetzov scored to tie the game at two, but helped create an unlikely turning point, when he took a bad tripping call less than a minute later. Metallurg cashed in on the man-advantage to take the lead back. SKA would have a tying goal called back for goalie interference. By the end of a bit of a track-meet period, Metallurg had the 4-3 edge.
A hard-fought final period saw just one tally added when St. Petersburg drew level at 4 all. Thankfully, Scott Wilson won the game for Nabokov's team just 33 seconds into overtime. The 5-4 overtime result told the story of a pretty even matchup and despite the startling disparity early the SOG totals ended up tied at 39 each. Nabokov stopping 35, and a whopping 19 in the first, which proved to be the difference.
While I don't know how often I'll be able to check-in on Colorado's young goalie beyond box scores and scant highlight clips once the NHL schedule gets into full swing, I will say that this glimpse of his talent has me even more excited for his eventual arrival in North America.