Latest news with #Khusnutdinov
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Sharks Should Target RFA Forward Marat Khusnutdinov This Offseason
The San Jose Sharks will be looking to improve their team and get back into the playoffs sooner rather than later after a rough 2024-25 campaign. While they probably won't be pushing for a playoff spot next season, they can continue to find future stars to add to their roster that will help them down the line. One player they should look at bringing in is pending restricted free agent (RFA) Marat Khusnutdinov, who is up for a new contract for the upcoming season. He was traded from the Minnesota Wild to the Boston Bruins midseason, and while he seems to have found a solid fit in Boston, the Sharks should try and bring him in. Khusnutdinov, who is 22 years old, scored five goals and added seven assists for 12 points through 75 games this season. Throughout his career, he scored six goals and added 10 assists for 16 points through 91 games, which comes out to a 0.18 points-per-game average. His defensive game is quite strong, but his finishing ability hasn't quite been elite at the NHL level. In an increased role with the Sharks, he could build confidence and find a way to break out offensively. Realistically, Khusnutdinov is looking at a 2-3 year contract extension worth around $1 million annually, which is very affordable. If he and the Bruins can't agree on a new deal, maybe the Sharks could offer to make a trade with them instead of sending an offer sheet, and the asking price may not be too much. If the Bruins are willing to move him for a mid-round pick, the Sharks should be all over him this summer. Trending: Yegor Afanasyev Expected To Sign With Sharks For 2025-26 Season As the postseason moves along, it seems as though the San Jose Sharks are focusing on getting some of their own things done this offseason as they look to improve on what was a rough 2024-25 campaign. In a recent report, it seems as though they will be signing Yegor Afanasyev for the 2025-26 season. Sharks & Shakir Mukhamadullin Reportedly Close To Contract Extension Agreement With the 2024-25 season gone and the San Jose Sharks having shifted their focus onto the 2025 NHL Entry Draft and the 2025-26 campaign, it sounds like they are closing in on a new contract with one of their pending free-agent defenders. Sharks Prospect Carson Wetsch Flipped In Blockbuster WHL Trade The 2025 WHL Prospects Draft has now come and gone, and while there weren't many surprises or much news to report from those couple of days, there was one massive trade that caught some attention. Should The Sharks Trade Their Second Overall Pick? With reports swirling that the San Jose Sharks are open to trading their second overall pick, the question turns to: should they trade it?
Boston Globe
20-03-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
It has been a wild ride for new Bruin Marat Khusnutdinov, who is getting acclimated quickly
It's been hard not to notice that Khusnutdinov knows his way around on the ice. In his five games with Boston heading into Thursday night's game with Golden Knights, the 5-foot-11-inch, 176-pounder has provided energy, creativity, and some scoring touch. All are elements the Bruins need if they're going to make a final push for the postseason over the last 13 games. Advertisement Khusnutdinov had been playing a fourth-line role and killing penalties with the Wild until a recent AHL demotion that was disappointing not only for the player but also Minnesota general manager Bill Guerin. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Prior to hosting the Bruins March 2, Guerin sent Khusnutdinov to Iowa in a salary cap move after the team had acquired Gustav Nyquist. 'To be honest with you, it stinks. It stinks for him because he's been here all year, he's played hard, he's played well,' Guerin had said. 'This is not your regular demotion. There's a lot more to it. Yeah, it sucks.' Less than a week later, Guerin had to deliver another message to Khusnutdinov. 'I go with Iowa to Rockford [for a game against the Icehogs], six or seven hours on a bus and after bus, Guerin called me and said, 'We traded you to Boston. Good luck,' " said Khusnutdinov. With the trade comes opportunity. The Bruins have allowed Khusnutdinov to play a top-six role with Elias Lindholm and Lauko, and he's getting time on the second power-play unit. He was playing just over 11 minutes per game with the Wild, including 1:30 of penalty kill time. Joe Sacco has rolled out Khusnutdinov for nearly 15 minutes per game and allowing him to start the majority of his shifts in the offensive zone. Khusnutdinov is thrilled with the role reversal. Advertisement 'Glad to be here. And it's a new experience. It's a new team for me and I have more ice time, second power play. It's what I want,' he said. 'Yeah, it's a perfect, it's more ice time. I can show my skill. It's more momentum, more shots. I think it's good for a player if you play top six. I'd say unbelievable.' After representing Russia at several international tournaments (the U-17 Hockey Challenge, the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, the U-18 World Championships, and the World Juniors), Khusnutdinov spent parts of five seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League. He signed with the Wild, who drafted him 37th overall in 2020, in February of 2024. He'd been with the Wild since coming to America. '[The Kontinental] is different. I think it was a good time for me to go to United States,' he said. 'I'm young. I think it's a level up for me.' Khusnutdinov spoke virtually no English when he arrived. 'We have English in school in Moscow, but I don't have too much time,' he said. 'I play in U-16, U-17, U-18 national team and we just go to tournaments, then back to school for one month, then go one month to hockey.' He credited Minnesota's Kirill Kaprizov for teaching him English and said he will concentrate on learning more this summer. A center normally, Khusnutdinov has been playing left wing with the Bruins, which has been a bit of an adjustment, but otherwise he feels comfortable playing the Bruins' style. 'We play fast. I think a fast game is good. I'm feeling perfect in this system,' he said. It's a small sample size, but Sacco likes what Khusnutdinov has done with his chance. Advertisement 'He plays with some pace and he's on top of pucks quickly. So, we like that. We like that part of his game,' said Sacco. 'I think the one thing he's got to continue to work on is just away from the puck, but that's something that we can build into his game, hopefully.' Fellow Muscovite Nikita Zadorov has enjoyed having Khusnutdinov around. 'He's a great kid,'' said Zadorov. 'He brings joy every day. He is smiling all the time. He's kind of quiet on his own a little bit. But I mean, you can see he's been leader, leader in his clubs where he played for. He's been captain everywhere so he can bring some leadership to the young guys as well and lead by example as well. And he's been playing well. He is skilled, he's fast, he sees the ice pretty well. He protects the pucks really well down low, so you can make plays and he's been great so far.' A restricted free agent, Khusnutdinov would welcome the opportunity to extend his stay in Boston. 'A hundred percent,' he said. 'It's an unbelievable team and an unbelievable city. If I signed a contract here and stayed, I'd be so happy.' **** Sacco went with the status quo on the lineup against the Golden Knights, preferring to let recent call-ups Fabian Lysell and Michael Callahan have more time to acclimate. 'Both guys will get an opportunity to draw in here at some point on the trip,' said the coach ... Brazeau has yet to register a point in seven games with the Wild ... Charlie Coyle has one assist in a half-dozen games with the Avalanche ... Brandon Carlo has an assist and is a plus-1 in six games with the Maple Leafs ... The greatest Bruin of them all, Bobby Orr, turned 77 Thursday. Wrap your head around this: At the end of the 1969-70 season, Orr took home the Art Ross (leading scorer), Hart (regular-season MVP), Norris (best defenseman), and Conn Smythe (playoff MVP) trophies. Oh, and the Stanley Cup, too ... Song of the night: 'Viva Las Vegas,' by Elvis Presley and The Jordanaires. Advertisement Jim McBride can be reached at
New York Times
30-01-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Filip Gustavsson back to his best, fourth line hustles in win over Leafs: Wild takeaways
TORONTO — The Wild know what life is like without Kirill Kaprizov, having recently played without their superstar for a month. And with the team facing at least another 4-6 weeks with Kaprizov sidelined from surgery, Wednesday provided a template for how they can get through it. Coach John Hynes has always said that competitiveness and work ethic are 'the engine that drives us,' and that was on full display in a 3-1 victory over the Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena. It was the Wild's first win in Toronto since 2019. Minnesota improved to a league-best 19-5-3 on the road. Advertisement 'The good thing for us is we know who we are as a team, what we are — regardless of who is in the lineup,' Hynes said. 'That's the way we need to continue to approach it.' The Wild's fourth line was a force for them Wednesday, with Jakub Lauko, Marat Khusnutdinov and Devin Shore combining for the team's first goal, a tone-setter. The team's forecheck was strong for most of the night. Minnesota's special teams came through, too, with Jared Spurgeon scoring a power-play goal and the penalty kill shutting down the only minor against them. Goalie Filip Gustavsson stepped up with his best performance in weeks. He stopped 32 of 33 shots, including standing tall in the last 5-6 minutes when the Leafs were really pushing. Marcus Foligno helped seal the game with some great hustle, diving at a loose puck in the Leafs' zone to score an empty-netter in the last 15 seconds. Lauko lamented the other day how the Wild's forecheck wasn't doing well. But Lauko and the fourth line were an absolute force and tone-setter in this victory. They got Minnesota on the board seven minutes in as Khusnutdinov carried the puck into the zone, dropping it back to Shore, who took it down behind the net. Lauko, the third wave, delivered a perfect body check on defenseman Morgan Rielly, separating him from the puck. Lauko then quickly found Khusnutdinov, who had circled into the slot for a one-timer. It was Khusnutdinov's second goal of the season and first since Dec. 10. But it was that kind of effort that symbolized how the Wild won another tough road game. 19 ➡️ 94 ➡️ 22 🙌 — Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) January 30, 2025 This is the Gustavsson the Wild are used to seeing — the one that was team MVP candidate in the first half of the year. He stopped 32 of 33 shots for back-to-back wins after going winless in his previous five, giving up a combined 23 goals in that tough stretch. Everything about Gustavsson was locked in. He was seeing the puck well through screens. He was not giving up any rebounds. He made the key stops, like on Max Pacioretty in the first period. He got a little lucky at times, too, like when Auston Matthews hit the post in the first, and William Nylander did the same off the rush in the second. Advertisement But if this is the Gustavsson the Wild get down the stretch, it'll do wonders for their playoff hopes with Kaprizov out. Yakov Trenin and Declan Chisholm returned to the lineup after being healthy scratches Sunday in Chicago — a 'reset,' as Hynes called it. Trenin, signed to a four-year, $3.5 million AAV deal over the summer, has just eight points in 45 games this season. But it's not necessarily the production that Hynes has wanted to see more of from the hard-nosed winger. 'I'd like for him to play a fast, skating game,' Hynes said. 'I'd like to have him be a physical presence in the offensive zone, use his size, move his feet, be hard to defend, get to the inside of the ice. Those are the kinds of things that make (Trenin) a difficult player to play against. And now we need to see that on a regular basis.' Chisholm returned to a pair with Jared Spurgeon and was on the ice for the Leafs' only goal. Midway through the third, the Leafs entered the zone on a rush. Chisholm had coverage of the front of the net, and Nylander zipped in front of him for the re-direct. (Photo of Marat Khusnutdinov and Philippe Myers: Dan Hamilton / Imagn Images)
