Pucks and Pitchforks

Fantasy Summary

Physical, defensive-minded defender with bottom-pairing NHL upside.


Observations

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February 2023 – Okhotiuk, who was drafted by the Devils back in 2019, has been traded to the San Jose Sharks as part of a deal involving Timo Meier. He is a physical, stay-at-home defenceman who has never posted meaningful production from the back end, even dating back to his OHL days. But he loves to throw the body — he is averaging over three hits per game this year in limited action — and has carved out a sheltered role on New Jersey’s third pairing. He may have slightly more opportunity with San Jose but is not likely to hold any fantasy relevance outside of providing decent peripherals. Ben Gehrels

March 2022 – Okhotyuk has been struggling to make a lasting impression in Utica, with only 16 points in 80 games so far in his AHL career. The 21-year-old tends to work at his best off the puck, though, and has some time to get the offense going at 21 years of age. Hadi Kalakeche

March 2020 – Okhotyuk showed some offensive promise with 19 points in just 39 games for the Ottawa 67’s. Injuries slowed down the OHL defenseman a bit but he did improve as the season went on. Okhotyuk remains a long-term project at best.  Chris Wassel 

June 2019 – Nikita Okhotyuk was drafted in the second round, pick 61 by the New Jersey Devils. He is a raw pick who needs much work but did show glimpses of a nice, two-way hockey game. Okhotyuk displays the occasional ability to rush the puck up the ice to create chances. He is opportunistic. The player is not slow on the ice so the long-term project has some skills to work with.  Chris Wassel

Attributes
Fantasy Upside 4.0
NHL Certainty 6.0
Country RUS
Position D
Roster Type Europe
Shoot/Glove Left
Date of Birth December 4, 2000
Height 6‘1”
Weight 195 lbs
Drafted 2019 Round 2; Overall: 61

Stats

 Season Team League GP G A TP PIM      Playoffs GP G A TP PIM 
 2015-2016 Traktor Chelyabinsk U16Russia U1635 5 1217 59|        
  Traktor Chelyabinsk U16Russia U16 Finals6 1 12 8|        
  Team Urals U16Districts Cup U165 2 35 25|        
 2016-2017 Traktor Chelyabinsk U17Russia U1725 5 1823 32|        
  Traktor Chelyabinsk U17Russia U17 Finals6 1 12 12|        
  Belye Medvedi ChelyabinskMHL19 1 34 37|        
  Russia U18 |WJAC-19|WJAC-194 0 11 2|        
  Russia U17WHC-176 0 00 4|        
 2017-2018 Russia U18Hlinka Gretzky Cup5 1 23 4|        
  Ottawa 67'sOHL53 5 611 71|Playoffs5 0 11
  Russia U18WJC-185 0 22 6|        
  Russia U18 (all)International-Jr20 2 68 22|        
  Russia U18 |WJAC-19|WJAC-194 1 01 6|        
 2018-2019 Ottawa 67'sOHL56 2 1517 43|Playoffs18 1 12 15 
 2019-2020 Ottawa 67'sOHL39 3 1619 35|        
  Russian Selects U20Jr Super Series1 0 00 0|        
  Russia U20 (all)International-Jr1 0 00 0|        
 2020-2021 Binghamton DevilsAHL28 2 46 36|        
 2021-2022 New Jersey DevilsNHL5 1 12 2|        
  Utica CometsAHL63 3 912 68|Playoffs5 0 33 11 
 2022-2023 New Jersey DevilsNHL10 1 01 2|        
  Utica CometsAHL20 2 46 33|        
 2023-2024 San Jose SharksNHL43 1 78 44|        
  San Jose BarracudaAHL5 0 11 4|        
  Calgary FlamesNHL9 0 11 4|        
 2024-2025 CSKA MoskvaKHL22 1 23 18|        

Highlights