Team: Ottawa Senators
https://www.nanaimoclippers.com/stats/player/8423/62/vladimir-nikitin

Fantasy Summary

An underrated, athletic goaltender who moves quickly for his size.


Observations

December 2025 – Nikitin’s season has been anything but normal. In the span of a few months, he has gone from the USHL to the NAHL, then back to his home country after signing with the KHL. He opened the year with the Youngstown Phantoms in the USHL, posting a 1–1–0 record with a 2.92 GAA and .864 save percentage. From there, he was traded to the New Hampshire Mountain Kings of the NAHL, where he again went 1–1–0, this time with a 3.13 GAA and a .904 save percentage. Most recently, he signed a PTO with Barys Astana in the KHL, though he has yet to appear in a game.
Projecting Nikitin’s future is challenging, given the instability of his situation. Right now, he sits at the bottom of the Ottawa Senators’ organizational goalie depth chart. At 20, playing in the NAHL is a poor sign for development; strikingly, he was the league’s only NHL-drafted player this season.
Because of his unconventional path, his stats tell very little about where he truly stands. From serving as a third-string option in the KHL to starting behind one of the weakest teams at the World Juniors last year, Nikitin is a goalie you have to watch to evaluate properly. He is a long-term project with intriguing size and athleticism, but there are clear issues in his game. Positioning, tracking pucks through traffic, and anticipating plays all need work. Without steady minutes against quality competition, it is hard to see how those areas improve.
From a fantasy perspective, Nikitin is an easy pass for now, as his NHL outlook is murky and even consistent playing time is not guaranteed in the short term. Kenny Kaminsky

June 2025 – Nikitin was the Kazakhstan U20 league top goaltender in 2022-23 after posting a .921 SV% and 2.07 GAA in 24 games with MHK Barys Astana and was drafted in the seventh round (207th overall) in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft by the Ottawa Senators.

To start the 2024-25 campaign, he played in the MHL with Snezhyne Barsy Astana before heading to the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship to represent Kazakhstan; he was then traded in January 2025 in the BCHL by the Chiefs to the Nanaimo Clippers, where he finished the season playing in 13 regular season games compiling an 11-2 record with a 2.35 GAA and a .924 SV% and made three playoff appearances with the Clippers. Mark Henry

Attributes
Fantasy Upside 3.0
NHL Certainty 3.0
Country KAZ
Position G
Roster Type KHL
Shoot/Glove Left
Date of Birth January 7, 2005
Height 6‘4”
Weight 199 lbs
Drafted 2023 Round 7; Overall: 207
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Stats – Frozen Tools – Profile on FT

SeasonLeagueTeamGPWLOTLGAASV%SO
2025-2026USHLYoungstown Phantoms21102.920.8640
2025-2026NAHLNew Hampshire Mountain Kings40003.130.9040
2025-2026KazakhstanNomad Astana41204.450.7880
2024-2025WJC-20Kazakhstan U2050506.070.8360
2024-2025MHLSnezhnye Barsy Astana124804.610.8840
2024-2025BCHLNanaimo Clippers1311202.350.9242
2023-2024WJC-20 D1AKazakhstan U2054101.480.9441
2023-2024BCHLChilliwack Chiefs2515632.760.8981
2022-2023WJC-18 D1AKazakhstan U1854101.500.9363
2022-2023Kazakhstan JastarMHK Barys Astana2418602.070.9213
2022-2023KazakhstanSnezhnye Barsy Astana20203.560.8850
2021-2022WJC-18 D1AKazakhstan U1852303.720.8620
2021-2022Kazakhstan JastarBarys-Jastar Astana2920903.430.8921
2020-2021Kazakhstan U17Barys Astana U16119202.190.9213
2019-2020Kazakhstan U16Barys Nur-Sultan U1571604.820.8810

Highlights