Former Canuck Nikolay Goldobin: Where is He Now?

Let’s get our “Where Are They Now” series started with the enigmatic Russian who was once thought of as the potential ying to Elias Pettersson’s yang.

Goldobin’s Arrival With the Canucks

A former first-round pick of the Sharks, the Canucks thought they were getting a skilled prospect with a lot of potential to become a top-six winger in the future. He was only 21 years old at the time and had already showcased some creativity and offensive skills in the NHL with the Sharks. He hit the ground running in his Canucks debut, scoring his first goal – which ended up being the game-winner – against Ben Bishop and the Los Angeles Kings on March 17, 2017 in a 4-3 win. It was a pretty one too, showing off his speed and quick wrist shot as he beat Bishop just under the blocker. He only played a measly 5:51 but made the minutes count with not only his first as a Canuck, but his first of the season and fifth of his career.

Goldobin scored two more goals before the end of the season and finished with three goals in 12 games. The next season, he split his time between the NHL and the Canucks’ American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate Utica Comets where he put up nine goals and 31 points in the AHL and eight goals and 14 points in the NHL.

Early Chemistry With Elias Pettersson

Pettersson joined the team in 2018-19 and Goldobin clicked immediately with him in training camp. They started the season on a line together with Brock Boeser and made hay offensively with Pettersson scoring 10 goals in his first 10 games. The duo was particularly deadly at even strength where Pettersson at one point led the NHL in average scoring at 5-on-5 with 4.67 points per hour.

Even though Goldobin only had seven points in his first 16 games with Pettersson, he complemented the uber-rookie perfectly with his playmaking abilities and offensive instincts. He was a lot like Andrei Kuzmenko, who had tremendous success with Pettersson in his rookie season in the NHL. While Goldobin never put up 39 goals, he showed glimpses of that potential and might have turned into that type of player if the coaching staff had more patience with him.

Similar To Kuzmenko, Goldobin Got Stuck in the Coach’s Dog House

Continuing the parallels with Kuzmenko, Goldobin also got into hot water with the coaching staff because of his lack of defensive awareness, battle level and poor decision-making. He would often make the extra move in the offensive zone that led to a turnover and then was lazy on the backcheck afterward. I’m sure that sounds familiar to the modern-day Canucks fan because that’s exactly the criticism that was leveled at Kuzmenko before he was traded to the Calgary Flames.

“A little quicker getting places and a little stronger in his one-on-one battles — even when he has the puck,” said Green. “Being able to get away from someone when you have the puck in the corner…It’s confidence and we’ve been open and honest with him. It’s not scolding. It’s talking and wanting him to be better for himself and the team” (from ‘Canucks Under the Microscope: Nikolay Goldobin,’ The Province, 5/13/19).

While Goldobin tantalized the fans and the coaching staff with his elite skating and creativity in the offensive zone, his shortcomings defensively were often too much for Green to overlook. Once his production dried up after his initial burst alongside Boeser and Pettersson, those weaknesses became even more difficult to ignore. Again, like Kuzmenko, Goldobin’s player profile was very one-dimensional. If he wasn’t scoring, he was practically useless. Unlike players like Conor Garland, Burrows, and Hansen, he didn’t have something else in his repertoire that would keep him in the lineup.

As such, Green made Goldobin a healthy scratch 19 times throughout the season and eventually gave his spot in the top-six to newcomer Josh Leivo. While he finished with a career-high seven goals and 27 points, he only had one goal in his final 18 games and only four points after the calendar flipped to 2019.

Goldobin’s Final Season in North America

Goldobin became a restricted free agent in the offseason and there were questions about whether the Canucks would re-sign or trade him. After firing his agent Igor Larionov and hiring Sergey Isakov of Newport Sports, he decided against returning to Russia and signed a one-year deal to remain with the Canucks.

Goldobin ended up only playing one game in the NHL in 2019-20 and spent 51 games in the AHL with the Comets. He scored a career-high 19 goals and 50 points, but amidst the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down the NHL season in March, his only action was against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Nov. 27, 2019, where he played 8:31 and had one hit.

Goldobin Returns to the KHL, Breaks Franchise Record in 2023-24

After that last kick at the can in North America, Goldobin decided to resume his career in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) with CSKA Moskva for the 2020-21 season. He only played 19 games there before he was traded to Metallurg Magnitogorsk where he played the next two seasons, accumulating 37 goals and 83 points in 120 games.

Goldobin’s rights were then traded to Spartak Moskva before the 2023-24 season where he signed a two-year deal to remain with the club until 2025-26. Now 28 years old, he is hitting his stride offensively in the KHL this season with 37 goals and 78 points in 66 games. He recently broke Spartak’s franchise record for points with his 72nd of the season on Feb. 10 and has 12 points in his last 10 games. Needless to say, he’s feeling it offensively right now.

Could Goldobin Return to the NHL?

With the success Kuzmenko has seen in the NHL at 28 years old, could Goldobin return to the NHL someday? Maybe, but I doubt it will be with the Canucks. They just tried and failed with a similar forward in Kuzmenko, so they are probably not in the market to try that experiment again any time soon. Goldobin has expressed interest in returning to North America, though, so other teams might feel he’s worth the risk, especially with his production this season in the KHL.

Goldobin still has one more year on his contract, so if he has another dominant season in 2024-25, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him become a hot commodity on the European free agent market. It didn’t work out in San Jose and Vancouver, but that was when he was in his early 20s. However, considering the KHL cares more about offence than defence, maybe he will have the same troubles now as he did back then. Regardless, I could see teams still taking a chance on him. Just look at how many GMs were lining up for Kuzmenko after his 53-point season in 2021-22 – and Goldobin is on pace for 80 this season. If he does something similar in 2024-25, I’m sure the interest will be through the roof.