Alexei Mikhnov

Oleksiy Pavlovych "Alexei" Mikhnov () (born August 31, 1982) is a Ukrainian-Russian professional ice hockey left wing who is currently an unrestricted free agent. He most recently played with the Severstal Cherepovets of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

Playing career
Mikhnov was selected in the first round of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, 17th overall, by the Edmonton Oilers, and has only played in two NHL games, his first being a 5–2 win versus Phoenix.  He was scoreless and even in 4:21 of ice time. His brother Andrei Mikhnov was at one time also a National Hockey League prospect and played in the Ontario Hockey League.

Mikhnov spent four seasons in the Russian Super League, and was considered a power forward prospect. Despite being from Ukraine, Mikhnov (unlike his brother) plays internationally for Russia.

After being drafted in 2000, Mikhnov has been something of a mystery to Oilers fans. Even when he was drafted, he was considered an enigma, and when he first hit Edmonton in 2004, the Oilers' front office discovered that Mikhnov had poor eyesight, leading to the team buying him a pair of glasses.

Mikhnov was one of the more famous players impacted by the inability of the National Hockey League and the Russian ice hockey federation to come to an agreement on a transfer arrangement, a situation which more famously affected Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Evgeni Malkin. On June 20, 2006, according to his agent, Mikhnov gave his two weeks' notice which theoretically could get him out of his contract with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, and by early September Mikhnov was skating in Edmonton, taking a spin on September 3 at the University of Alberta. To date, any legal action by Lokomotiv Yaroslavl to retain Mikhnov like that being used to try to keep Malkin has not reached the press, and on September 5, Mikhnov signed a one-year deal with the Oilers.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

 
Bio from Hockey's Future

Category:1982 births
Category:Atlant Moscow Oblast players
Category:Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg players
Category:HC Dynamo Moscow players
Category:Living people
Category:Edmonton Oilers draft picks
Category:Edmonton Oilers players
Category:Lokomotiv Yaroslavl players
Category:Metallurg Magnitogorsk players
Category:National Hockey League first round draft picks
Category:HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk players
Category:HC Sibir Novosibirsk players
Category:Sportspeople from Kiev
Category:Russian ice hockey left wingers
Category:Salavat Yulaev Ufa players
Category:Severstal Cherepovets players
Category:Ukrainian ice hockey left wingers
Category:Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins players