Nikita Chibrikov – 2021 NHL Draft Prospect Profile

3 years ago  /  The Hockey Writers  /  Read Time: 2 minutes 24 seconds

• One of the better Russian players eligible for this year’s draft class, Nikita Chibrikov has a lot of promise to his game.
• What impresses me the most about him is his poise with the puck on his stick and his skating ability.
• He battles hard for the puck in the corners and has good lower-body strength, making it hard to knock him off the puck.
• The one knock against Chibrikov is his defensive play.
• At times, he is great at coming to backcheck and help disrupt passing lanes with his active stick, but other times he is practically invisible in the defensive zone or he barely tries.
• Nikita Chibrikov – 2021 NHL Draft Projection.
• He will be a player that takes a few seasons to develop in Russia before coming over to play in North America, but he could be worth the wait for the team that calls his name on draft night.
• Chibrikov is an aggressive forechecker, but leaves some to be desired in the defensive zone, most notably with his positioning.” – Dylan Griffing, DobberProspects
• In 2019-20, as a member of team Russia, he and his teammates won the Gold Medal at the U17 World Hockey Championships

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