Get ready Sidney Crosby. Here comes the Russian #87.
Needing an elite goal scorer and a crafty play maker, Vegas Golden Knights General Manager George McPhee has signed the Russian free agent forward on the market.
Vadim Shipachyov from SKA Saint Petersburg of the KHL has been signed to a two-year contract with a $4.5 million AAV.
McPhee is hoping that Shipachyov's dominant KHL production will transfer to the smaller 200 by 85 rinks of the NHL.
SKA Saint Petersburg is the KHL's heavyweight franchise. They are not afraid to buy the best free agents available on the market each season. Ilya Kovalchuk and Pavel Datsyuk are former NHL A-Listers who have played alongside Shipachyov in St. Petersburg.
St. Petersburg won the KHL championship two weeks ago.
"Vadim is a highly skilled playmaker who has had an impressive career in the Kontinental Hockey League," Vegas Golden Knights General Manager George McPhee told the team's website. "He has won two KHL championships, has been among the league leaders in scoring the last two seasons and has enjoyed success at the international level for Team Russia. We believe he can be an impact player in the NHL."
Shipachyov is currently in Cologne, Germany with Team Russia at the 2017 IIHF World Championships.
The 30-year-old forward finished third in the KHL scoring race this season with 76 points ( 26 goals, 50 assists) in 50 games. The 50 assists were the second most in the KHL. Shipachyov scored 19 points on four goals and 15 assists in 17 games during the KHL playoffs, helping SKA Saint Petersburg win the Gragarin Cup for the second time in his career (2017 and 2015).
During the 2015-16 season, Shipachyov skated in 54 regular-season games for SKA Saint Petersburg and tallied 17 goals and a KHL-leading 43 assists for 60 points.
In his KHL career, Shipachyov has registered 137 goals and 275 assists for 412 points in 445 games split between Saint Petersburg and his hometown team of Severstal Cherepovets. He has served as either a captain or alternate captain of SKA St. Petersburg the last three seasons.
At the international level, he has played Team Russia on three previous occasions at the IIHF World Championships during the 2014, 2015 and 2016 tournaments. He won a gold medal in 2014, silver in 2015 and bronze in 2016 where he led the entire tournament in scoring and assists with 18 points on six goals and 12 assists. He also played for Russia during the recent 2016 World Cup of Hockey in Toronto.
Thanks, Vegas Golden Knights
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Another past SKA St. Petersburg teammate of Shipachyov is current Chicago Blackhawks star forward Artemi Panarin, who many NHL talent evaluators compare Shipachyov to in terms of his offensive creativity.
Like Panarin, Shipachyov began his KHL career with a weaker KHL club team (Severstal Cherepovets). He blossomed into a premiere offensive player when he joined St. Petersburg.
Panarin joined the Chicago Blackhawks in 2015-16.
Shipachyov's career arc is similar to Panarin's, with the exception being that the newest Golden Knights is six years older (30) than Panarin was when he departed the KHL for the NHL.