Nikita Filatov

Nikita Filatov

Nikita Vasilyevich Filatov is a Russian former professional ice hockey left winger. He played in North America for the Ottawa Senators and Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League. At the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, he was selected sixth overall by the Blue Jackets. In December 2011, the Senators loaned him to CSKA Moscow for the balance of the 2011–12 season. The following season, he signed with Salavat Yulaev.

About Nikita Filatov in brief

Summary Nikita FilatovNikita Vasilyevich Filatov is a Russian former professional ice hockey left winger. He played in North America for the Ottawa Senators and Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League. He has represented Russia in international hockey at two World U18 Championships, winning gold and silver medals, and three World Junior Championships, where he has won two bronze medals. At the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, he was selected sixth overall by the Blue Jackets. In December 2011, the Senators loaned him to CSKA Moscow for the balance of the 2011–12 season. The Senators chose not to tender him a qualifying offer, making him a free agent. The following season, he signed with Salavat Yulaev. He was also the first overall selection in the 2008 Canadian Hockey League Import Draft, selected by the Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Hockey League. He was called up to the NHL, playing in his first game against the Nashville Predators on October 17, 2008. For the rest of his professional career, he has played for the Syracuse Crunch, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Blue Jacket, and the Toronto Maple Leafs. He also played in the Kontinental Hockey League with CSKA-2 and the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. He is a member of the Russian national hockey team, the CSKA Red Army hockey team and the CSKA-1 hockey team. He currently plays for the Salvat Yulasev hockey team in the Russian Superleague. He won a gold medal at the 2008 World Under 18 Championships and two silver medals at the 2009 World Junior Championship.

He previously played for CSKA in the 2005–06 season, and averaged more than three points per game during the 2006–07 season. He spent the majority of the season playing at the junior level in Russia. In the 2007–08 season he made his professional Russian Super League debut withCSKA, seeing limited action in five games. After the 2007-08 season, Filatova was selected 6th overall at the Draft by the Columbus Blue Jacket organization. He signed a three-year contract with the club on July 10, 2008, with bonus clauses that could bring the value as high as USD 1. 35 million per season. His signing with Columbus created some controversy within the Konservative Hockey League, as League President Alexander Medvedev claimed that the club owed him compensation of at least $1.5million. In September 2008, the players were unable to play international hockey sanctioned by the IIHF because of the dispute. The players were dropped by the KHL and he received his contract and received his first transfer with the Blue Blue Jackets, however, he did not make the team instead making his professional debut for the American League affiliate, the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Blue Jackets then traded him to Ottawa in exchange for a third-round draft pick. In November 2008, he played in 23 games, scoring 23 goals and providing 24 assists for the Senators. In January 2009, he scored his first goal with the Senators, against the Predators.