No. 3: D Nikita Tryamkin (Avtomobilist, KHL)
For the second time in as many months, Nikita Tryamkin has been awarded the KHL’s top blueliner of the month.
In November @tryamkin94 led the KHL defensemen's list with 42 shots, 28 hits, 15 blocked shots, and for 2nd straight time was named the D-man of the month! pic.twitter.com/eJ8Lpp7VCc
— KHL (@khl_eng) December 2, 2017
Although we in Vancouver like to forget that Tryamkin is still playing hockey somewhere in this world, he has been one of the top defencemen in the KHL this year. He has 21 points in 36 games, seven of those points being goals. For those who care about plus/minus stats, he is second in the league at a +18.
Only five defensemen have more points than Tryamkin (Philip Larsen and Marc-Andre Gragnani being two of them). He is second in the league in hits (83) while averaging just under 21 minutes a game.
In the context of his team, the Yekaterinburg Avtomobilist, Tryamkin leads the blueline in almost all categories (goals, assists, points, plus/minus, PIM, 5v5 goal, SOG, shifts/game, hits, and blocks).
The 23-year-old BFG
Considering that he is still just 23 years old (who knows, he could still be growing?), I believe that the Canucks should not give up on hoping Tryamkin comes back. If and when he does, the Canucks blueline looks so much better with him, Olli Juolevi, Troy Stecher
and Rasmus Dahlin
.
At this moment, Tryamkin is the KHL’s undisputed top U24 defender. Would it be too big of a stretch to think that Tryamkin could be a top-six defenseman for Team Russia in PyeongChang? I do not think so unless the KHL stops its players from participating.
Last but not least…
Matthews: "They have some pretty big D that can block shots so we just have to be better. Get to the net a little bit better and create more havoc. Don’t let him see the puck as well as he did tonight because he’s a big goalie and can make those big saves."
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) December 3, 2017
…Good thing that Gudbranson and Tryamkin didn’t play against the Maple Leafs because Matthews would have lost his mind out of frustration had the two played.