After Further Review: Nikita Artamonov

The Russian Michael Bunting, maybe

I took a break between the last After Further Review due to a litany of things. Taking 5 classes while also having a side gig and trying to keep up with all the prospects is a daunting task. I had two players in mind for the next AFR but was drawn to Artamonov due to what I’ve been told and what I’ve read about him. I’ve gotten to see a few highlights but never a full game and let me say, I love this kid.

It’s like if someone took the forechecking of Michael Bunting but added a 9-volt battery and wound him up and sent him on a sheet of ice. He’s relentless and never shows less than 95%, except when he’s been on the ice for a while, and even then he’s still giving you 75%. The biggest drawback as of now is just that his skills aren’t high-end. But Artamonov is just so well-rounded that it’s nearly impossible to see him playing less than 500 NHL games (depending on when he arrives of course).

Well, since this was last edited on September 10th, Artamonov has had a hell of a start huh. 8 game point streak, 15 points in that time, playing top-line minutes, can’t really complain about that, can you? The difference from last year to this year, as Dylan Griffing correctly pointed out to me on Twitter, is that his chances are going in. His finishing has improved year over year to go along with the motor and high IQ he possesses. Let’s mix in an old shift of Artamonov and some recent goal clips from him and do a side-by-side review. The Chaika clip is from last year while the other clips are from this year.

Shift 1

I shared this clip on Twitter because my god if this isn’t a perfect introduction to Nikita Artamonov. Just a pure pest on defense which leads to a steal. While the puck goes out of the zone, he just lurks in the neutral zone and pounces on a lazy pass from the defense. Gets off a good enough shot to force the goalie to make the save but he STILL isn’t done. Artamonov wins the race to the puck and tries to get a pass to the middle that sadly doesn’t make it there. But this is a perfect encapsulation of Artamonov, just a pure dawg in all sense.

Goal Shift 1

His teammate forces a turnover, Artamonov circles back into the zone and fires a no-look pass to his teammate, and he converts. Right place, right time, and a solid pass. A testament to Artamonov’s IQ that he just has this knack of being in the right place at the right time and making the smart play. Barys is also very bad, so that plays some factor.

Goal Shift 2

Both teammates are fighting low and Artamonov just smartly drifts into the middle while the Barys defenders forget about him. The puck comes to him and he converts. Last year, those chances were still getting to him but he wasn’t converting at a regular rate. This year, it’s almost automatic when he has that time and space near the net.

Goal Shift 3

Almost a copy and paste of the above clip. Both teammates are fighting along the boards and the puck gets to Artamonov in the slot and he absolutely picks a corner against Ilya Nabokov, who was a second-round pick by Colorado in this past draft. Again, right place and right time for Artamonov and he is just not missing from the slot.

Goal Shift 4

A 2 on 2 rush chance that Artamonov and Max Letunov (Chicago Wolves Legend) run. Artamonov, smartly, runs behind Letunov to make the defender think a drop pass can come, which gets him out of position ever so slightly. That little bit of separation that Artamonov gets is just enough to get a one-timer off and he is just not missing from there. Sick pass from Letunov as well. Artamonov is just so smart and crafty in the offensive zone and on the rush that he can create that kind of play and now, he’s starting to score on them more and more. Very encouraging stuff.