Washington Capitals 2022 first-round draft selection Ivan Miroshnichenko was back on the ice Monday morning but on a different team than he has played for so far this season.
The 18-year-old winger jumped up a level in Russian hockey from the junior MHL league to the VHL which is the KHL’s affiliate league and features almost exclusively senior players. He donned the sweater of the Omsk Wings, Avangard Omsk’s farm club, and immediately tallied two primary assists in his season debut.
In six games at the MHL level, Miroshnichenko, returning from multiple rounds of chemotherapy treatment due to a Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnosis, scored six goals and added two assists.
Before that diagnosis occurred last March, the Russian sniper was playing in the VHL and had tallied 16 points (10g, 6a) in 31 games. He picked up right where he left off on Monday, first picking up a loose puck along the right boards at his team’s offensive-zone blueline, attempting to deke around a defender, and leaving the puck for Vladimir Mashkov to jam home.
🚨 Vladimir Mashkov
🍎 Ivan Miroshnichenko #ALLCAPS
1-0 Omskie Krylia #VHL pic.twitter.com/8TVWGQqiB0— Hockey News Hub (@HockeyNewsHub) November 21, 2022
The talented prospect’s second setup in the game was the prettier of the two. The play starts with Miroshnichenko doing some excellent puck retrieval work below the red line and filtering the biscuit along the boards to his pinching teammate. He then gets the puck back and swings a no-look feed to the front that lands right on Mashkov’s tape for a goal that gave the Wings a 3-2 lead.
LOOK AT THIS PASS! 😍
🚨 Vladimir Mashkov 2nd of the game
🍎 Ivan Miroshnichenko #ALLCAPS
3-2 Omskie Krylia #VHL pic.twitter.com/urfR07pUAP— Hockey News Hub (@HockeyNewsHub) November 21, 2022
Avangard Omsk’s junior affiliate in the MHL has been off since November 16 and won’t return to action again until November 24. It is unknown if this foray into the VHL for Miroshnichenko was just due to that scheduling coincidence or if he will be sticking in the VHL for the foreseeable future.
If he does indeed continue on in the VHL, it likely sets him up for a potential first-ever full KHL game later this season if he’s successful.
Screenshot via Supreme Hockey League/VHL
